Our Old House

I have this idea for an HGTV show… don’t have a title yet, so you guys can let us know if you come up with something good.  Anyway, on this show, new homeowners like us would open their homes to the past owners.  And then the old owners would regret ever moving because the new people made the place looks so great.  The old owners realize how terrible their tastes was/is and are so upset with themselves for not seeing all of the potential.  The old owners grow jealous of the new owners’ vision and creativity.  OR… the old owners stand by their old home and HATE everything that the new people have done.  ”What… (fighting back tears)… happened… to all of my floor to ceiling mirrors…?”

People will laugh and cry.

Today I had a chance to kinda pilot my idea.  As I was walking into the house, I hear someone call my name.  It was my neighbor, I think her name is Angie, and she was with another woman that I did not know.  She introduces herself to me, and I immediately notice that her last name is the same as that infamous (well, infamous to us) doctor that used to live in this house, pre-foreclosure.  What?!?!??

How many times have B and I asked each other “WHO would do that?!” “WHAT were they thinking?!”  This was my chance to find out!!  

We made small talk in the driveway and then - with my HGTV concept in mind - I invite her inside.  Part of me is afraid to show her that we have destroyed the home she loved.  For as much I we hated somethings, they belonged to someone… to her.  But a bigger part of me was proud of our work… the kitchen was ugly and now it was pretty! Surely she would see that right?

She did!

She loved the kitchen and the pass-thru that B built.  She was impressed that we had done so much work on our own.  Her eyes got huge when she saw that we had gutted her old bedroom and I could see her heart sink when she saw the garden.  She told me about all of the work she had done, the plants she picked out and the awards that she had won for the Beverly Garden Walk.  I could understand.  She was nostalgic, but told me several times that she was happy that we had the house.  The owners before us were a disappointment to her and her husband and she said she felt good that we could “bring it back”.

I didn’t have the heart to ask her the really tough questions like… “where did you get the sex slave?” or “what’s it like to live as a hermit with no windows?”  I did ask her stuff about how they used certain rooms and why the basement has no exit.

All this time we had been crediting “The Doctor” with all of the weird stuff in this house, but I learned today that before The Doctor there was The Architect.  The Architect was responsible for the Blue Velvet Lounge and all of the covered windows.  The Architect was the mastermind behind all of the custom cabinets and the bar in the basement.

Before she left, the doctor’s wife (Sarah) gave me her number.  She invited me to call anytime if we had any questions about the house or needed help in the garden.  She’s interested in the progress we’re making.

We have a date for next June…