Exterior & Garden• My Life• The Victorian House

The New House

I’d been waiting to share the house with you until everything was in order. We’re still waiting on the financing though, and that’s waiting on the appraisal. I believe it’s scheduled for this week, and then there will be further processing time after that. We were pre-approved for a larger mortgage than we would actually want or need, but pre-approval is different from underwriting. Our broker has been confident that we won’t have any problems, but I worry anyway.

I figure I can worry and share the house at the same time.

The Rainbow House

Part of me can’t believe that we’re getting this house. Part of me is still waiting for that other (financing) shoe to drop. We sold our house to buy this one. I have cried over it, not from worry or stress, but because I never thought I would live in a house so beautiful, that I loved so much. I’m being terribly schmaltzy, I know! I love it though. I love it.

One month after touring houses on the Wright Plus Housewalk and thinking about starting to look for a new house, we bought one. It turns out that the open house I stopped in on my way home — the house I talked to Brandon about in a wouldn’t it be nice if we could find a house like that kind of way — is the one we’ll be moving to at the end of August. We hope.

I shared plenty of photos from the MLS listings from two of the other houses we had considered buying. Both of those were estate sales though, so the homes were vacant. The house that we are buying is still occupied by the current owners, and out of respect for them, I won’t be showing detailed photos of the interior yet. It is gorgeous, but even staged to sell it is still filled with their art, furnishings, and personality. We’re scheduled to close on the house in late August, and I’ll go through and take plenty of pictures then (too many pictures, I’m sure!) to share.

The exterior is fair game though, right? Because whoa, the exterior.

Pink Roses on the Front Porch

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  • Alex - Hydrangea Girl
    July 17, 2013 at 3:08 am

    Holy shit. That house is an absolute dream. I look forward to living vicariously through you and your amazing new adventure :)

    xx A

    • Jen
      July 19, 2013 at 7:07 am

      Well said!!! It’s like a storybook house!! So happy for you (and a little envious!!)

  • Sheena
    July 17, 2013 at 6:51 am

    OMG, what a gorgeous Victorian-congrats! I can’t wait to see how you personalize it for your cute little family!

  • Hannah
    July 17, 2013 at 7:28 am

    WOW, congratulations!!! It’s gorgeous

  • Hanna
    July 17, 2013 at 11:15 am

    Amazing! I can’t wait to see the inside. It’s so gorgeous and really suits your style.

  • Katie Truelove
    July 17, 2013 at 10:27 pm

    So very happy for you guys! You deserve it and I know you’ve worked hard for it! I look forward to seeing all of your new projects in this beautiful home!

  • Tamisha
    July 18, 2013 at 7:07 am

    Oh, what a wonderful house! Buying a dream house is a wonderful experience. We closed four years ago this week. I have both loved and hated doing the work this house needed. But, I pinch myself everytime I drive up and park in front of it. Living in it makes me incredibly happy. It’s a rare and wonderful opportunity to live in a dream home. For so many of us, we settle on a house we can afford. It takes a different type of courage to buy the house you feel best represents who you are (on the outside) and then make the inside as reflective of your life as well. It takes a long time to get it there (we still have several large projects that need attending) but when I get discouraged, I look at the pics I took when we toured it. We have come a long way.

    Best of luck to you. Enjoy the adventure!

  • Caitlin@Our Natural Heritage
    July 19, 2013 at 9:50 pm

    So happy for you and your family! It is beautiful and I can’t wait to see the inside!

  • Kelly Cartwright
    July 20, 2013 at 1:58 am

    I think there’s more gorgeousness inside that house. The outside beauty of it is stunning. Congratulations for having the house!

  • Karen
    July 20, 2013 at 9:05 pm

    Absolutely divine!!!

  • Stephany
    July 22, 2013 at 12:30 pm

    Wow. That is a MAGNIFICENT house!

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  • Sarah
    July 22, 2013 at 2:16 pm

    This house is gorgeous! Can’t wait until we get to see the inside!

  • Hollie @ I'm Busy Procrastinating
    August 3, 2013 at 10:56 pm

    There just aren’t enough homes with character where I live, so we built our own. Next time around I hope to find a quirky older home with personality. Can’t wait to see the inside of this one, as it looks amazing from the outside!

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  • Trish
    August 15, 2013 at 4:53 pm

    This is the second time that I’ve returned to stare at the picture of your amazing new house and wonder “but what on earth is it?”! I’m British and it never occurred to me that “Victorian” on the other side of the pond would mean something so entirely different, that I’ve never even seen the like of it.

    Something crazy like a 6th of the UK housing stock is Victorian or earlier so I’ve been in lots of British Victorian houses (and lived a couple – as does pretty much every university student). To me it means red brick, terraced or back to backs and for the grander buildings – the gothic revival style. I suppose, the Arts and Crafts movement overlaps the Victorian era but that’s generally considered a distinct style.

    I know you’re pretty clued up on architecture so maybe while we’re all (not) patiently waiting to get a peek inside – could you please perhaps set the scene and give us a low-down on what “Victorian” means in the US? I am completely intrigued! What year is is? Does this particular Victorian style have a name? (When you’ve finished panelling the toilet with rulers of course!)

    Oh and congratulations!!!

  • rachael
    August 22, 2013 at 4:41 pm

    OMG obsessing over this house! So adorable! Congrats!!

  • Eileen Kelly
    August 22, 2013 at 10:04 pm

    Welcome Home!

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