Buying a House in Arden and Other Irrational Behavior, Part II

photo by Joe del Tufo

Probably the best way to tell you about our experience seeing our house in Arden that we bought sight unseen is to post an email that I sent out to a friend the day after we came down see it.  We had to wait 2 days after getting the house to see it. As you might imagine we were going crazy.

Dear M--
We were coming down to go to a dinner gild at Arden at 6. Originally Cynthia was going to take us around to look at houses starting at 1. But since we bought a house, she asked us to come 4 or 4:30. We said 4; we couldn't wait any longer. We were a bundle of nerves Thursday night into Sat. We finally left the house with Maren. Jonah didn't want to come. But it was funny weather [freak instance of sleet and freezing rain]. There were 5 accidents on the turnpike. It took us an hour longer to get down there, and we only reached Cynthia's house at 5. Joe and Keri weren't at "our" house when we arrived. We would have time to look at it without them about. First impressions. We had seen the outside before. The side of the house faces the road. You turn left into a circular driveway with a carport (More like a party pavilion) on one side and the house on the other. The house faces the woods, sunset, and the carport. It has a huge slate patio and ground cover (no front lawn). Enter through the side front door. Joe and Keri don't use the formal front door because it creates an alcove that is better used as a seating area.

I cannot tell you how perfect this house is for us. The first thing I saw was a chalkboard hung just outside the front door of the house as you enter and another hanging just inside the house. I lamented that the realtors made me paint over my chalkboard [menu board in dining room] to sell our house. It was like I had to cover up my personality. But what greets me first thing in the new house? Not one, but two chalkboards. There is a window seat by the door which overlooks a hammock outside. The kitchen is amazing. Amazing. Amazing. I can't even describe the ways I love it. Maren loved the huge warm chocolate chip cookies, Keri set out for us. The back yard has been fenced in for pugs. It is small and requires only a rotary push mower. Slate patio out back. Totally enclosed. So many little seating areas. Very little upkeep to be done. [Ha ha, I say now.] Who needs a yard when you have a whole forest?

Back inside: Bookshelves. Two fireplaces. Security system. Great closets. Bathroom to die for. Beautiful colors. We won't have to change a one. Side screened in porch. Basement storage and workroom which hardly any houses in Arden have. Maren loves her room.

Being late, we had to hustle off to dinner which was being put on my the Ardensingers Gild who were doing a preview of the musical Yeoman of the Guard that they are putting on next month. English themed dinner: Cottage pie, brussels sprouts in mustard sauce, pea/radish salad in light dill dressing and chocolate bread pudding. It was BYOB. We got a table in the front room and who joined our table but the mayor of Arden [Sorry, Arden, I didn't know the correct terminology then], the woman who sewed all the costumes for the Shakespeare plays, and the welcome committee chair? Cynthia said she could not have planned better.

After dinner we went back to Joe and Keri's to have champagne with them and Cynthia and David. We stayed for 2 hours talking. We are similar in so many ways. We feel like we already have friends in Arden. Joe and Keri are Unitarians, as are we. Their daughter Alex is 6 weeks younger than Maren (both born at a birthing center) and is ready to introduce M to all the kids in the neighborhood. Alex spatter painted her closet door and had all her friends sign it but had to cover it up to sell the house. Maren is going to invite her back to do it again. Keri wants to help me bring a labyrinth to Arden. Joe is going to leave one of his framed prints with the house. Mark and Joe discussed microbrews and sound systems. There were many freaky moments of serendipity. Alex and Maren kept shaking their heads at how similar we all were. Cynthia was very happy she could make this work. She got some flak for selling the house without letting it go on the market, but she did everything above board. There are some people who are angry they didn't get a shot at the house. And we are on our way to becoming famous because Joe and Keri are telling everyone how we bought the house sight unseen.  There isn't any traffic on our street, but Cynthia said there are going to be people taking a walk in the woods who never took walks in the woods before.

Here ends the email. I am so happy to have this record. What else do I remember about that day? The soundtrack of the evening was Kate Miller-Heidke. Joe and Keri apologized for some of the language in her songs (an apology which seems funny now). I remember the bedroom was smaller than we thought it would be, but still plenty big, and that the back room was bigger than we thought. We were thrilled at the walk-in closet in the Master bedroom, which hadn't shown up in any of Joe's photos. We didn't quite have the layout correct when we looked at the pictures. It was great to see how the puzzle of rooms fit together. After leaving the house, we were so excited, and the late June settlement date seemed so far away. We knew we would be back in a few days for home inspection. That's when the true test of courage would be called into play. But after seeing the house, we knew that we had made the right move by putting in our bid like we did. I am pretty sure the house itself, in addition to the community of Arden, was calling to us to it.