The Beginning!

Finally after months of waiting,

we got our duplex!

We are sooo excited!!!!

The first time we visited this place I was excited about it even though we saw the worst part, the second floor. We didnt get to see the first floor because the tenant downstairs was asleep and didnt know about the visit. It took a second trip for M to get excited about it. That's when we saw how different the first floor was. It had so much more character and was in a lot better shape.

I'll post pics as we progress through the rehab. The 2nd floor is already under rehab now. Here are the BEFORE pics for the top floor. (i'll post more pics later of the outside, neighborhood, etc.)

bathroom

entrance room

kitchen

area opposite of the kitchen

This doorway leads to the next 'living area'. The other door in the picture is the furnace room. The wall pictured here is coming down to make a big living area...

another room ajoining the kitchen, leading to the bedrooms. These 'living areas' are really small and in my mind, a waste of space!

1st bedroom- in the very front of the house. its pretty big- 15 x 14

1st bedroom's fireplace- no longer working (ornamental)

2nd bedroom - 15 x 12

See the hole in the door? Its called a 'cat-hole'- for cats to walk through! And the little windows above the doors are common in houses of this era- they were proped open to improve air circulation.

Last but not least, the hidden staircase. The house used to be a one story.