Buy my house?

The Anniversary Home is officially on the market!

In fact, we have our first viewing this afternoon. I did a special tidy/clean last night, bought some pretty flowers and made sure to leave all the lights on this morning when I left for work. We'll see how long before my enthusiasm runs dry and I'm scrambling last minute to throw junk in drawers to make the house look decent. 

So friends, if you know anyone who wants to buy a beautiful Victorian farmhouse in Pennsylvania, please send them my blog or email. I'd be happy to put the hard sell on them tell them more about this fabulous house.

I mean, who wouldn't want to live here?

This vintage style Victorian with wraparound porch was the original home of the Mayor of the town and located in a great school district. Recent updates have made this home comfortable and inviting. New designer kitchen with Thomasville cabinets, farmhouse sink, over-sized center island, high-end stainless steel appliances, granite and new hardwood floors. Formal dining room adjacent to kitchen with tall pillars defining the space. Formal living room with hardwood floors and gorgeous wood pocket doors. Climb the grand, rich wood staircase to the second floor featuring a large main suite with a wall of windows, second bedroom and library / office with full hall bath. Third floor features two additional bedrooms, both generous in size and rich in woodworking. Existing stable barn, prime for renovations as family annex and currently acting as storage and two car garage. Home features hardwood floors throughout most of home, new roof, new gutters, new chimney capping, new carpets, new sand mound, well tank, etc.

John C. Walton

If you’re not into history, well, I suggest you go ahead and just skip this post.   And a disclaimer for the future:  I am a self-professed history nerd.  The history and stories attached to the Anniversary Home, and our village, were a deciding factor in choosing to move there. 

We’ve joked that our village is the Bermuda Triangle of the county.  It’s impossible to find on a physical map and it rarely exists on your average GPS.  Our home has three possible addresses when you do try to use your GPS or Google Maps.  Even people who’ve lived in the area their entire lives don’t know where it is. 

But once you find it, and settle there, it appears you stay for a long time.  The “newest” neighbors have been there 17 years.  The average is more about 30-35.  There’s one woman who’s been in town 50+ years.  We’ve been there one week and already causing quite a stir. 

We met several of the neighbors recently.  Everyone was incredibly gracious and welcoming.  “It’s so nice to have a young couple in the village.”  “Walter would be so happy to know such a lovely couple is in the home now.  And the husband is English!”  “You kids sure are ambitious for taking on this project.  Hats off to you.” 

One of our neighbors is the village historian and has published a book about the town’s founding with excellent research on the original residents.  Another neighbor runs an extremely successful Auction House and knows the origin of any object and local character associated with it from the last 100 years.  We’re in history heaven. 

A teaser of what we’ve learned so far?  Our village was established in the late 1800’s when a railroad line connecting the area to Philadelphia was built.  One man, John Walton, purchased a huge parcel of land around one of the train stops and began to build a small community.  He became the unofficial mayor of the town and built his home, one of the largest and grandest in the area, a short distance from the train station.  The local paper at the time gushed, rather enviously, about his large staircase and front porch.  The Anniversary Home, we now know, is locally referred to as the John C. Walton house. Well, I’ll be darned.

I’ll save more local history for later – there are plenty more stories to share.  And as for that staircase and front porch?  They’re still the envy the of the town.  With a little TLC, they might once again look the way they did when Mr. Walton was around. 

Foyer sneak peek

I have been promising for a while I would post some pictures of the Anniversary Home and I haven't forgotten.  What's that line?  Better late than never!  (And never late is better!)

Firstly, I only have pictures from the inside of the house.  I took them when we were under contract but not moved in.  I still need to upload the outside pictures too.  These are about as "before" as you can get.  Clearly we have our work cut out for us! 

Today's tour will start with the foyer.  It's probably my favorite part of the house even though its really just a hallway.  I don't exactly think we'll spend a lot of time in this room, but we fell in love with the staircase. 

Foyer with staircase and light fixture.

Who doesn't love that green and red?

If you look closely, you can sort of see the pocket doors in the living room.

Staircase again.

Radiator in foyer.

They are like this throughout the house.  Love.

Completely unpractical for actual lighting but very cute nonetheless!

Needs a little TLC but the end post is gorgeous.

View down the hall to the front door from the kitchen.

The floors need some TLC too.