New life for an old house

When we last saw our old house, lo these 8 weeks ago, it had been bought by a restauranteur as a gift for his daughter. She didn't make it to closing, and as a result the documents had to be redrawn to remove her name. We assumed from that that she wasn't particularly interested in the place.

But now that our old neighbors have met her, it seems we might have been wrong. They say she's nice in an in-your-face Philly kinda way, but more importantly she seems very focused on the old house and making it better.

So far they have drywalled the ceilings, painted all the rooms (XXXXX's is pink!) and Sophie's old room is now a master bath -- I haven't seen it totally done yet. They also went into great detail about how much money they want to put into the house to make it a 3,000 sq. ft. showhouse for the neighborhood -- how much the neighborhood is going to escalate in the next 5 years -- how much they want to buy another house in the 'hood.

First, I'm glad to see someone with new energy tackling the house. It deserved more time, money and attention than we were giving it. It needed several of what I call mid-tier efforts, like new ceilings, a redesigned washer/dryer area and a back porch (mid-tier being anything bigger than you can do yourself and smaller than what a contractor likes to do).

Regarding the proposed addition of 1,700 sq. ft. -- the bones of the house won't support going higher on the existing foundation, so there's only one way to add that much room: a giant two-story addition grafted to the back. Other Noda houses on Clemson and McDowell have done this lately, and I'm mixed about the outcome. You get the needed room, but it always looks like a taller newer house rear-ended a smaller older one.

Even though the closing was one of the more surreal experiences of our lives, we honestly wish the new owner the best. That house treated us well and it deserves likewise.