Special Delivery!
This morning I recieved the COLOR, FINISHED copy of Twist & Loop! I'm SO excited - it's absolutely lovely - and I cannot WAIT until this is actually on the market (10/24!!) I'm hoping that the beauty of the photos and simplicity of the instructions will make even those who can't see themselves as wire knitters feel the need for some wire between their fingers.Striving for Contentment
We're winding down our week here - we've had SUCH a wonderful time (and, as Gerry said yesterday, he'd love to stay another week because he feels that he's barely scratched the surface of understanding the Twin Cities!) I asked Hannah the other evening if she liked it well enough to move here and she said, exasperated,"Mawwm, I WISH you would just move us here and stop asking - of course I love it!"
She's expressing what we all feel - we'd move here tomorrow, but we need to get the ducks in a row, having everything fall into alignment, make the pieces fit together - all of those analogies - before we can transplant our roots in MN soil.
At this point we're down to 2 houses that we'd be happy in - but in all honesty if neither one came through, just SEEING these houses gives us a nice sense of hope that there WILL be more (perhaps even better for us?) on the market. We also saw a lovely house yesterday which is a little pricey for us, but when we arrived the mom and her two little kids were still there (hadn't driven off yet) and, of course, we bonded and my Max became buds with her son, Max. We probably won't take the house (sadly - it's a lovely home!) but I felt like I'd made a new friend - we both were on the point of weeping to leave our respective neighborhoods - and she assured me that we'd "fit in beautifully" in the area.
Those of you who are familiar with the Twin Cities, I'd love your feedback on these two properties:
PORTLAND AVE- Minneapolis
Pluses
Nice sized living room
Nice sized dining room
Nice bedroom layout
Lots of closets
Breakfast nook
Nice backyard (simple, but not tiny)
Nice wood floors
Not remodeled or updated (this is a plus if it brings the price down as we can redo and decorate as we want.)
Right near Minnehaha Pkwy, very close to bike and walking paths and very close to 7th Level Park (lots of kids activities)
Kitchen will have to be redone (see "not remodeled")
2 car easy-access garage
Minuses
House on a Busy Street
Airplane noise (worst between 5-6, according to neighbor who's lived there for a year and says she still can't quite get used to it - but she also says that it's not so bad at other times, and that other neighbors say they don't notice it anymore...)
Kitchen will have to be redone (new floor, new appliances and cabinets)
Basement oddly configured (but clean and not bad)
Garage foundation has major upheaval (big crack - what's going on down there?)
Yard has soft spots (Danger, Will Robinson?)
SARATOGA (St. Paul)
Pluses
Quiet Street
Move In Condition
Office Space on Ground Floor
Nice landscaping at back and side of house (= nice space on either side of house, unusual in the houses we've seen)
Nice Mud Room
Nice Basement (clean and finished, but not "redone" - simple!)
Nice layout of house
Minuses
Odd shaped living room (hard-to-use porch space included in Living Room)
Remodeled kitchen not really to our taste
Not loving the re-do of the breakfast nook
Carpeting throughout upstairs (we're a no-carpet family due to allergies, we'd have to remove it)
4 smallish bedrooms instead of 3 larger ones.
Single car Garage
6 blocks from "just okay" park
As I said, if either of these don't work out, we won't be heartbroken. But so far they fit the bill better than any other houses we've seen - and both of us feel that we could be very happy in either home. I'm interested in comments from those who may know these areas...
Tappa Tappa Tappa
As I was writing this entry I looked out the window and what did I see but a woodpecker taking a nibble from the deck. Heck, it's not my deck - I'm here for the wildlife (so I snapped a few shots, THEN shooed it away...)
posted by Annie at
Friday, September 01, 2006
25 Comments:
I love the one on Portland. One of the girls I work with lives on Portland and loves it.
I'd say neither home looks right for you just yet...but that woodpecker is so cool, I love when one comes to my yard for a visit. Continued happy house hunting.
I'll try to hook up with you somewhere along the way of your Chicagoland trip to say hello.
What exciting stuff to contemplate! Glad you're enjoying our town!
The Portland house is close to lots of parks, my son's school, etc. The airplane noise is something, though.
And I'm not sure about where Saratoga is, so I can't help there.
I took your lace class at Creative Fibers earlier this year -
I live in St Paul and have been following your stoy with interest. I may be partial, but with the airport noise as a huge minus, I favor the house on Saratoga over the one on Portland. However, if the Saratoga house is in your general price range, I would keep looking for a house w/ a two car grage if you are a 2 car family. There are a lot of houses on the market in Highland/Mac-Groveland/Merriam Park neighborhoods in St Paul and you might find a better fit.
I enjoy your blog. I grew up in Bloomfeld, NJ, not far from where you are, but now live in Blue Bell, PA. I know nothing about MN, but my 16 yr old daughter, also a knitter, would say the photo of the house on Portland gives off 'cozy knitting vibes." Over the past ten years we've moved and lived all over the US and in Victoria, BC. Good luck with your search.
