I went down to the house with Nicole today to meet the electrician. “I used to come down here all the time,” the electrician told me in greeting. “I drove around the neighborhood for a while to check it out, and I just fell in love with this building. I saw it was for sale and almost called my brother-in-law to come down and check it out before I realized it was the one I was going to!”

Once inside it was a constant stream of “Oh wow, just WOW” and “What a treasure!” as we passed from room to room. We talked as much about the house’s potential as we did the electrical.

It was more good news all around: the electric looks to be in fine shape, the house was wired carefully by someone who knew what they were doing, and the upgrades I want look easy to pull. Not only that, but the electrician noted that the closed, secondary chimney in the middle of the house would be a very cheap and easy way of running water and electric to the attic. It was music to my ears.

Brian showed up half an hour later with the kids and their friend Alex. They bounced thru the rooms, excitedly discovering new things. As I walked back downstairs to the electrician in the basement, I could hear all the voices coming from various parts of the house. For a moment, the house stopped being a cold, abandoned hulk and came alive.