Friday Five
Apr. 4th, 2003 04:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivka1. How many houses/apartments have you lived in throughout your life?
A ranch house in the suburbs of Cleveland until age 18 months.
A three-story Colonial in upstate New York until college.
A dormitory - that probably doesn't count.
Nine-Tenths Gresham, my first named house, a crappy one-story student house co-inhabited by mice.
The Blue Universe, my second named house, a classic Portland bungalow.
A one-bedroom apartment, my first in Iowa City, rented sight unseen over the telephone. That was a mistake.
An anonymous suburban-style two-bedroom apartment.
A large, nice one-bedroom apartment.
The large, nice two-bedroom apartment next door to the previous.
Our current apartment, large and pleasant enough but relentlessly boxy-suburban.
Watch this space for further developments!
2. Which was your favorite and why?
Without a question, the Blue Universe. It was a lovely example of an early 20th century bungalow - broad front porch, square high-ceiling rooms leading one into the other, beautiful dark woodwork in the living and dining rooms, including chest-high wainscoting, a few leaded-glass windows, and a clawfoot bathtub large enough to swim in with a separate stall shower. So what if the closets were tiny and the electrical system was antiquated and the stairs to the second floor included some six-inch-deep treads and had clearly been built by someone who didn't own a level?
3. Do you find moving house more exciting or stressful?
Both. It's stressful, but I also like the feeling of starting anew.
4. What's more important, location or price?
I don't really understand this question, because if you can't afford to live in a location then it doesn't matter which one you prioritize. But then again, I wouldn't want to live in a location that I didn't like just because it was cheap. I want the best location I can reasonably afford.
5. What features does your dream house have (pool, spa bath, big yard, etc.)?
The house: Three-story classic Baltimore row house, preferably built prior to 1920 and rehabbed after 1980. (I want the solid construction and beautiful details of the past, but the wiring and non-carcinogenic materials of the present.) Long, open rooms, high ceilings, tall narrow windows, exposed brick, hardwood floors. Three or four bedrooms. Plenty of storage space. A gas fireplace. (I know, I'm a heathen.) A back deck off the master bedroom on the third floor, with non-precarious stairs leading up to a second rooftop deck with a hot tub. Ideally, a water view from the rooftop deck. Super-ideally, given that this is supposed to be a dream house? A parking pad or garage in the back, on an alley.
The neighborhood: One of Baltimore City's older neighborhoods. Federal Hill or Fells Point by preference, or possibly (for the right house) Mount Vernon, Charles Village, or Canton. Partly gentrified, but not entirely - lots of diversity. Close walking distance to interesting little shops, bars, and restaurants. Walking distance to one of the original Baltimore markets, where people still buy their meat wrapped in paper at a butcher's stall rather than shrink-wrapped at the supermarket. A park nearby.
A ranch house in the suburbs of Cleveland until age 18 months.
A three-story Colonial in upstate New York until college.
A dormitory - that probably doesn't count.
Nine-Tenths Gresham, my first named house, a crappy one-story student house co-inhabited by mice.
The Blue Universe, my second named house, a classic Portland bungalow.
A one-bedroom apartment, my first in Iowa City, rented sight unseen over the telephone. That was a mistake.
An anonymous suburban-style two-bedroom apartment.
A large, nice one-bedroom apartment.
The large, nice two-bedroom apartment next door to the previous.
Our current apartment, large and pleasant enough but relentlessly boxy-suburban.
Watch this space for further developments!
2. Which was your favorite and why?
Without a question, the Blue Universe. It was a lovely example of an early 20th century bungalow - broad front porch, square high-ceiling rooms leading one into the other, beautiful dark woodwork in the living and dining rooms, including chest-high wainscoting, a few leaded-glass windows, and a clawfoot bathtub large enough to swim in with a separate stall shower. So what if the closets were tiny and the electrical system was antiquated and the stairs to the second floor included some six-inch-deep treads and had clearly been built by someone who didn't own a level?
3. Do you find moving house more exciting or stressful?
Both. It's stressful, but I also like the feeling of starting anew.
4. What's more important, location or price?
I don't really understand this question, because if you can't afford to live in a location then it doesn't matter which one you prioritize. But then again, I wouldn't want to live in a location that I didn't like just because it was cheap. I want the best location I can reasonably afford.
5. What features does your dream house have (pool, spa bath, big yard, etc.)?
The house: Three-story classic Baltimore row house, preferably built prior to 1920 and rehabbed after 1980. (I want the solid construction and beautiful details of the past, but the wiring and non-carcinogenic materials of the present.) Long, open rooms, high ceilings, tall narrow windows, exposed brick, hardwood floors. Three or four bedrooms. Plenty of storage space. A gas fireplace. (I know, I'm a heathen.) A back deck off the master bedroom on the third floor, with non-precarious stairs leading up to a second rooftop deck with a hot tub. Ideally, a water view from the rooftop deck. Super-ideally, given that this is supposed to be a dream house? A parking pad or garage in the back, on an alley.
The neighborhood: One of Baltimore City's older neighborhoods. Federal Hill or Fells Point by preference, or possibly (for the right house) Mount Vernon, Charles Village, or Canton. Partly gentrified, but not entirely - lots of diversity. Close walking distance to interesting little shops, bars, and restaurants. Walking distance to one of the original Baltimore markets, where people still buy their meat wrapped in paper at a butcher's stall rather than shrink-wrapped at the supermarket. A park nearby.
