The Depot house was on two corners, with roads on three sides of the house. Right across from the front of the house was a working train track. In the past there was also a train station. This was Hubby’s first rental with two units. He always worked out a deal with the sellers so that we could afford the place. I was always apprehensive and just didn’t think we could make it. He always was optimistic and said it will work out. If there were renters in the house, we were fine with our finances.
- This house did not have a garage, so he built the attached garage to the house. There is also an attached single car garage and driveway on the other side of the house.
- He installed the white railings on the front porches.
- He put in new windows and doors.
- A new roof.
- All new electric.
- All new plumbing.
- He took out a steam boiler and replaced it with two new furnaces.
- He cemented the two driveways.
- Scraped and painted the house.
- And who knows what else.
He had the place around fourteen years when it just so happened, all the renters moved out and the house was available. So, we decided to move to the Depot rental house. Three of the children were gone so we decided to downsize.
We had a realtor come to sell The House He Bought Without Telling Me. She gave me a list of all the things I had to do before we put it up for sale. Like, take down all the wallpaper. Put in all new carpet. I couldn’t understand how Hubby could buy all these places that needed lots of work to fix them up. But when we sell them, realtors thought we had to make them “picture perfect.”Really? Something was wrong with this deal.
After she left, I said to Hubby. “I will not do anything to this house. You bought this house a total wreck. We worked hard to fix it all. The buyers will have to fix up the place if they want to.” “Sounds reasonable to me.” He willingly agreed. So, we didn’t use a realtor and we put The House He Bought Without Telling Me up for sale. It sold within a few weeks. Yep! A few weeks. We were very happy.
Before we moved into the Depot house we renovated the inside. Notice I said WE. Total new kitchen and bathrooms. Which meant a lot of decorating work for me. We moved in July, 2000. I loved living in this house. I loved that neighbors would come around and visit. I loved to hear the train whistle and would try to watch the train as it passed by our house. It was the first house that we had trick or treaters, a new experience I really enjoyed. I have many fond and special memories.
During the time we were living there, we were still searching for our dream house, but thought this would be a good place to move to while we were looking. We lived in the Depot house for about five years.
