The House Hunt and The Hearth.

March 24, 2017.

We're looking for a small house/cottage that we could use as a Winter home here in Asheville so I've been seriously on the hunt. We are blessed to have K, a neighbor who is a friend and recently became a realtor and is totally amazing.  Like, blow your socks off efficient and enthusiastic.  Every day we receive an e.mail from her early a.m. with properties just listed.  Here, it is such a buyer's market, places sell for asking price or beyond within hours of listing.  I kid you not.  Prices are crazy.

I've/we've done a lot of drive-bys and checked out some very nice places that could possibly work for us but they weren't exactly what we want.  All we need is a small house with a yard for Zuma, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and a kitchen big enough to swing a cat in (if a room was too small my mother would say "Not enough room to swing a cat in").  I know.  That's twisted.  No further comments. Shaking head.  Old British saying.

Okay, so pulleeeze don't get all judgy about Asheville because this is NOT the norm (these photos), this is the extreme.  It's a seller's market here and this lovely little gem came on the market and had to be seen.

Excellent location, adorable 1925 Grannie's style house, curbside appeal, fenced yard for the dawg in one area and a double lot. I perused the back yard first and said, yeh, I can do this.  It was completely overgrown with a dilapidated building crumbling in a corner but it could be done.  

It said in the ad "Needs work".  The large dog run/yard near the house was intact, so that was a bonus (no pix).  Thinking positively. 

K, who had just gone through the house for the first time, walked out to the back yard looking rather pale and said, "You haven't seen the inside yet".

*Pause.  Viewer Discretion Is Advised.*.  

Okay, I'm gonna let the pix do the talking.  
This house is at the top end of our budget and I chose to check it out because it's in a fantastic historic neighborhood .... 

This is the back deck.  A tree fell on it.  Clearly the house has been abandoned.  It's being sold by the inheritors.  Poor little house.

This is the kitchen.  We quickly realized this darling little house has been inhabited by squatters.  Note the baseball bat and WHAT is that spatter on the cupboards, gaaaaaag.  It looks like a crime scene from Forensic Files.

There's a wee problem with the foundation in one corner.

Ooh, it's bigger than wee.

If you wanna keep the squatters from squatting and make your home more saleable, simply relocate the toilet to the dining room.

Or, clean your bathroom.

At the center of the house there is a wood stove and a hearth.  

I stood there for a minute and thought of past squeals of glee as Christmas stockings were opened, cold hands and feet warmed, toasts shared.  This house is a story unto itself.  Amazingly, the hearth was the cleanest, most untouched part of the house.  It was as if it was respected by whomever trashed the rest of the old home. The hearth is the center of the home, they say.  Who opened their stockings here?  The inheritors?

I can pick up a vibe from a house and this little place is begging for help.  Sadly, it will likely be torn down because it's been neglected for too long and the land is valuable to developers.

Feeling pretty deflated, I went home and had a really really long shower.  The search continues.

"Needs work".  That's a stretch.