The $250,000. House

Wow! I had a trip down 'Memory Lane' today. I have a habit of about once every 3 or 4 years I drive by the house in which I grew up Today when I drove by, there was a 'For Sale" sign up. I have never had the opportunity to go through the house since the last time I left it in 1969. I called the Realtor, and Happy Day! it is currently empty. We made an appointment for about 30 min. later.

As I entered the front door, the first thing I noticed was that my mother's prized hardwood floors are completely covered up. "Marble" tiles are in the small entryway, the rest of the house is carpeted--with very pretty LIGHT grey carpeting. (Who in their right mind would put light carpeting in a 3 bedroom home?) The Realtor said the house had been purchased about 2 months ago by a speculator for $200,000, and that he had put 'quite a bit' of money into it. If that is true, he sure didn't get his money's worth! The paint job was poor, and the color choices throughout the house is HORRID!

Some of the changes were good ones--the horrid yellow metal kitchen cabinets were changed to wooden ones (but they weren't great quality). The built-in stove and double oven was replaced with a stand-in built in oven/range.

When I entered the main bathroom, I was Shocked at the horrid, awful pinkish color on the walls! When I mentioned it to the Realtor, we walked farther into the room...imagine my suprise to discover that the Original Bathtub (Pink) was still installed--along with the original Tiles! What is the chance of that? The bathroom sink and vanity was replaced. It had gone from the wall to the toilet. It was probably a 6' length. The new vanity starts about 2 feet from the wall. Who would chince on that? lame.

No more suprises in the rest of the back of the house, except that I had forgotten the high, long window that was so popular during that time in the Master bedroom. When I entered the livingroom I looked at the fireplace, which they had painted that wonderful red brick white. But imagine my delight to see that the wooden mantle my dad had built on was still there! Unpainted, still in excellent shape!

The final suprises lay in the back yard. Gone are all of Mom's beloved Rosebushes--not a climber left. Also gone are all the wonderful shade trees. They were mulberry trees, and it became fashionable to severely 'trim' them to nubbins, which killed many trees here in Fresno. But as I walked around the backyard, I could clearly see the circle where our Doughboy swimming pool had stood. How wierd is that? I'm sure that everyone that has lived there since wonders at the circle! It is even with the rest of the yard which makes it even more remarkable that the circle remains. Also left is the 6' x 8' plot at the back right corner where the compost pile stood. Dad built a fence back there so we wouldn't see the compost pile when we were outside. There is a huge sink-hole in the backyard. I'm thinking it is where the biggest fruited mulberry tree one stood. The one where the dogs loved to lay under, and my brother's dalmation's coat was always stained purple from the fruit.

Sigh! I love that house. Such wonderful memories reside there. Weddings, Girl Scout Meetings. A slide/swing set which my dad built resided in the generous back yard along with a built-in teatherball, the pool and a matching pole to the teatherball pole that held a badmiton net between them. My sister and I used to have races shimming up the matching poles, which I sometimes won, even though I was so very much shorter!

I hope a family that really loves that house moves in, and when they rip up the carpeting because it just will not hold up to a family they are delighted to discover hardwood floors underneath it!