1208 Kelly Blvd., Springfield, OR, the house I grew up in, is for sale.This 759 square foot beauty features two bedrooms and one bath. It has an "open floor plan" which, in this particular case, means that it would be crazy to waste the space between the living room and the kitchen with a wall.
As can see in this photo gallery, petty bourgeois indulgences like dining tables and/or space will not be a temptation. And check out that sweet gate (can I get a close up of that ironwork?) which is wide enough to allow you to park a vehicle in the back yard, should the garage, driveway, street, and tire-rutted side yard not be enough capacity for all your vehicles.
The immediate area features several unpaved streets, so male youngins can partake in the neighborhood tradition of rock fighting and making long skid marks with their bicycles. (I have no idea what a girl might do in this neighborhood. Not sure there were any when I grew up. Well, not at the rock fights.)
Can a family of four, two dogs, and two birds live comfortably in such space? No. No, they cannot.
How much would you pay for this fine house and piece of solidcitizen history? An astounding $165,000. I shit you not.
I stalked your old house yesterday. You accurately capture its smallness in your post. Ben's parent's house a block from yours, was 800 square ft. They more wisely knew there was no point in trying to sell it for money, any amount would have been hilarious/ridiculous. So they demolished it. Replaced with 2000 sq ft manufactured home. Perhaps you could tell the current owners of your old house of this possibility... anonymous note left in their mailbox?
ReplyDeleteMy parents' house in central NJ--three BRs, one bath, unfinished basement, mebbe 800 sq ft--went for $55k in 1978 and $225k in 2002.
ReplyDeleteI still cry a little when I drive by; if I had the walking-around-money, I might just buy it.
AP
I owned 1208 between mid-2011 and late 2015. No, I did not pay anywhere near $165,000 for it. :D
ReplyDeleteI did a fair bit of work on the house (check photos on Zillow) and sold it in September 2015 for a tidy profit.
Yanking the colossally ugly woodstove out of the living room made a huge difference, as did painting...anything but just plain white. The original hardwood floors were actually quite lovely, though you'd have never known it since they were buried under cat-piss-stained carpet.
It was a great house for a single guy and his dog. It was substantially less comfortable once my girlfriend moved in with her pet in tow.
I cannot imagine having more than two people living there for an extended period. My sympathies.