I mentioned in my last post that we bought a house during a weekend visit to Providence.  It sounds more impulsive than it actually was.  I had tracked the Providence East Side housing market for a while, comparing listing prices to sale prices, noting how many days an appealing home tended to stay on the market, trying to determine whether we could afford to buy a home that would meet most of our needs without requiring substantial renovations or upgrades.

We contacted realtor David Hasslinger who had helped Jeff’s sister Debbie to sell her home, and gave him a list of eight homes that we wanted to see.  He arranged a very efficient Saturday of home touring for us, even finding a slice of time in the middle of the day for lunch.  We saw all the homes, ranging from major fixer-uppers to lovely completed renovations.  None felt just right, however, so we figured to make a few more weekend house hunting trips during the spring and summer.  Dave told us about one more house that we should see, coming on the market the next day with an open house.  Jeff and Sophie and I arrived at the start of the open house on Sunday, walked in, looked at each other and said “wow”.  The wow feeling continued unabated as we walked slowly through the house and yard.  So much light!  Such pretty floors!  A modern kitchen!  We smiled at the funky blue fixtures in the upstairs bathroom, said “oh, well” about the odd feather pattern wallpaper on the stairs, and started imagining new wall colors and furniture placements.

Technically, our new home meets a lot of our stated criteria: three blocks from the running and bike paths of Blackstone Boulevard, a short walk to other things (like The Butcher Shop Cafe and Deli!), about 2300 square feet of living space, a lovely small yard, a nice kitchen, a garage, move-in ready condition.  It flunked on other measures: only one full bathroom, laundry in the basement, no bedroom on the first floor.

But our glass is much more than half full.  When I climb the stairs to the bedroom I will pause halfway to enjoy the pretty view from the big window on the landing. I will put some comfortable seating in the basement laundry area where I can read or listen to podcasts while I wait for the laundry to finish.  And I’ll enjoy figuring out where to put a new second bathroom!