Saturday, December 14, 2013

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)
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.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well this is a house I really like! Too big for me because it's just too much space to clean :-) As soon as one had cleaned the entire house one had to start all over again :-)
But I can see this house in a movie with one of those huige arguing families that always end up friends again :-)

Have a great day!
Christer.

An Urban Cottage said...

It's an incredible house but I kind of don't like a single thing about it. I don't think I want it if it were free.

When I was junior, I told my parents what I want to go to college for and they just sat and looked at each other. They weren't expected that any of use would go to college and they had no money to offer me. No one in the history of my family had been to college so it wasn't on their radar. I was lucky to get a little scholarship, I took loans and worked whenever I could to make money to get me through. When I graduated and decided not to pursue a career I was educated for, my parents were furious. What a waste they said! They didn't pay for it so they didn't have a say. I moved to Boston and worked in a bank.

That's the end of my story.

sarah @ homeologymodernvintage said...

as children we used to live in an area that had a very affluent section. in the evenings we'd sometimes just drive through the neighborhood to peer through their gates. it was great fun! and about college... oh, how i remember my mother laughing as she explained that only men went to college, women got married.

JUNKER JANE said...

I loved this post <3

At Rivercrest Cottage said...

So I'm reading all your back posts that I haven't read because 1) I'm old and have too much time on my hands, or 2) I'm trying to really understand you as we are as Anne of Green Gables referred to as bosom buddies or something, or 3) you are so very entertaining. Pick one or all three!

Anyway, my parents and step-parents were the type people who bought their kids a suitcase for a high school graduation present. Yep...college was not even considered and it's time to leave! My younger sister is 58 years old and she's still pissed about it. I got a job at a bank and hated it. Interesting how a lot of us worked at a bank instead of college. I eventually got two bachelors degrees, the last when I was 58 years old...so what's stopping you now at your young age?

Cindi Myers said...

Sharon,
Omg if you are reading all the past posts, you will probably get very irritated with me because I have found that when I go back myself and read them, I want to scream.
All I do is whine about stuff and "talk" about what I am going to do "someday".
I evidently have spent every single day of my vacation days, cleaning and sorting crap and yet I'm still looking at doing much the same today.
Also, I whine about moving but I have no clear idea as to where.
The country sounds magical but then again I hate the idea of being remote and no street lights and nothing close and snakes and coyotes.
But I also hate being so close to my neighbors house that I could hang out the south window and almost touch the neighbors home.
Also, reading this post again reminds me how when I DID go to college, I hated every single moment in the classroom. Now I suddenly realize that at least I only wasted my own money and not my Dad's which would have been a horrific scene.
You are right. What's stopping me?
Truly, I'm not sure. I wouldn't say I'm lazy. I am compared to some people but to others I'm certainly not.
But... I do feel like I'm breaking through and it's only happening just now. Now that I know you and Tammy and Jean and Grace and.... this community of generous women who are holding me up rather than pushing me down and making me see that I need to trust in myself that I can do this.
Seriously, maybe... I don't know but maybe I'm afraid if I actually do what I've been talking about so long and fail... then what do I have left to look forward to?
Crap. That would be REALLY stupid of me if that's the reason.
as Nike says, - JUST DO IT.
(ps, I'm happy you find me entertaining, you are pretty hilarious yourself!)
xoxo