Old World Charm
... didn't fit into a New World Commute
When I think of Old World Charm, what comes to mind is a mint green circa 1835 Victorian house we almost bought, years ago, in Exeter, New Hampshire. It was elegant and absolutely enchanting.
It had a steeply pitched tile/slate roof with lots of gingerbread accent.
It was entirely covered in scalloped shingles with white trim.
A full-width one story high front porch extended along both sides of the house. Our white wicker porch furniture would be perfect there. I could also see huge hanging baskets of Boston ferns between each of the columns.
Fireplaces were in every room with stone hearths and wide oak mantels. I envisioned boughs of Christmas greenery and candles across each one. Christmas stockings were invented to hang on a mantel like that.
There were stained glass windows in the dining room, high and very long, giving the whole room a colorful glow in the sunlight.
There was oak everywhere — the woodwork, floors, crown molding and wainscoting throughout, even in the huge entryway and foyer.
Thank God, it had updated wiring and plumbing.
The huge kitchen, large enough to play soccer in, had a butler’s pantry and a second staircase up to the second floor hallway.
It was exciting to imagine each room filled with antiques, lace curtains at the windows, and cushy pillows on the window seats. Hot chocolate, or coffee would taste so much better there.
There were several circular rooms, the perfect size for a small bookcase and a desk. Our girls would love doing homework in their own cozy circular girl cave. Other rooms had cute little alcoves —for what, I wasn’t sure, but I would have enjoyed figuring it out.
I loved the built-in oak bookcases that surrounded you in the library. As old as the house was, I could still smell the wood in every room.
Counting the two in the library, I had never seen so many window seats where I could wrap myself in a toasty afghan to watch the snow fall on a cold New England morning —or hummingbirds at their feeders in the spring.
(sigh)
After lengthy discussions, it was decided that we should consider moving to a different town. His commute to work in Boston from Exeter would be much too long.
To me, that Victorian house embodied Old World Charm, my dream home. Secretly, I was heartbroken, but ultimately, a house is a house is a house … so it remains a beautiful dream.
Hmmm, I wonder what winter’s heating bills would have been like …
Poet/Writer/Author of 5 books.
Quora Top Writer 2018.
CJ’s World is reader supported.
If you enjoy reading my work, please,
be a paid subscriber so I can continueÂ
writing. Thank you!
h, C.J., that house would have had me, too. Window seats, bookshelves, the smell of wood........wow!
Weird mind of mine went to a song, "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" replacing "Girls" with "Houses" and never bought either the girls or the houses, but remember them well, their looks, their charms, their appeal. Wonder what they might have cost? Yes and in several cases, I did "buy" and considered them investments that paid off well. Yes, both categories of life experiences.