We're almost certainly not going to go for the 1400 house because 1) it has no
outdoor space and 2) its status as a Rijksmonument makes it difficult and
expensive to maintain. Vastu is not an issue, but we would be "covered" in
either house because both houses have East-facing entrances. :-)
I almost bought the 1400 house on the spot, though, when I saw the the
original medieval vaulted basement. I figured I could turn it into a torture
chamber and lure hapless TMers and God-believers down into it for nefarious
purposes. :-)
From: "[email protected] [FairfieldLife]"
<[email protected]>
Be aware that if it's not proper vastu, you'll need to navigate the court
system in order to tear it down. So, make sure you budget enough money for
lawyers and demolition.
---In [email protected], <[email protected]> wrote :
At least when it comes to real estate. I think I mentioned that we're looking
at houses in the Leiden area. Given our requirements (5 bedrooms plus office
space and a big-ass kitchen) and our budget, we haven't found a lot of houses
that are "possibles." It appears likely that the perfect place just the right
size and ready to move into may not appear, so we're looking at places that
have "great potential." They will require work and possibly some major
renovations to work for us, but they *could* be made to work for us. It would
be a long-term project, but we're up for that.
Seeing houses and thinking of buying them gets you to thinking about age, and
what constitutes "old." One house we saw today was built in 1920, and is a
definite fixer-upper. It would keep us very busy for some time to develop its
potential. It doesn't have the high degree of interior "finish" that we're used
to (it would need things like new floors, bathrooms, kitchen, etc.), but it
really does have great potential. But it got me thinking about that issue of
"finish" and wondering whether a nearly 100-year-old house is *worth* fixing up
-- can one really make a house that old into a comfortable urban home?
Then we went to the next house on our list. Walking in, the first thing that
struck me was that it had a much higher level of "finish" that the house we'd
seen previously. The paint was newer, the floors were wood and in great shape,
it had lots of charm and a great deal of light for a row house in the
Pieterskerk area of Leiden, and felt somehow "newer" or "less old" than the
other house.
But then something in my brain went, "Bzzzzzt...wait. This does not compute." I
had noticed a small red and white metal sign to the right of the front door
when we walked in, and asked the owner about it: "Is this house a Rijksmonument
(national monument building)?" He said yes, so I asked him when it was built.
He didn't skip a beat when he answered, "1400."
Really. They know how old this house is because of something I had to look up
-- dendrochronological testing. They can tell when the house was built by
measuring the rings of the trees used to create the still-in-place main
timbers. One of Rembrandt's teachers used to live here. The house is 615 years
old and yet it has a higher degree of interior "finish" and liveability that
the 100-year-old house. Go figure.
I guess it's like with classic cars. Or people. It's not how old they are, it's
how well they were taken care of along the Way. :-)
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