When you open my newly painted lemon yellow front door and enter our new home you step directly into a narrow hallway where you are immediately met by an overbearing newel post that has greeted guests for one hundred years. The original wooden stairs and baluster transition to a "newer" oak floor which winds its way through the entire lower level. Upstairs the transition goes from old wooden stairs to an equally old cedar wood floor. It is a chaotic and lovely mishmash of milled planks that have supported many steps of many folks. I understand the curiosity of "if this house could talk" now.
When we were searching for a home in Alexandria the picturesque farm style exterior with the big porch in a semi-urban welcoming neighborhood so appealed to me. When our realtor brought us to see the house we walked into that cramped and dark hallway and thought "no way". But, if you look closely at the picture you might see what we ultimately saw ~ a narrow, dark, old hallway that leads to a large sun-filled formal dining room (you cannot see the sloping foundation here) that leads to the modern addition of a spacious kitchen and a light and airy great room (which then leads to the most charming backyard).
Our new home could not be more different from our family home of 25 years ~ an Eichler built in 1950 to offer affordable housing for families post World War II. An Eichler is built on a slab. No basement, no crawl space even, certainly no attic. When we bought it in 1995 we selected it completely on the basis of "this is what we can afford". Thomas hated the cheapness of the construction so over the years we added sheet rock and double paned windows and a modern kitchen with the exact appliances I wanted. We transformed the backyard into our personal outside oasis with a beautiful redwood deck constructed by Thomas' hand. When you walked in the front door of that home the flooring flowed from sunlit room to sunlit room. We came to love that house.
Yesterday my new induction stove top arrived and Thomas walked around the entirety of the house with the electrician trying to figure out how get to the crawl space to add the electricity we need. They explored the basement and all around the exterior of the house with no luck. There is some mysterious box in the utility closet that Thomas will be exploring with a skill saw where he is hoping to find access to the crawl space. Unlike our Eichler which, like a crab, had an exoskeleton that allowed easy access to everything construction related, we are now living in an enigma of a house. The previous owner is nowhere to be found and we are winding our way through the riddle of our new home.
As I have come to know (and not know) this house I am cognizant of the metaphor it offers me. There are so many layers to peel away. I entered this world into a dark and narrow hallway with well meaning bewildered parents who fit together like old wooden steps and newer oak planks. Through the years that hallway was painted with lighter and brighter colors. As I was winding my way through life I left that hallway to enter a light-filled room with a foundation that needs work. And then my life opened into that spacious kitchen with a great room of high ceilings and windows showcasing the most charming patio and backyard. That room that is filled with the light and warmth of the sun welcomes me to take in the newness of what my life has now become.
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