You'll never see it like this again!

The year 1955 is historical for us because it is the year our home was built.  Here are some additional 1955 highlights:

On December 1, Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama - a catalyst for the civil rights movement.

Twenty-four year old James Dean dies in a car crash

The Mickey Mouse Club was hot and each episode ends with "Now it's time to say good-bye to all our company, M I C.....See you real soon.....K E Y..... Why? Because we like you!  M O U S E

McDonald's and the game Scrabble debuts

Disneyland opens in Anaheim

Pink becomes the rage for men's fashion

Sugar Ray Robinson wins world boxing championship

Albert Einstein dies

Gunsmoke and The $64,000 question premier on CBS

Illinois Governor William Straton signs "The Loyalty Oath Act" which mandates public employees to take a loyalty oath or lose their jobs.  We have witnessed how well this worked out in Illinois.  : )

President Eisenhower suffers a coronary thrombosis while vacationing in Denver and runs the country for three weeks from Fitzsimmons Army Hospital (which is on the campus where Kellie currently works)

1955 was before either of us was born.  The average cost of a new home was around $11,000.  Rooms were segregated, bathrooms were pink, closets were small and rectangular, milk was hand-delivered in glass bottles, peep doors allowed a glance at who was knocking at the front door.

Yes, our home has all of this and more.  Take a look because you'll never see it like this again.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ymy8amfhe0ymi8h/Newport%20Blog%20Pre-demo.mpg

Why we bought our house

Our forever home wasn't purchased because it was our dream home.  It was purchased because we fell in love with the lot on which it sits.  A typical lot size right in the city of Denver is 5,000 square feet.  Our lot is 14,200 and it is absolutely glorious with mature trees and bushes, ivy, flower beds, perennials, garden, a completely fenced yard and unlimited possibilities (think swimming pool and contemplative Japanese garden)!  All of this while being ten minutes from downtown Denver, walking distance to restaurants and two blocks from one of the most beautiful parkways in Denver.  So we decided to embark on an unknown journey commonly known in Denver as "popping the top."

Major milestones:  Closed on our house September 5; closed on our construction loan November 29 and today, December 11, 2012 our construction permit was issued.  The demolition begins Monday, December 17 and I couldn't ask for a more meaningful birthday gift.

Thank you, Keith, for giving me my dream of a house, in the city, with a yard big enough for a pool where I can garden to my heart's content.

Here is why we bought our house:

 Our lot continues past this fence and, yes, this fence will be removed

 This big bush on the left will be removed so we can extend the patio

 The shed must go!

The central air we will install will take care of the window air conditioner eye sore.

We have big plans for this house and yard so stay tuned.  

274 Newport - The Beginning

We've been gypsies since we met in 2005.  Truth be told, I've been a gypsy for almost 20 years and Keith has just been going along with it since 2005 because he loves me and because he's a kind, giving husband.  But a man has his limits and when we moved to Denver in 2011 he told me that this would be his last cross country move.  Funny what love does to you because I'm cool with that and don't even feel anxious knowing I'll likely live in Denver forever.  

Knowing that Denver is our final stop on this train we went out looking for our forever home.  We thought it pretty darn fortuitous that we found ourselves buyers when the housing market had hit bottom and was beginning to rebound.  This was the first of many lessons in this forever home education.  Turns out that the housing market in the city of Denver was hot - red hot - and there were no deals to be found.  In fact, after looking at no less than 50 homes and losing several homes for various reasons, I was about to give up when we found our home.  

This home at 274 Newport Street went on the market in early July.  We were scheduled to see it at 5:00 on the day it went on the market (we learned we had to be fast in this Denver market).  But, in the late afternoon our realtor, Janie, called us to let us know the home had already sold.  After a few tears and some choice words, I swore I was done and handed the home searching reigns over to Keith.  

But on July 20 I received a text from Janie at 6:45 a.m. that read "Hey, remember the Newport house?  The deal fell through and it's back on the market.  I'm setting us up for a showing at 8:30."  

Let me cut to the chase - Janie was writing our offer by 9 a.m. as three other parties were also looking at the house.  By noon there were three offers on the house (including ours) but we had become veterans and vowed not to lose another house so we offered a little more than asking price.  Rather than start a bidding war, the owners accepted our offer by 3 p.m. the same day.  

Our forever home was soon to be ours.  Here it is.