Virtual Tour of our house
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Click here for directions.
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O
wning property is something I have tried to avoid
for a long time. It comes with a lot of responsibilities and worries. And
the more property you have, the more difficult it is to change your life
and move around in the world. In this economy, especially in my profession, flexibility is
essential to success. Everybody who has traveled knows that you see a lot more and have more
fun when your backpack is light. What made me make an exception this time is the
experience of paying a ridiculous amount of rent for a small
Soho apartment. So I decided to buy.
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Click on a picture for an enlargement.
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Look! It's a real house! With a LIVING and a dining room.
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It
was clear we needed a bigger space. A small one bedroom apartment is
great when you live by yourself. But for two people I recommend that
you only live together in such a tiny space if you really love each other
and want to find out how long that love can last. And as many of you readers
know, I tend to have guests staying over once in a while and I got really
fed up with stepping over each other, just to go to the bathroom. And for Chisako
her small Tokyo apartment was starting to look more attractive than ever.
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View of the living room
from the dining room.
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A garden and a deck. Great
for summer parties.
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The house has two levels
and a garage in the basement
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I did not
throw all my principles overboard. I still believe commuting is one of
the best ways of killing all that's left of a working man's creativity
and just reduce him to a mere tennisball being slammed around by
the forces of society. I need to live close to work. Reasonably sized apartments
in Manhattan are unreasonably priced and in general you can only buy
shares in a building or so called cooperative. A share gives you the
privilege of living in one of the apartments in the building, under the strict condition
that you adhere to all the rules and cooperate with the board of directors.
Needless to say, many boards in the city are filled with powerhungry,
old fashioned men that will take away any feeling of ownership you thought
you could have. The closest location that is affordable and clean is the
neighborhood of Astoria, so that is where we moved.
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Finally room for a 'large' television.
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The kitchen is still in its original state
as it was build in 1939.
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Finding a nice
house in New York City is not easy. For a month we went out every night after
work and all weekends walking around in Astoria, visiting brokers and following
every lead. It was January and the weather was horrible, with winter storms, rain,
ice and everything in between. Almost all the houses for sale are overpriced
or in such a condition that an major renovation is needed. I remember walking
into a garage and finding a pack of snow on the floor only to look up and see that
part of the roof was missing. And now I know why real estate agents
have such a bad reputation. The claims they make sometimes are outrageous. But finally
we found our house, and took it off the market after it was for sale for only five
hours. The paperwork could begin.
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The small guestroom.
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The large guestroom.
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Another view of the living room.
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The house is heated with a
very old oil heater.
On the left you can see the oil tank.
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Bathroom.
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The garage is in the basement. Finally room for a car.
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Plenty of space in the basement.
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The housewarming was quite a success. We counted 19 different nationalities.
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Click
here for a description of the neighbourhood
and how to get there.
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