I don't know the area but I live in a house on a busy street. My kids are 9 and 6, and I am not comfortable letting them play in the front yard by themselves. We live in a safe neighborhood too, but I have nightmares about kids chasing balls into the street when a car is zooming past. That's my opinion. Good luck!
Architect weighing in with the scary stuff: Big cracks in foundation = BAD. Ditto that ivy - who knows how good the exterior shape is in.
Removing an interior loadbearing partition (the smallish bedrooms) and some redecorating are both cheaper and easier for amateurs than fixing major structural stuff.
I don't know anything about that particular area but the soft spots on the lawn and the upheaval in the garage could be portents of structural damage to come.
Before I bought a house that I knew I was going to remove the carpet from I would want to know what was under it.
Remodeling kitchens is COSTLY.
If you aren't under any particular time constraints I would keep looking. There are too many important cons on your lists.
Annie, that neighbor's description of the airport noise? Have someone help you translate from the "native Minnesotan" language there. "Worst between 5 and 6", "Can't quite get used to it" and "not so bad at other times" likely mean "you won't be able to have a conversation between 5 and 6, inside or outside", and "it's really disruptive and annoying, and I don't know how other people can live with it, 'cause I'm barely coping with it", and "at least it's not this bad 24 hours a day."
The Portland house is pretty, but the location has problems. And in your price range, I think you can do better than the one on Saratoga. There is a big pocket of great houses in the Linwood Park area (Victoria & St. Clair) in St. Paul. Merriam Park is great. Roseville is worth a look, though the housing stock is a bit newer than your preferred vintage. Good schools in Roseville, too.
The book looks awesome. I feel like it's almost my baby - you know I like to live vicariously through other knitters - and I've been lurking here since it's creation.
I know nothing of MN but on looks alone I would go for the one on Portland Ave. I love all the ivy. It gives it that oh so homey appeal.
You know in my minds eye I have your mad skills :-)and I already have the wire at the ready.
A crack in the garage foundation, and soft spots in the yard? I'd pass on that property. Foundation problems can't always be fixed, and can be horrendously expensive.
I've driven past this house on Portland countless times and it looks gorgeous! I'm a west side gal, so I'm for the Mpls side of the river. I'm so sorry to hear that I missed the opportunity to meet you at Nina's Wed night.
the kitchen need to be redone is a plus
you get to do it to your taste, and not be stuck for years with someone elses design choices.
(the down side is living with the kitchen being redone.. i know what that is like.. i move in to my place in March 1st, and the kitchen wasn't finished (that is, it didn't have the 3 basics (stove, sink, refrigerator till July 17 (yes, 5.5 months!) and i didn't have to do structural work!))
still, i got to make all the choices, and i love them.
Hi - I live about a mile and a half from the Portland house and it's a great neighborhood, lots of stuff to do there and easy access to just about anywhere in town. The airplane noise is pretty horrible over there, which is so odd because you can see a runway from my street and I hardly have any noise. Travel east on the parkway a little bit, there are some great houses on the other side of Lake Nokomis. I'm afraid that about 90% of Minneapolis was built in 1940 and these cool craftsman houses are going to have some cracks and flaws. The big trees that make the houses look so cozy have big roots.
I was supposed to be there on Wednesday, too, but I was on call and had to work instead. Hopefully when you come back I'll get to meet you!
The Saratoga house isn't too far from where I live and I love the neighborhood. I feel totally safe at night, walking the dog or just being home alone. St. Paul has a feeling of a small town, but it's still urban. It's pretty convenient to all of the highways to get to other parts of town, if you'll be driving around town much. Either St. Paul or Minneapolis have great restaurants and shops and lots of knitters!
Particularly if it's at the high end of your price range, the Portland house is not for you. There are lots of cute bungalows in the area near the airport, but no amount of cute can make up for the noise. There are plenty of other cute houses in the same price range (or cheaper) in quieter parts of town.
It's a buyer's market right now, so don't settle! :)
I have to agree with whoever said keep shopping, although I LOVE the looks of the Portland house. The other one makes me feel depressed when I look at it. There is a lot of really pretty real estate on the West edge of Minneapolis and I also really like Anoka area, North West edge of Minneapolis. I haven't spent much time in St. Paul - except when I was lost for 2 hours.
You could always send in a plea to the guys on "This Old House" for help with the Portland one! LOL
I love the looks of the Portland home, but I agree that cracks in the garage and soft spots could signal trouble. Not to mention that the ivy is lovely but who knows what's behind it! I lived near there while growing up and airplane noise was a part of daily life. It did mean it was hard to hear conversation or the TV while the planes were overhead. As a native Minnesotan I would say you'd get used to it, but maybe not. I'm sure that it's more frequent now, too (25 years later). With today's prices, I doubt I would buy in that area.
I don't know the St. Paul home or area, but it seems like there are too many in the minus column that are too significant. I'd envisioned you in a home that looks more like the Portland home. Sounds like the place where you spend most of your time - indoors - would be in an area that you just don't like much (funny living room, kitchen you don't like, carpet you have to rip up and may not like what's underneath).
I'd keep looking. There's lots of lovely homes out there.
I haven't heard anything on the job search for Gerald.... how is that going? I'm guessing that's just as important as house-hunting, and it probably a prerequisite.
