You’ve seen the first and second floors of the Victorian, and the basement, too. Today, we’re heading up to the finished attic on the third floor for the last leg of the house tour.
This floor could still function as a standalone apartment, but cannot legally be rented out. As I understand it, once you convert a multi-unit home in Oak Park back into a single-family residence (as it was originally), it’s not easy to go back the other way. It could be a nanny suite or a family member could stay there, but we don’t intend to do either so I haven’t researched it further.
Behold! Our third kitchen!
Can you get a sense of scale from the photo? I love my wide-angle lens, but it makes everything look larger than it really is. The fridge is about as tall as I am, and the stove is tiny. This is the space that I thought would make a darling laundry room. Can’t you picture it? Of course, I knew that the gas and water hookups would have to be changed to accommodate a washer and dryer, and I had planned to talk to the structural engineer from our home inspection about the added weight. It’s not sounding like such a smart idea now though, after some of your comments about stress to the structure and potential water damage. She was a cute idea, the laundry room up there, but perhaps not meant to be.
The house’s third bathroom is across the hall.
There are also two small closetless rooms up here. One will be Brandon’s office, and the other will be a guest room.
And now, on to the kids’ favorite room in the house. We’ve already begun setting it up with their toys, and it’s going to be an amazing place to play.
There is a little door, about five feet tall, that leads to The Rainbow Room.
We live in ‘The Rainbow House.’ I’ll write more about the meaning behind that (besides the obvious in the stained glass), but the phrase has already come up in this video of me and Eleanor. When she refers to the rainbow secret passage, she’s talking about the closet with the stained glass window. August likes playing up there too, but Eleanor is in love.