Lets Begin....

Lets start from the beginning. I started looking at homes the beginning of this year to get an idea of what I wanted when the time was right, which I was planning on being late spring to early summer of 2006. As a first time homebuyer I wanted to get a feel for some features that I wanted in a house, so I just started driving around looking at houses on my free time. I found that the houses I liked and more importantly could afford were older homes that needed renovation. Well, within a few weeks of looking around I got the itch to move a little faster than I had previously planned and I came across a home in the historic Fountain Square area of Indianapolis.

Well, here I am now in the process of closing on the home. Much thanks to an enthusiastic local realtor who really knows the area well and is a great asset for someone such as myself who is looking at the Fountain Square area. The closing date is set for Feb. 13th, so I am excited.

About the home.....
According to the MLS sheet the house was built in 1921. The downstairs has a large living room with a connected dining room. Adjacent to the dining room is a den/office with glass pane doors. Walking from the dining room to the back of the house leads you to the kitchen, which is in desperate need of some help to put it lightly. The final room downstairs is a bedroom attached to the kitchen, the only bathroom in the house right now is attached to this room. I plan on gutting this whole back of the house and totally redoing the kitchen and bath. I haven't decided what to make of this bedroom yet. Located right at the front door, a staircase leads you to the upstairs which at one time someone gutted the and added two bedrooms. All of this will be completely removed and I plan on finishing the upstairs from scratch.
Some really neat features of the house are the original woodwork, most noteably the lead glass cabinets around a gas fireplace, there is also a stained glass window, and a large picture window in the front looking out towards the street. As with all of the old houses in the area there is a nice sized porch.

Here are some pictures of the house I took during the inspection.

Looking at the house from the front. The wood around the house is in desperate need of a new coat of paint and the front porch roof will have to be replaced.

The Living Room with those cool cabinets. The wallpaper and carpet must go!!! I am hoping to find the hardwood floors below the carpet in good shape so I can refinish them.



View from the den looking into the dining room. Being a single straight guy in my mid-twenties I don't think that pink is my color for the dining room and the wallpaper will be removed from the den. You can't find doors like that in a these new homes.



The Kitchen - I am going to completely gut this kitchen. May have to take it down to the studs and work out from there. Big advantage is that this is a pretty big room (15x13).



Here is the upstairs which I am completely gutting and renovating. There is alot to be done up there, but that will have to wait until I get the downstairs in working order.

The "Master Bedroom" is also upstairs and is going bye bye, hopefully late this summer. Until then it will have to do for my bedroom while work is going on downstairs.