It took almost six months, but the house was finally theirs! The back and forth with the bank and the sellers had been ridiculous, but in the end everyone had agreed and they closed on the house last week. Now came the hard part: Renovations.
Matt and Emily had searched for almost two years for a house before finally settling on this one. They originally intended to buy a house that was move-in ready, but after two years, they realized their dream may not be possible. Finally, they found this one. It looked like an old Victorian castle on the outside, and on the inside had everything they wanted. The only problem was, it had been ignored for almost three decades. Almost the entire house on the inside was in shambles. The plumbing and electricity needed to be brought up to code, and the floors and walls in several places were damaged from years of neglect. But Emily loved it. It had two Libraries, a large but out-of-date kitchen, eight bedrooms, and even a ballroom.
They planned to turn the ballroom into a theater, and two of the bedrooms into offices. They intended to turn three of the bedrooms into different sex dungeons for their various parties and sexual exploits. Two would be for guests, and one would be the master bedroom.
They had been meeting with a contractor for months, in anticipation of closing on the house. Plans were already in place. They both stored up their vacation days at work, so that they could spend as much time as possible working on this house over the next few months. They estimated it would take another six months before they could move in.
Today was the day they set foot in the house for the first time since closing. They received keys and made copies for the contractor. He was supposed to meet them there at noon to go over the plan for renovations.
"Can you believe this place is all ours?" Matthew said as he parked the car in front of the house.
"Our very own castle. It took forever, but we got it. Now we just have to make it livable." Emily beams at her husband. They get out of the car and walk hand in hand to the front door. "Are you ready?" When he nods, she takes the key and unlocks the door, making a mental note that after renovations, they should probably change the locks.
The wide open space greeted them inside the door, with staircases on either side headed up to the second floor. A dilapidated chandelier hangs above them. The railings of the stairs are broken in several places. It feels as if they are standing in an abandoned castle, and in a way, they are.
"Well," Matt says looking around. His voice echoed in the empty space. "Where do you want to start?"
"The contractor is going to be working on several rooms to start with. His crew will be all over the house. But the primary focus is supposed to be this area here, the kitchen, the bathrooms, and the Master bedroom." Emily pondered the options for a moment. "Why don't we check out the kitchen first?" Matt nodded and pointed to the left.
On the left of the open front room was an archway that led into a formal dining room. From there, they could turn to the right to enter the kitchen, or go straight forward into the main library. The double doors to the kitchen were missing, leaving them with a pleasant view of the large industrial size kitchen. The appliances were all either outdated or missing.
Matt followed his wife into the room and surveyed the work to be done. "Alright, well, once we get that old fridge out of here, and the stove too, then they'll have access to the walls for all the wiring and the gas lines. The inspector said the gas lines were going to need to be replaced too."
Emily didn't really hear him. She couldn't see the mess, or the work to be done. All she saw was her dream kitchen. In her mind, she was picturing the way it would be when it was done. The smile on her face widened, and she leaned back into Matt's arms. "Isn't this wonderful?" She looked over to the brand new stove that wasn't there. Then to the island in the middle that would have the cook-top on it. "Can you imagine all the fun we are going to have here? All the food we are going to cook?"
Matt let his arms wrap around her and pulled her in tighter. He could see it too. The potential of this room. The dinner parties they might throw, the food they could cook. Both Matt and Emily enjoyed cooking. And they were good at it too. When they first sat down to discuss what their dream home would have, they both had the same two thoughts at the top of the list: A good kitchen, and sex. As long as the house had a good kitchen, and could accommodate their sex lives, they were happy.