Both houses are lovely! Heed the advice of the architect commenter - very good points.
Don't worry about soft spots - can put in a rain garden or mini-prairie restoration.
IMHO the airport noise isn't too bad - and is going to be an issue over most of s Minneapolis and St Paul.
Looks like a Nathaniel Hawthorne special, idylic on the outside. Writing from the front porch of my rural Northern Nevada house - wish you could hear the birds - I can only say that I'm looking forward to knitting with wire and will Amazon your title as soon as it's released.
I like the looks of the Portland house, but I grew up on the east side (specifically Woodbury--practically ALL new construction) and went to School at St. Paul Academy, so, I have a HUGE preferance for St. Paul. I don't know where Saratoga house is, but you could probably find a bunch of affordable housing near McAllister Collage (Grand and Snelling) and I loved the area near Randolph and Snelling--lots of cute areas w/vintage housing. Good Luck w/the house hunt!
When I looked for a house no airport noise was a dealbreaker for me. (Get a map that shows the runways, take a ruler and extend the path over the city to get an idea where the worst noise is.) I have friends who put up with that daily and it's purely awful. Lots of the neighborhoods with the worst noise have had noise abatement, but if you like to be outside in your yard or have windows open in the summer, that's out of the question. Keep looking. (And if you are a person who works at home, you would be cursing those planes after the first week end of moving in.) As for the St. Paul house, I think that Saratoga is nice enough, but you should be able to find as cozy a looking house as the Portland Ave house in other neighborhoods of St. Paul or in Minneapolis. Love to have you moved in here, but I agree with the others who say keep looking...
I know that I'm a bit late to the game here, but as a SW Minneapolis fan/West suburban girl, I must stand up with all the people pointing out how big your Cons are.
Ivy is bad news, and airplane noise in that area makes many people move away (but others live with it just fine). Structural things make me go eek! though in the end, if it were between these two houses, I'd pick the Portland house because its in Minneapolis, near all that cool outdoors stuff, and it sounds like you like the interior.
The big issue that I forsee with the Saratoga house is the one-car garage if you are a 2 car family. Would you park the 2nd car in the driveway or have to deal with street parking? All that would be fine in the summer, but will be an endless hassle in the winter, which, as I'm sure you've been told, is very, very long.
Both houses have some huge unknowns (foundation, ivy, floor under the carpet), and big quality-of-daily-life issues (airplane noise and garage). Good luck with your search! I'm sure that you'll find something that is just right for you when all the ducks are in a line.
Howdy. I came here via a link on verymelm's page.
One thing I haven't seen anyone mention yet is: where are you going to be traveling to regularly from home, for work or whatever? Transportation, commutes and, yes, traffic are all considerations, especially in Minneapolis/Saint Paul. The highway and trunk system has some fairly serious flaws and bottle necks, so this is something you need to think about. The less cross-town driving you can do during rush hour, generally the better. (And I say this having grown up around Chicago!)
Shopping, parks, etc. are good in both towns. There are good neighborhoods in both, too.
We are in Saint Paul, and have been very happy with the school system here. One nice thing is that you can go to just about *any* school in the Saint Paul public school system, whether you live in the immediate neighborhood or not. This opens up a LOT of doors when it comes to school choice and finding a setting that fits you and your child. I don't believe this kind of choice is the case in Minneapolis (or at least, every time I tell someone from Minneapolis about this, they are amazed).
As for the houses: neither sound like "the one" yet. The one on Portland has enough red flags that I would avoid it, no matter how good it looks from the curb. As somone living in a house build in 1933, I can tell you that you *will* find more issues/projects/problems with an older house than you bargain for, and they will all cost more than you expect. But looking at possible foundation issues, soft spots in the yard, and the likely bad airplane noise, you should keep looking. Likewise, the Saratoga house (don't know that area) sounds like it doesn't grab you enough to win your heart. Pass on both.
I don't know a ton of neighborhoods in Minneapolis, but some of the nicer ones in your likely range in Saint Paul include: Highland Park, Mac-Groveland, some areas of Summit, Como Park (I live here - tons of kids in the area :), Merriam Park, and Saint Anthony Park. All have older homes, established neighborhoods, and are family friendly. Also, Saint Paul has a ton of parks tucked all over the place, and you can usually find a couple in easy walk or bike ride in any of these neighborhoods.
Walk around the neighborhood after you look at the house, talk to people, see how you like the feel and sound of the place. Look in other people's yards: are there toys, bikes, sculptured gardens, or rusting lawn chairs/vehicles in them? Enough repeats of any of these can tell you a lot about the kind of families in the area.
Lastly, it is a buyer's market up here. Insist on a full house inspection, and make the sale contingent on getting an acceptable report. A lot of sellers are offering home warranties now, too. In short, don't settle or feel rushed - this is a great time to be buying in the markets you are looking in. You can find a great house with less minuses.
Hope this helps. Good luck!
I personally prefer the home in St. Paul, but then I live in St. Paul (granted on the opposite end of the city from this property) so I'm biased.
I agree with an earlier comment to keep looking. There are many homes available here. Best of luck!
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home