This side of the Road: Revisiting the House on San Juan

Had a nice little walk-thru tour of my old pink house on San Juan Avenue Sunday afternoon. Tami Hewitt (friends of the realtor) showed four of us the house. We made it just in time as the place (which sold quickly) closes today. On the tour besides me was my sister-in-law, Lill, my friend, Mary Norton, and Jane Schwencke who also had fond memories of the house when she lived there in the 50's. Tami (friends with my daughter Mary) was also anxious to see the place as she spent many hours there as a teenager.

I did take a very short video but like most of my videos, it's totally LAME. It's of the upstairs because I was busy snapping pictures downstairs and outside.

I've divided my various pictures for this subject by areas. The first is
THE FRONT OF THE HOUSE

you can see the school just fine in this 1976 photo but not as well in 2014

This very old photo appears in history books. Our house is that one in the bottom right.

as seen from the golf course

family shot on the front steps

Dana & Lill have just returned from their bike trip across the U.S.

Jane visiting the house when it was first in renovation

Jane visiting one last time before the new owners arrive

Lill and I posed on the new front steps

This was a view from the upstairs window for a while but the Hippy Garden is gone now.

THE SIDE YARD

John had a huge garden on this side of the house and we tore down that garage.

One of the worst cars I ever had was that Monaco station wagon parked by the side of the house in 1982

The shed is still on the right but the little lean-to is gone and the porch is opened up. This door goes into the laundry room.

This rock wasn't there when I lived here.

Our cars parked along 20th St. (that is now paved)

The middle porch was replaced with this smaller porch.

Here's a view of the front door and middle door. The house also now has a third door that leads to the backyard.

THE BACKYARD

You can see my aunt & uncle's house on 19th St in the right upper corner
but it's hard to see it from the upstairs window these days as the trees have grown. My uncle's roof is in the middle left.

The neighbor's house as very visible to us but you can't see it these days.

Mrs. Woods' house was across the fence but the fence is gone now as is the barn. All that is left is a piece of the brick wall on the right.

Our backyard was always full of wood, burning barrels, goats, toys, tents, bikes, an old trailer, and "stuff."

Much prettier now and there's a new door to go in the house. That room was my bedroom.

THE LIVING ROOM

Our lived-in living room in the early 80's

That door on the left is new. That is where I slept but it had a wall then.

The living room now

new stove and nice backboard

this is another view of my old bedroom. Door leads to backyard.

Decorative vents help keep the upstairs warm

area under the stairs with wall paper I remember well

Pretty lights that I think were in the upstairs bathroom or hallway

THE KITCHEN

The kitchen was so drafty, we had to hang a blanket separating the utility porch from the kitchen. The bathroom was over on the right

The kitchen table was a popular place but so was the bathroom directly behind it.

Here's Jenni on her 9th birthday. You can see the outdated cabinets.

Here's a pic of the kitchen in progress. That bathroom door was built over and the door to the bathroom is now on the utility porch.

Here's Tami taking a picture of a light fixture I think

This is me and Jane both treasuring and remembering our own recollections of the house when we each lived there.

THE BATHROOM

door to the downstairs bathroom. Washing machine on left front

Not sure what that wood thing is over the toilet. A retro decoration?

The downstairs shower/tub

Me taking a picture in the upstairs bathroom (which used to be a bedroom) Jane said this was her bedroom when she lived here as a teenager.

THE DINING ROOM