We interrupt our normal culture kvetching to bring you glad tidings of great joy: we bought a house today! I am writing this from the attic bedroom which will, with a little luck and a whole lot of elbow grease, become a lovely master suite by, say, the year 2059. Yes, there's a lot to do, but we are thrilled with our home. It's a 1925 brick colonial in East Hyde Park, Cincinnati. It has loads of charm: hardwood floors on the first and second floors, a small but recently updated kitchen, a basement garage from the 20s that the previous owner turned into an office space with (praise the saints!) a separate entrance for all the shipping and receiving I do for work. Our dog is going to like the little fenced-in yard we have, plus a goldfish pond. It's a good thing she is very old and practically blind or I would worry about her trying to eat the fish. I think they're safe with our geriatric spaniel.
The house has some quirks, not the least of which is this totally bizarre w.c. off the kitchen. It's just a toilet in a tiny closet -- no sink, no room to turn around. Yuck. Phil is going to take it out this weekend and we will transform that space into a pantry with the help of shelving solutions from The Container Store.
One of our priorities is to get our guest room in order come fall. We are hoping to see lots of you friends and family members! You will love our neighborhood: we're 3 blocks from Starbucks and a couple more blocks from a really neat indy coffeehouse, The Coffee Emporium. They have fantastic hot chocolate and baked treats. (I feel odd writing and thinking about scones when I am staring at this picture of a gaping toilet.) We are also within four blocks of four different Asian or South Asian restaurants! I can smell the Indian and Thai food from my house when the windows are open . . . I am thrilled to be able to walk to restaurants, yoga class, the doctor, the corner grocery, the pharmacy, the ice cream store, the hair salon. After seven years in the country, it feels amazing. But we have the bucolic advantages too: we are just two blocks from the entrance to Ault Park, one of the oldest and largest parks in the city. Jerusha is going to love it.
Come and visit!
Yahoo for you, boo-hoo for me here in Lexington!!! I'm so excited for you all!
Posted by: Lisa | June 29, 2006 at 09:03 PM
I posted some of the same information on the Theologiggle blog, theologiggle.blogspot.com. We will need to start posting before and after pictures, so people can review the changes.
Posted by: Phil Smith | June 30, 2006 at 10:35 AM
Congrats Jana!! :) The house looks and sounds wonderful. Have a latte for me at The Coffee Emporium. :)
See you in a week or so at ICRS!
-Leslie
Posted by: Leslie | June 30, 2006 at 10:37 AM
Jana (& Phil), this is great!! It looks like a lovely house. Hope it doesn't make you too busy to come to Sunstone, since I'll actually be going this year.
JaneAnne
Posted by: JaneAnne | June 30, 2006 at 02:49 PM
Congratulations! After all those years of waiting, you deserve it! Happy nesting...
Love, Ron and Deb
Posted by: Debra Rienstra | July 02, 2006 at 12:04 PM
Congratulations! Enjoy the Coffee Emporium (home office, part deux?)....
Posted by: Susan Elia MacNeal | July 03, 2006 at 10:15 PM
Congratulations! Jack's sister lived in Hyde Park for a few years and loved it. What a great city! We'll have to hook up with you for some La Rosa's Pizza and Gold Star Chili sometime!
Posted by: Jack and Sharon Brown | July 05, 2006 at 12:22 AM
That's how all the toilets are in Australian houses, in a little separate closet that small. If you ask for the bathroom, you get directed to a room with a tub, sink, etc. but no commode. At first, I thought it was a little crude to have to say, "Which way is the toilet?" but that's all there is, so it made sense.
I actually grew to like these separate accomodations, as a missionary, because two people could attend to their bodily needs at a time without infringing on each other's privacy. It really improves traffic flow rather than having everything in one room.
Another civilized thing about Aussie toilets was that they had half and full flushing capacity, so you didn't have to waste a full bowl of water just to get rid of some yellow.
And that is all I have to say today about toilets and related details, on this blog at least! Congrats very much on the charming-sounding house and neighborhood, and I hope to visit one day.
Posted by: Christopher Bigelow | July 05, 2006 at 06:18 PM
Congrats on your new digs. Sounds interesting...and sounds like your kind of neighborhood! I remember you said you toured ours last summer and were looking for something with that new urbanism feeling possibly? How much lawn does Phil need to mow now ;)? Best wishes!
Posted by: Jessica | July 06, 2006 at 01:01 PM
Very lovely, congratulations. Welcome to the real estate tax rolls. I offer you the new-old house blessing: May it not break too soon, Lord. (We had a bathtub stop working in the first month of of first old house. It was fixed by making a very large hole in the kitchen ceiling.)
Posted by: Marcia Z Nelson | July 07, 2006 at 06:19 PM
Quite lovely. Welcome to the real estate tax rolls. I offer you the new-old house blessing: May it not break too soon, Lord. (We had a bathtub stop working in the first month of our first old house. It was fixed by making a very large hole in the kitchen ceiling.)
Posted by: Marcia Z Nelson | July 07, 2006 at 06:20 PM