Coming Home

Our house is a very, very, very nice house…life used to be so hard, now everything is easy ‘cause of you. ~Graham Nash

You probably think that I haven’t written lately because I was so busy recuperating from my fantasy birthday party. As exhausting as entertaining people in my mind was, I didn’t really understand exhaustion until we moved into our new house last month.

My husband and I had always had some vague plans to move into a new house, one that we picked out together, “someday.” All we really knew is that we wanted something that provided one-story living. We were also pretty sure that we wanted to stay in the North Hills of Pittsburgh. Occasionally we would window shop online – looking at condos and other suitable properties in the North Hills in our price range, even though we were in no position to buy.

We thought we found THE place when we fell for this funky little modern condo in a converted schoolhouse, but the financing didn’t work out – it turned out to be a little too avant garde for a conventional mortgage. We were crestfallen, and thought that we would never find a place we liked as well. Ah, but you know how infatuations can be. You think you found the perfect one and when it doesn’t work out, you think you’ll never find another one quite as good, but there is invariably something so much more special and perfect for you out there.

Pat, our friend and real estate agent, realized this. She took the liberty of sending us the listings for some properties that fit our admittedly short “wish list.” One of the properties was a duplex condo unit very close to where our choir rehearses. It looked more like a house than a condo in the pictures but the living area was all on one floor, and it was well within our budget, so we thought we would take a look at it.

When we walked in, we found ourselves in an expansive living room with a cathedral ceiling and a beautiful wood-burning fireplace. With a second-story loft off the living room that provided some unique and interesting architectural detail to the room without actually revealing the loft itself, the total effect was, well, kind of breathtaking.

As we went from room to room, we got more and more excited. The kitchen was a decent size with a very functional layout, a pantry, and was open to the dining room. And the dining room opened onto a large wooden deck. For people who didn’t care at all about outdoor space, we got pretty jazzed about that deck. The two bedrooms were large with lots of closet space.

And- are you ready?- there were two full bathrooms AND a coat closet in the little foyer when you walk into the house AND an attached one-car garage large enough that we could actually park the car in it. None of this might excite you, but, trust me, after living in a house with the coat rack in the living room, a garage that was too small for the car, and just one bathroom, I was practically teary-eyed at the thought of these features. Heck, the last time I lived in a house that had a powder room was in 1988, and I don’t ever remember living anywhere with two full bathrooms.

Before we left that day, we were starting to decorate the house in our minds. We’d have to buy a grill for the deck. We chose bathrooms and which side of the closet we would each have, and my husband thought that the spare bedroom would be a great place for the piano.

Anyway, we bought the house. If anything, it has turned out to be more perfect than we ever imagined it would be. The house and we belong together. What has been most amazing is how all our stuff- an eclectic mix of things that my husband and/or I have purchased or inherited along the way- all just have found their places in this new house. Sometimes I just look around and can’t believe it’s ours.

Of course, home isn’t a place or a building. It’s people. It’s family. I am at home whenever I am with my husband, or my son, or our families. But we are grateful to have such a beautiful house in which to make our home together.