THE SEARCH FOR THE NEXT GOTHIC MANSION

In addition to the downsizing and packing, the past two months have also been spent madly searching the real estate listings for our next Gothic Mansion. Back in February, the insomniac inadvisedly “signed up” to receive emails of new listings in towns we were interested in relocating to. Evidently, “signing up” doesn't mean one will receive computer generated emails with new listings, but rather that one will be contacted by a real live realtor who will personally send emails of such listings. And contacted one was. Almost immediately. The insomniac gave the realtor a list of towns, said we were looking for a Character Home, and that we weren't opposed to purchasing a fixer-upper.

The realtor promptly emailed us details of properties she thought we'd like ...

It may have been built in 1904, but what happened to the character?

After having sent a number of emails for houses practically identical to the above, and having received in return a number of replies saying they weren't exactly what one had envisioned when specifying a Character Home, the realtor has likely placed our file in the Tire Kicker Folder, as we haven't heard from her since.

The listing for the above house has lately been updated to include the following: “The house is now being listed for the value of the lot only. The kitchen water pipes have burst which caused damage to the main floor and partial basement. You can either fix the damage or bulldoze and build new. Seller motivated, so call for details today!”

Bulldoze appears to be the wisest choice ...

Having reached the point where one was beginning to despair of ever finding anything suitable, last week the insomniac stumbled across a very exciting property. An old church and manse located in a small town 45 minutes northwest of Calgary, it was zoned commercial/residential. Visions of renovating the church as our home and creating a retail space in the manse for Insomniac's Attic were dancing throughone'shead, and arrangements were made to view the property the following day.

That night, anticipation made sleep even more elusive than usual. Ever the joker, the spouse kept nudging the insomniac and saying things like “ Have you figured out the floor plan yet?” “Oh, without question it should be an open concept, and we can get some Gothic arches from an architectural salvage place and separate the living areas with those!” Silence for a few minutes, another nudge and, “Have you got the tapestries hung yet?” “Oh yes, the Morris Woodpecker tapestry can go just below those Gothic niches carved in the north wall!” A few minutes later, “What about the loft?” “Well, obviously that will become the sewing and crafting area, and maybe we can add a spiral staircase up to the belfry so a certain someone can sit up there when she can't sleep. Maybe the computer could go up there, too.” This went on for at least an hour, until the insomniac finally gave up and spent the remainder of the night searching Google for ideas on renovating church interiors.

Little Gothic Church

Needs a little work, but what incredible potential ...

When the insomniac says the town is small, she isn't kidding. Our neighbours would have been the General Store ...

Fireworks, Cold Drinks, Ice Cream and Coffee. Perfect.

... and The Saloon. Which, at the time of this writing, is also for sale.

Wings on Wednesday. It doesn't get much better ...

Although the church was listed as the commercial property and the manse as the residential, the realtor thought it would be acceptable to reverse their usage. On the drive home we decided to put in an offer, but before calling the realtor back, the insomniac thought she should check with the county Planning and Development department to confirm whether renovating the church as a residence was permissable. Unfortunately, they advised it was not.

And so the search continues. Although having just finished watching The Hobbit tonight, the insomniac has now decided how awesome it would be to live in a hobbit-hole. But that would probably be even harder to find than another Little Gothic Church. Or a Character Home ...

Until next time, the insomniac wishes you nights of blissful sleep filled with pleasant dreams. Goodnight, my pretties.

IA

Posted by Tutik W