Crazy House, Part 2...

One serious note:  As I make fun of my house, let it be known that I love my little house, and I am fighting tooth and nail to keep it sane in a world where it no longer fits.  This house and I have an unusual relationship.  I get annoyed at the idiosyncrasies from past residents, and it drips water on my head when no one is around, with no sign of a leak anywhere.  

I started this post last May.  That says a lot.

On with the fun and craziness of this house because who can't use a little fun and crazy of this sort right now with the governor  -- I mean virus -- running loose.

My house is a never-ending source of amusement for those with a strange sense of humor.  I hope the biggest thing to come out of the kitchen redo is that we get rid of the ant hill, and maybe one of the places mice like to come in.  After 20 years of living with them, I'm ready for a "Richmond Divorce"  (from the mice and ants, not the house.) Yes, I have lived here longer than anywhere else in my life, surpassing my beloved Bates Road.

Before I enter the fun and crazy, a little background...  I found a house plan, courtesy Internet Archive, from Modern Home Plans ca 1955, which is the closest I have yet found for my house.

Look at that linen closet!  In my dreams...

A few differences:  the plan has stairs for a basement ; no laundry room; kitchen and dining are flipped; and the bedrooms are larger in this plan.  Also, the closet is next to the bathtub, whereas ours is in a row with it. 

My attempt at drawing our house layout.  2 squares = 1 ft

Classic ranch-style, I believe.  It had a one-car garage at a point, where the plan I found had a car port.  I don't know my garage sizes, but I assume a 14 ft wide garage is a one-car.  I don't have enough experience with garages to know.

Not a bad house at all, but certainly not standard to today's standards.  We hit 1400 sq ft because of the garage, but we lose a bit to the furnace and everything that would be in a basement, if we had one.  Originally it didn't have a furnace but a heat pump outside, which explains a few things that never made sense.

I have always thought the pantry in the hallway was a nice touch. 
It took me years to realize it was supposed to be a pantry.

This shows the current layout of the kitchen and laundry.    The washer and dryer are 9" off the wall due to the sagging floor and the way the dryer vent comes through the floor.  All of the appliances are in the same spot, helping cause the sagging floor.  The rest of the floor issue involves an old leak which rotted the joist and cracked it, conveniently where all four appliances meet.  This is what really is setting off the "kitchen redo." We should have fixed the floor sooner, but we couldn't find anyone willing to help.   We were even told leveling the floor couldn't be done.  Thank God for friends who say, "Oh, I've seen worse than this before..."  We couldn't have made it this far without that kind of encouragement.  I can understand now why people buy a house and completely tear it apart.