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4 bedrooms (2088 sf), a laundry room by the KIDS bedroom where I always wanted it, a fireplace, a built-in bookcase for my Lladros, an eat-in kitchen nook, kitchen is smaller than I wanted but plenty of cupboard space and a PASS-THROUGH (maybe some barstools can go there, too!) so I can still talk to and communicate with everyone relaxing in the living room while I cook, TILED floors (entry way, hallway, and kitchen), a gas HEATED pool I didn't really think of at this time (that was for my dream house) WITH professional landscaping, including palms, the non-hot perma-stone, AND a chimenera (the terracotta outdoor fireplaces - I've wanted one for YEARS). The fireplace is gas log, it has a complete surround all the way to the ceiling of oak paneling with raised molding - VERY elegant. The hearth is an oak surround, with MARBLE tiles on it. I didn't really want a formal living room again, 'cause even on the most special occasions we never ate there, BUT it is part of the great room, with a chandelier, and space for the piano, so it will do. Bedrooms are GOOD sized, and Leslie immediately grabbed the medium sized room because she loves the view of the pool from her generous window and the gun-_meta_l green (darker than sage, softer than colonial green) of her new walls and the beam running through the ceiling. Jenny snagged the front room, almost as large as the master bedroom, because she has a palladium window. All the bedrooms have lofted ceilings, but it is done in a ..polyhedron? - its not a straight up thing - the walls at ceiling height are slanted in, and then the ceiling goes straight across to the other slants. The feeling of openness is GREAT. I get the good-sized bedroom next to the laundry as my office sewing room - and it looks pretty spacious compared to this tiny room I have now. It has a palladium window too! The kids bathroom is medium sized, and what I thought was a tub shower with a curtain turned out to be a sliding glass door behind it - something else I've decided is a MUST. The master bedroom is pretty huge, a walk-in closet in it. Palladium window there, too, but the dark, dark, dark maroon walls gotta go. The master bath has a separate 2 sink vanity, with a mirrored full sized closet on the opposite wall!, then you walk into the main part, where the garden tub is a jacuzzi! and a separate shower - both things I always wanted. The bathroom is big enough to swing a cat in, which is also a dream-house must (not that I'd swing a cat, you understand). Toilet is in its own little room. The front is shrubbed in an evergreen that is NOT juniper (I hate juniper) and has two oaks in front, too. Vinca (periwinkle) and some litle shrub ground cover things with purple flowers abound. The front porch is a brick facia floor, lighter than the red brick of the house. The stoop is lofted, and the light is a hanging black wrought iron chain thing. The two car garage IN THE BACK (another dream house plan) is oversized, has shelving units running the full length of one wall and larger shelving units on the front wall. A slab out back can park 3 cars, if needed. Another dream house thing - an intercom and whole house radio. The pool area is a dream. The pool is curved, not quite kidney shaped. It is gas heated. Anyway, the pool has a rim of dark blue tile, very pretty. The non-hot permastone means the stone doesn't get hot in the sun, so you can still walk on it without burning your feet. There is a lounging area and a bar-b-quing area. Comes with a satellite dish and cable hookup. The one thing I didn't check for was ice make capabilities in the kitchen - sink is opposite the fridge so it may not be...hmmm...the dishwasher is the ONLY new appliance - and its a Whirlpool with the silverware in the door feature! LOL. I will need to get a new stove and the microwave they have is on a cart - I may do something about that... The kitchen needs a remodel BAD. Hubby is excited about the thought of taking down the cupboards and sanding off the white paint to see if we really do have wood cupboards that match the lovely OAK that surrounds the fireplace. The chips in the paint indicate it may be. It needs a new stove (just for cosmetic purposes) and the sink's gotta go. So do the counters. They are cream-white formica, with backsplash - but stained and chipped. The wallpaper is a hideous green with HUGE flowers - at one time the kitchen looked very French Provencial - but the age and fading, and chipping and general decline makes it look tired. We might be able to do that under $2,000 if the cupboards are good! Otherwise, the roof and the new energy efficient A/C heating unit are only 2 years old - a MAJOR selling point. Oh, the cream colored carpets have been badly stained by the cat and dog, the owners are doing a massive cleaning, but will not replace - so that looms on the horizon. I may go darker than cream, to hide dirt. I'd also like to put down saltillo tile on the bare concrete patio with a vine arbor! It faces out on the pool and can be made to look quite lovely, if one takes a little time and care... Oh yeah, double front doors - ANOTHER dream house feature, and beveled glass windows in them (ANOTHER DH feature) - but it's not a fluer-de-lis as I thought - it is a sort of tulip looking thing - still very pretty. Doors need refinishing bad. Probably hire someone to do that...maybe. Hubby is antsy to do tool-guy stuff. Entryway looks through the whole house and OUT to the pool area - when you walk in the front door, you are struck by the fireplace and to the side, the inviting pool area... That's all I can think of for the moment...this was the second time in this house - the first time I did not notice the dream-house aspects, but I guess my subconscious did...interesting. We looked at many houses after that, with more square footage and lots of extras that really zinged, but this house kept popping back in my mind...a second look made me see why. Merry
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