The Neighbors

2.2 House Hunting

Harry and I had been thinking about moving for a long time. Ever since Danny was born, we knew we had outgrown my little ranch, but we decided to wait until Harry was done with college before we found a new house. As soon as graduation and the wedding were over, I was scouring the online listings and making phone calls to my realtor friends.

One evening, I sat down at the computer and called Harry over to show him some of the possibilities I had found. I had come across some great old historic homes in St. Paul.

I pulled up the first listing. "Look at this one!" It was a beautifully restored 3600 square foot Victorian. He nodded in kind of an uninterested way. I clicked on the next one, a brick Victorian with an octagonal tower. I knew for a fact that the third floor of the tower contained a small hidden room because I had shown the house once.

Harry nodded again, so I clicked once more on my favorite so far, a sprawling old home on two acres with a wrap-around porch. It was in need of some fixing up, but I had always dreamed of restoring an old home like that.

Harry seemed unimpressed with everything I showed him.

"You don't like any of these?" I asked.

Harry shrugged. "They're kind of old, aren't they?"

"The correct word is historic," I said. "And they're gorgeous. There are a lot of people who would love to own one of these. They're a piece of history. That last one needs some TLC, but I've always dreamed about restoring an old Victorian."

"Well, what about something more modern? We could build a new house and design it the way we want to."

"Yeah, I suppose," I said, feeling rather disappointed that Harry didn't share my vision for buying an old house. I thought he would jump at the chance to own something that reminded him of his home in England.

"Do you want to search for a bit?" I asked Harry, gesturing to the computer.

"Sure, I'll take a look," he said, sliding into the chair as I stood up.

After about twenty minutes, he called me over. "How about one of these?" He asked.

I went and looked over his shoulder. "Are you crazy?" I laughed. "Did you see the price tag on those? I was hoping to keep our budget under a million dollars!"

"We can afford them," he reasoned.

"That doesn't mean we should spend your inheritance on a house," I argued.

"You're right," he said, playfully rolling his eyes. "I guess it would be kind of fun to fix up an older house."

"Yay!" I said, clapping like a little kid. "There are some really great historic houses in the twin cities, so I'll keep looking. Some are in really nice, safe neighborhoods, too."

"Do you even know the first thing about restoring an old house?" He asked.

"I know a few things," I smiled. "But I also know the best contractors in the area."

"Okay, love," Harry said, standing up to envelope me in a hug. "Anything my girl wants."

"You're too good to me, Harry."

"Nuh-uh," he said, smooching my forehead. "You treat me like a king."

"That makes me a queen."

Within the week, I was touring older Victorian houses with my realtor friend Kelly. I wanted to narrow down some choices before I invited Harry to come along. I knew the market much better than he did, and he was working hard on making contacts in the music world, making demos, and teaching some guitar classes at the college, so I figured it would be easier if I did some of the leg work first.