I'm Not moving but...

and definitely not here!

But I do have a little story about this place.

It's not the story that I would love to know.

It's not about the life and history of the place

that would be the BEST story.

Nope, it's about when I went to community college.

My Dad wouldn't allow me to go away to a 4yr school.

I couldn't get any grants because he made too much money and refused to sign on any loans.

He thought school for me would be silly.

He said that I should get a secretarial job for a couple of years until I met someone and married

and stayed home for the rest of my life.

So I paid for community college myself 

I majored in English and minored in Art.

(I had this big idea of writing a novel.)

But between working part-time and going to school where I knew no one
and then coming home where there was no encouragement.

Well... I didn't last long.

Pretty soon I had stopped going to classes and instead just sat in the library looking up random things.

I slowly dropped classes but never told my dad.
I would get up in the mornings and go about the pretense of preparing for school.
I'd grab my books and leave the house.

Sometimes I would drive to a park and read or just drive.

I ended up one day in Davenport (the city I now work in)

source

and I drove around the historic homes.

There was one home, a mansion really, that was abandoned.

I would walk around it and try to look inside but windows were boarded up.
It wasn't in the best of neighborhoods and

I felt bad for this house. 

It must have been so grand at one time and now it was just sitting there, falling apart.

I remember wishing that I had money to save it
but that was an impossible dream.

Finally one day I quit driving around and went and got a job at a bank.

My Dad was so happy. So proud.

sigh.......

So, my middle niece Maggie, has a friend who is a Realtor.

He's only been licensed for a year or two but he has grown up in the business and his father owns a Real Estate Agency.

Maggie and I were talking and I asked how her friend was doing. 

She said he was doing well, selling a few houses and he even had a mansion in Davenport in his listings.

Later at home. I looked up the mansion listing.

Yep. It was the same one from so many years ago.
The brick drive is still there.

I remember driving under this sheltered spot. I'm not sure what it's technically called.
Surely not a carport! But this is where I tried to peer inside.

If you go around to the front, but actually I guess it's the back, you can look over the city -

Can you see the Mississippi River?

That's the Centennial Bridge to the the right.

I live over there in Illinois.

back to the house-
The front (back) has been restored.

Apparently someone had tried to save it.

Such a HUGE task.

Such fine detailed work -

and so many fireplaces!

The kitchen is gorgeous, even though I usually prefer white, I could live with this.

Oh, the money it would cost to fix it properly.

I hope the right person comes along and saves it.

I'm so glad to finally seen the inside.

I can imagine wonderful parties and fireplaces crackling and a big Christmas tree.

I can also imagine little dogs running down halls and up and down stairs.

And cats sunning themselves in the windows and hissing at ghosts.

Full listing HERE.