Househunting, day 2.
May. 4th, 2003 05:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivkaTwo more house visits today, and significant re-thinking of our criteria.
XXX Park: We walked to this house, because it's only five blocks from our church. It's in Mount Vernon, a neighborhood full of large, sweeping old mansions and townhouses (mostly apartments now) which is the cultural center of Baltimore. This house was built in 1875 as servants' quarters for a nearby mansion. It's a three story brick rowhouse, wider than most rowhouses you see in other parts of town. The first floor has an enormous living room with two lovely but nonfunctional fireplaces, a half bath, and a smallish kitchen with lots of light but not much storage space. A wide, pretty flight of stairs leads up to a broad, room-sized second floor landing with built-in shelves and another nonworking fireplace. There's a full bath there and a good-sized bedroom with yet another nonworking fireplace. (Four! Nonworking! Fireplaces!) Then there's a moderately steep twisty staircase to an attic, with one small and one medium bedroom. The whole house has a lot of original details: the original floors and moldings, the fireplaces, etc. It has a lot of antique character. There's also a lovely brick courtyard in back, very shady and private. Biggest minus of this house: only window air conditioning units. In a Baltimore summer, that's not insignificant. Biggest plus: the neighborhood rocks.
413 S. Ann: This house is in Fell's Point, one of Baltimore's oldest neighborhoods. It's on a nice quiet block, but it's only a couple of blocks away from a lively shopping-and-dining district. The house is easy walking distance to the Broadway Market and to Baltimore Harbor. (Easy walking distance to the waterfront! That would be so cool!) This house also has a lot of nice details: stained glass panels on the front windows (common in Baltimore), nice moldings and chair rails, original wood floors. There are two square living rooms at the front of the house, with a broad doorway between them, and then a tiny dining room with exposed brick and candle sconces on the walls. The kitchen is good-sized, with lots of windows, but the cabinets and appliances are older. This house also has a very sweet, attractively landscaped courtyard. The stairs to the second floor are the first big problem: they're the original stairs, quite steep and twisty. Then there are two rooms on the second floor that open into each other, one with a working fireplace, and a full bath. The laundry room is off the bathroom, which is nice. A flight of stairs lead up from one of the second floor rooms into a slanty-walled attic room that's pretty charming. So that's the other big problem: lack of privacy. We've been brainstorming solutions for overnight guests, and think we have it worked out, but it's definitely the case that the Park house has more privacy. This house has central air on the first floor, but the two upper floors have window units only.
After looking at these houses, and then going back and looking at the Clarkson house from yesterday, we realized that we've been househunting with buyers' eyes, not renters' eyes. The Clarkson house is in a neighborhood that's starting to swing upward, which would be great if we were buying in, but both Mount Vernon and Fell's Point are neighborhoods that we want to live in right now. They already have established restaurants and shops and cultural opportunities right there. And these two houses aren't any more expensive than the Clarkson house, to rent. The Fell's Point house is even cheaper.
So we're going to apply for both of these places. The house on Park is our first choice. If we get it, you all have to come and visit us there!
XXX Park: We walked to this house, because it's only five blocks from our church. It's in Mount Vernon, a neighborhood full of large, sweeping old mansions and townhouses (mostly apartments now) which is the cultural center of Baltimore. This house was built in 1875 as servants' quarters for a nearby mansion. It's a three story brick rowhouse, wider than most rowhouses you see in other parts of town. The first floor has an enormous living room with two lovely but nonfunctional fireplaces, a half bath, and a smallish kitchen with lots of light but not much storage space. A wide, pretty flight of stairs leads up to a broad, room-sized second floor landing with built-in shelves and another nonworking fireplace. There's a full bath there and a good-sized bedroom with yet another nonworking fireplace. (Four! Nonworking! Fireplaces!) Then there's a moderately steep twisty staircase to an attic, with one small and one medium bedroom. The whole house has a lot of original details: the original floors and moldings, the fireplaces, etc. It has a lot of antique character. There's also a lovely brick courtyard in back, very shady and private. Biggest minus of this house: only window air conditioning units. In a Baltimore summer, that's not insignificant. Biggest plus: the neighborhood rocks.
413 S. Ann: This house is in Fell's Point, one of Baltimore's oldest neighborhoods. It's on a nice quiet block, but it's only a couple of blocks away from a lively shopping-and-dining district. The house is easy walking distance to the Broadway Market and to Baltimore Harbor. (Easy walking distance to the waterfront! That would be so cool!) This house also has a lot of nice details: stained glass panels on the front windows (common in Baltimore), nice moldings and chair rails, original wood floors. There are two square living rooms at the front of the house, with a broad doorway between them, and then a tiny dining room with exposed brick and candle sconces on the walls. The kitchen is good-sized, with lots of windows, but the cabinets and appliances are older. This house also has a very sweet, attractively landscaped courtyard. The stairs to the second floor are the first big problem: they're the original stairs, quite steep and twisty. Then there are two rooms on the second floor that open into each other, one with a working fireplace, and a full bath. The laundry room is off the bathroom, which is nice. A flight of stairs lead up from one of the second floor rooms into a slanty-walled attic room that's pretty charming. So that's the other big problem: lack of privacy. We've been brainstorming solutions for overnight guests, and think we have it worked out, but it's definitely the case that the Park house has more privacy. This house has central air on the first floor, but the two upper floors have window units only.
After looking at these houses, and then going back and looking at the Clarkson house from yesterday, we realized that we've been househunting with buyers' eyes, not renters' eyes. The Clarkson house is in a neighborhood that's starting to swing upward, which would be great if we were buying in, but both Mount Vernon and Fell's Point are neighborhoods that we want to live in right now. They already have established restaurants and shops and cultural opportunities right there. And these two houses aren't any more expensive than the Clarkson house, to rent. The Fell's Point house is even cheaper.
So we're going to apply for both of these places. The house on Park is our first choice. If we get it, you all have to come and visit us there!
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Date: 2003-05-04 07:41 pm (UTC)MKK