So I have a crush on this house

The great house hunt has begun!

Yesterday I impulsively drove down a street because I'd never been down it before, and jabbed my finger towards a little brick ranch style. It had grass in front and a big tree in back, and a picture window the size of Minnesota. "THAT ONE," I told Meg. "I want a house like that one."

So after I got home I did a little online searching, and lo and behold that very one was for sale. It was even tidily within our price range. There weren't any interior pictures online and it was billed as a "handyman special," which didn't worry me much. After all, my parents bought a house that was a wreck and made it very nice, and if they did it so could I. I fell head over heels for it on the spot.

Driving home with Jonathan, we detoured by the place and checked out the yard. It had honeysuckle by the carport. I went home and emailed the realtor, who wrote back quickly saying his schedule was booked, but here was the code for the front door if I wanted to look around. (I love having codes.) Well! Talked me into it. This morning after Bible study Meg and I and my camera trotted our little selves right over there to look around.

It was even cuter by sunlight. I tried very hard to notice things realistically, like the driveway needing a load of gravel and some cracks in the brickwork. We went in to find the entire house had been gutted, doors, toilet, cabinets, kitchen sink and all, except for wood floors and the ceiling fans (oddly). It had the look of a house that needed total rewiring, and probably plumbing and a heater installed too. I have my suspicions about water damage on the ceilings and some external cracks from a tree. There was a basement, which was a relief, and you could see it through a hole where the tub used to be. The basement was dark and spider-webby and completely unfinished, but there might have been an upturned utility sink down there, presumably by the washer/dryer hookups.

I'm still enamored of the place. The rooms are generously sized and nice and bright. It could be so cute with a little love, and I could even do it. Learn to do it. With a small army of plumbers, electricians, concrete experts, roofers, and appliance installers. And someone to put in a second bathroom. The garden I could manage by myself, probably. Did I mention the back lawn was full of ripe strawberries?

Possibly not the house for us. But I hope someone will buy it who loves it.