Elevator House
As promised, here are the details about our exciting new adventure. I’ve given you most of the details regarding the property and shared some pictures, but I am guessing some of you are waiting for details about the inside. Well, the wait is over.
The house was built in the mid-1990’s by a woman in her 70s. She intended to build the house with no running water or electricity because she wanted to live off the land. As the story was told to us, out of concern for her well-being, her children refused to help her unless she added those essentials to her plans, which she did. The house was built on a concrete slab, meaning there is no basement. The main floor of the house has in-floor heat, and no air conditioning. The floors are the original exposed concrete. They are stained and have hairline fractures from years of use and having never been sealed. The full bath on the main floor has exposed walls, and the kitchen has just a small wall oven and two burner cooktop. The second floor of the home is comprised of two bedrooms and a half bath, but there is no heat and the floors are the original plywood subfloors. Most rooms in the house are wallpapered (but not for long) and the sheet-rocked ceilings were never fully finished. In all, the house as it stands today is just over 1400 square feet, but we aren’t sure if that includes the attached single stall garage.
The most unique feature of the house, and the element that scared away most other buyers, was that the house has an elevator, and no steps. That’s not a typo. There are no steps to the second floor. Everyone calls it an elevator, but it's really a glorified electric dumbwaiter, and it is hidden behind what you would assume is a closet door. Upon stepping into the apparatus and looking up, you can see the ceiling of the second floor, it is not even a true shaft. It is incredibly slow and Jamie has often quipped that we could climb a ladder to the landing much faster. I have included a video for your viewing just so that you can get a feel for what it’s like to take the painfully slow ride from floor to floor. We’ve got much better at grouping our trips and asking if anyone needs anything before we ascend.
Elevator ride from the second floor to the first floor
While not the type of house that Jamie and I are accustomed to, it will be. Our loan is a home renovation that will allow/require us to replace the elevator, and update the current home’s flooring, kitchen, bathrooms, and heating and cooling systems. We will convert the existing garage into living space, and will replace all the windows and siding. We are also adding more living space in the form of two additional bedrooms, another bathroom, and living and dining rooms. A double garage is also in the plan. The mortgage lender gives us just a handful of months to get this all done, so it was a race ahead of closing to find contractors who could help us meet the tight deadlines. If my math is correct, we have to be all done and signed off by mid-January. We will get there…I just hope I have the patience required for this huge undertaking.
That’s enough for now. I will post more this weekend as we get used to having no hot water and prepare for a couple of months without plumbing. That’s right loved ones, Jamie and I are soon to be living in the same way that the original homeowner had wanted all along, I think they call it g-lamping. Virtual hugs to you all. Take care!
