And they call it puppy love

Saw a very cool house tonight. Many of our friends would have loved it and, had it not been so pricey, we would have referred several of our friends over for a look. Fisticuffs may have broken out on the front lawn.

H and I liked the house a lot too. And there are many compromises we are willing to make to get a more centrally located home closer to schools and downtown. (No ensuite; loss of 200 sq ft deck; smaller kitchen; no pantry; increased heating costs; etc.) But there was one small layout issue that we just weren't willing to compromise. Our current house has 3 bedrooms on one floor, and we quite like that setup. There are many other houses that also have this feature. We aren't that anxious to sell, so we can hold out for something we like better. (We hope that there will one day be something that we like better.) But it was cool, nonetheless. No virtual tour is available. So I shall attempt to describe the place here.

Cool house

You walk through the front door of the 1753 sq ft semi-bungalow, and into a tiled entranceway. To your right, there are maple hardwood floors in the library! All along one wall is a white painted floor to ceiling bookcase, with attached sliding wooden library ladder. Lots of windows in the front area, so lots of natural light.

From the entranceway, you walk up three tiled steps into a red tile foyer with a small alcove to your left suitable for display purposes.

Just past the alcove is the living area, which has hardwood floors. To the right is the dining room, with a beautiful original light fixture of pressed autumn leaves encased in glass. (J thought it was quite breathtaking). And to the left is the large living room, complete with bay window and woodburning fireplace. The fireplace is stone, with a wooden mantle. The stone extends upwards, with a cutout in the centre suitable for hanging a picture.

Continuing past the living area, you enter a hallway. To the right is a bathroom; nothing special. To the left is the stairwell to the upper level and, just past that, the master bedroom with a smallish walk-in closet.

Continuing past this hallway, you enter the kitchen, which is separated by a single french door. Oak cabinets, and an oven built into the cupboards. There is a large island with a built in dishwasher and countertop stove, and a side-by-side fridge/freezer unit. Some of the cupboards have glass faces, for display. The kitchen has a double sink, and a single sink on the other side. And then there is a nook at the end of the kitchen, with many windows, and a mudroom rear entranceway. Through the rear entranceway, steps lead to the basement.

The basement features two additional bedrooms, one of which has a sink and wiring for a kitchen. It also has a good-sized laundry room, a 3-piece bathroom with good-sized shower, and a family room. The family room has a cedar closet that lights up automatically when the door is opened. And it also has an (illegal, mind you) space-heater in the corner, that can't be turned on because of code violations, but could easily be replaced with a direct vent gas fireplace.

The upper floor features two bedrooms, each with walk-in closet, and a linen cupboard. Nothing special, but not too shabby either.

The house has a fairly new hot water tank, but a 25-year old furnace that would need to be replaced. Most of the windows are from the '80s, so they are decent enough.

Both front and back yards are large. There is a two-car sized garage with a single-car door and a workshop in the other side, and the garage has attic storage above. The back yard is fenced, and there is a gravel parking pad area beside the garage for additional parking.

The house sits on a corner lot, with one side abutting a very busy street. But you don't really hear the traffic noise in the house. It's in a very desirable area of town. And the house has a lot of charm, with arched doorways, and curved walls leading to the textured ceiling.

It was quite beautiful. But just not quite right for us, and so we will hold out. We have a very nice house, really. So when it's time to upgrade it, we'll find the right house at the right time. And that, my friends, is that.

WE DON'T CARE THAT YOU THINK WE SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT IT!!! SHUT UP!!!!

But it would have been absolutely perfect for L&P. And I bet they will buy it someday, when it goes on the market again.

On the way home, we took a detour to drive past a pretty little park, in which we saw two dogs doing the nasty. H started singing "And they call it puppy love". Hence the title of this post.