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If you have south-facing windows framed by stationary shutters, the non-operable kind that are screwed into the siding of your home, then you, too, might be curious to see what’s hiding behind them. Or not, depending on how brave you are 🙂
Long before we knew we’d be settling in Amherst, we thought about buying a house in the area. My husband had just gotten a position at the college, a position extendable for up to three years. The question was “should we buy or rent in the meantime? “ We decided to rent because as much as we loved it here, we wanted a permanent position as soon as possible so our family can start growing roots and feel like a part of the community. That being said, we had no intention of staying here longer than necessary and buying /selling in a whirlwind could have resulted in major financial loss – a risk which did not make sense to us at the time. Nevertheless, we had a peek at the market in those early days and one of the first houses we looked at still tugs at my heart strings so I thought I’d share it with you.
Last month, my husband and I attended a couple of open houses in our neighborhood. We’re renting right now but at that point we were contemplating the idea of buying our first home here in Urbana. It wouldn’t have been the wisest of decisions (and we knew that) since we’ll be leaving by the end of the year, but nevertheless, we wanted to get a feel of the market and see what’s available in our price range. We saw several houses of different sizes and styles (a handsome Georgian, a tiny bungalow and a Tudor style cottage) but my favorite was a sweet little Cape.
A couple of weeks ago I started a series of blog posts about a small Cape Cod style cottage that is for sale in our neighborhood. You can read the first post HERE. We won’t be putting an offer on the house but we were seriously thinking about it at some point. To make sure we were prepared, I had a virtual makeover planned to see whether this home could fit our needs and style.
Today I’ll share some of my ideas for the exterior. My starting point was a picture of a beautiful home in Lyme, Connecticut that I saved a long time ago for occasions just like this one. I think it’s made its way onto most of my wish-lists over the years because it scores so high on all aspects – architecture, scale, landscaping. The architecture is rooted in the American vernacular, which I adore, and the landscaping includes that ideal boxwood hedge and pickets the American dream is all about.
If you’re anything like me, you love a good home makeover. About a month ago, my husband and I went to a couple of open houses in our neighborhood. We are not on the market to buy right now, but were curious about what our options were in terms of housing. Historic Urbana has a great school district, it’s walking distance from shops, cafés, restaurants and it’s right across campus.
Known as the “faculty ghetto”, the houses are older than the majority of buildings in the area and are architecturally charming, inside and out. The brick-paved streets are lined with old trees that look particularly beautiful in the spring and summer months. In the fall, the foliage turns yellow, and brown and ruby red, and it’s just the prettiest thing to see. View Post