Your pictures remind me of some of the houses I used to see while house hunting.
My late husband decided he wanted to move. Our house is already pretty big (3,000 sq ft) but he wanted fancier and bla bla.
Well, he was always working so I'd meet up with various Realtors (most of whom he knew because of his company). I'd swear them to secrecy that they wouldn't tell him I barely looked at the houses.
Why? Because all I could think of is trying to write out a check every month to pay for the things! Now this was back in the 1990's.
We were within a few months of owning our house totally and he decides he wants to move!! Ummmm...I thinking..that's crazy!
Like many of you ladies, I knew how to 'work' things to get what I wanted. I was a stay at home mom and was very happy with my life. My daughter was heading off to college and the other would follow in two years. That just wouldn't make sense.
Anyway, some of the stories I could tell you guys about visiting these (back then and for the DC/Va area they were mansions). But they were not like the one's you see on BRAVO's LA show though, not even close.
Anyway, this (sight-seeing houses) must have gone on for maybe as long as 6 or 7 months. Then he lost interest and I was relieved.
What made me think about all of this was the house I saw that was TOTALLY ALL black and white. It had white leather furniture in the living room, real leather. The couch was white leather, even the tables were black plastic looking with (swear to you) white leather inserts on top! Black toilet, black and white sink in bathroom. It would make you dizzy! People 'supposedly' lived in this house!
Another house was round. Well, the living room was round. Looking back, I can still see this curved living room. That's the main thing I remember about THAT house.
Another one had weird cubby holes and hidden spaces. I think that one had many 'alarms' all over it. THAT was the house I accidentally bumped against the wall and hit the EMERGENCY button (it was in the @#$ hallway). It went off and my youngest daughter was with me. She started screaming and the Realtor ran to the control panel and punched in some buttons and PHEW! it stopped. Who in the name of Heaven would want to live like that? I remember a few had those 'safe rooms'. I just stood and looked in. I wasn't about to walk into one of those rooms.
I won't bore you guys with some of the strange things in these houses. The houses themselves were like a regular house to me. Very little land. Right on top of each other.
@lolakimono I like it when you post these pictures because it brings back memories. Some funny, some makes me sad that my husband's not here to laugh about my memories. Some of what I've posted here he never knew about. The Realtors also swore me to secrecy because he'd have been angry that they weren't trying to sell me these houses.
Incidentally, the one house I took him to, he wanted to buy it. I talked him out of it.
Now it has been a long time since he died. I still live in the same house. I walk around and have such good memories about my girls, big family parties, etc.
I often think how lucky (yes lucky) I was that we didn't go hiney in debt buying those places because by now I'd have had to move because it would have been like starting all over paying for it.
I've met so many widows like myself and many of you. I have friends who (like me) have long paid for their houses and live in them alone. Yes, we're in the same boat.
But, I think GOD was looking out for me when I heard that voice in my head saying, "You don't want this house. Walk away".
I will leave you with one giggle. So, I must be honest and admit I did fall in love with a brown (milk chocolate) colored toilet and bathroom.
I talked my husband into redoing our hall bathroom and...yes, I got that chocolate colored toilet and bathroom. But we eventually decided to change it to a Kohler "Bique" colored bathroom. That toilet was a joke to our friends for a long time.
I think he put it in another house he was building. I know all of you widows will know what I'm talking about when I say how sad I feel when I realize I can't turn to him and say, "Honey! Where did you put that brown toilet of ours?"
That's what I miss. That's what all of us widows miss. Don't we ladies?
@lolakimono You always post the most amazing pictures. I'm curious. What design style do YOU prefer? My guess (because you have an amazing sense of style) is that your 'style' is a combination of many. You are one of the few (like my late husband) who can take anything and make it look amazing.
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