Saturday 2 July 2011

history of a house

#1 INNER CITY TERRACE HOUSE


This one was pre-kids. We'd lived there about 5 years then took about 1 year to renovate it.
HIGHS: Doing most of the work ourselves we learnt alot and saved a fortune.
LOWS: Doing most of the work ourselves meant that whilst LovelyOne was working on the site most of the time, I was working long corporate hours and tiling at midnight! We lost a year of social life partly because we were always building and partly because we were broke, saving pennies and sharing my generous parents house.
HINDSIGHT: A great project and Babe1 was born at that house, it has wonderful memories and we still miss that home alot. .. or maybe we miss being 20 something?


#2 INNER CITY FEDERATION HOUSE

This was a different story. Babe1 was one year old and Babe2 was on the way (part of the incentive to move). We put our lives into storage and moved to about 4 different addresses to house-sit and save money on rent whilst the build was happening. LovelyOne was working day and night jobs and I was home being mum so almost the whole build was outsourced.
LOWS: Life situation meant not being able to do much ourselves and costs escalated quickly. At first I was heavily pregnant with toddler - then later had a newborn and toddler - for the daily site visits. Whenever I looked away Babe1 fell through holes in the floor, played in sawdust and mud or was up to her elbows in tins of house paint.
HIGHS: Not having to do the hard slog and having a professional finish.
HINDSIGHT: A few years on it had all proved too expensive and we decided to sell and move to a 2 bedroom cottage in the suburbs to recoup a bit. We miss the space and even though we were so, so lucky to live in such a big, beautiful renovation we seem to not miss the house as much... or maybe we don't really miss the blur of two babes under 2!


#3 SUBURBAN BLISS



...and so we found home. The first couple of years were about the garden. Audrey arrived in the first few months and we discovered all the fencing needed replacing. LovelyOne removed a rotting chook shed and dilapidated duck compound, dug out a field of Ginger-lily and Lantana and we discovered old Camellia's, Roses and Rosea's along the way. I weeded and weeded and planted and planted then we built a network of decks (performance stages for dance concerts by the Babes), a vegie patch, treehouse and makeshift basketball court. Then it was on to planning the new renovation and since then it's been about refinements, waiting, Council fees, expensive flood studies, waiting, more Council fees and more flood studies and more waiting. We continue to love and enjoy our little slice of heaven and continue to wait .... and Audrey turned 4 last weekend.

1 comment:

  1. ....feeling all nostalgic! So caught up in babes and chaos ourselves it's interesting to read the official backstories! You create such beautiful homes Clare can't wait to see what you get up to with this new one. Love how Audrey represents the shift to vegie patches and performance stages. Happy Birthday Audrey! xo

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