My dream, so close...

$247,900

Single Family Home in Woodland Heights
Richmond VA

1,742 Square Feet
4 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a full basement

Bright and sunny updated cape cod in Woodland Heights is modern yet has all the charm intact! Lovely living room is separated from dining room with Craftsman columns and built-in leaded glassed bookcases. Wonderful updated kitchen with a corner breakfast eating area. Kitchen has upgraded stainless steel appliances; range, convection oven, dishwasher, and refrigerator. Two well sized bedrooms downstairs with attractive built-in bookcases. Master bedroom upstairs with a renovated full bath and the fourth bedroom, plus a second-floor screened porch! Back yard with off-street parking. Great 18'x16' garage for a workshop or a car. Full basement.

This is my dream house and it is currently for sale. Years ago I had a friend who was my "partner in crime (or more aptly, sarcasm)." At one point, he was renting space from this couple he knew in high school. The first time I walked into that house I fell in love, not only with the house, but also with their darling dog, a sweet Rottweiler*. The house is a deceptively spacious cottage with a full-length front porch with piers and columns, very craftsman-like details. This house was different from any I had seen in my adolescence. The most unique thing about it was that it seemed as if it had been designed for the owners to have a lodger. Perhaps it was?

The first floor consists of living, dining, and kitchen spaces, a den, bathroom and a front bedroom. As you enter, the right side of the house holds the living and dining rooms. What is unique, is the left side of the house.



The bedroom, bath, and den area (the fourth bedroom in this ad) are arranged in a line. However, this entire suite of rooms is separated from the right side of the house by a door and a small hallway connecting the two larger rooms. This creates a private mini-apartment, a sort of mother-in-law suite. The connections to the rest of the house are through this door and another one out the back of the "den" that opens to the kitchen. One could close off these rooms from the rest of the house and it would be possible to not see this person for days.



Directly in the middle of the first floor is the staircase, seen above. It is within the walls and reached by a door that can effectively close off the upstairs rooms too, if needed. I assume it might have been built that way to preserve heat on the first floor rooms when using them. I first saw this ad a month ago and have no idea how long it has been on the market. The old owners; the ones I knew, went to the open house and I heard that they didn't think these sellers would get this asking price for it. It's a bit high for a house that size in this neighborhood.

In the past, you have heard me wax about the type of house I want to have one day. Now you have seen that house' inspiration. Truly, if some one gave me this house tomorrow**, I could never want for more.

** Hint, hint, hint.

* I have had a soft spot for the breed ever since and for years was convinced that was the breed I would get. Now, I'm thinking wiry, wiggly black Lab.