13 March 2010

House No. 1



A smallish cottage out in the country, House No. 1 was built in 1930 and has been renovated and expanded. The MLS listing features several photos of: the wood-burning fireplace; the slate-floored kitchen; the light-filled dining-room; the French doors, the French doors and the French doors. But it was this photo that particularly held my eye. It would be like waking up in a treehouse, to see all these blooms and branches outside, from your bed. Magic.

The visit this morning did not disappoint, though perhaps a bit of the glimmer was worn off. First, the drive: 30 minutes on a road threading its way through farms and woods. I've made this drive before, to visit my favorite local winery, and always found it charming and relaxing. Somehow I get the distinct feeling said charm and relaxation will dissipate in the early morning and nightly commutes.

The train tracks we didn't mind. Honest. A passenger train came along once while we were visiting, and it wasn't loud and sped along nicely. A privacy fence would easily block the view of the occasional passing train, but not the Blue Ridge in the distance. The view from the front windows and screened-in porch was pastoral enough to please Pan: a rustic farmhouse in the distance, with fields and fields shorn golden.

The lot is a long, narrow 2 acres. It has magnolias, a maple, dogwood and a fruit tree right out front. Little purple flowers were already blooming in the wooded area, and I could see bulbs had been planted in nooks and crannies.

Magic. Magic. Magic.

Not-so-magical: No Internet access unless one uses an air card; no garbage pick-up; and the oil tank is a 1,000-pound silver beast snoozing in the side yard. (To be sure lattice and trailing vines could do wonders for that.)

We had lively visions of trading in the stick-shift and four-door for a Subaru and vintage pick-up truck. Of a firepit in this corner of the yard and Anthropologie tablecloths upon the little table on the porch. But the Internet connection may be a deal-breaker.

Verdict: Lashings of magic, and enough prose to please the parents. But this would be a better country vacation home than a primary residence.

2 comments:

  1. I hate it when magic meets reality. But I'm glad the first experience was still great. I have high hopes for this!

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