Our Old House.

We bought this old house in 1993 with plans to restore then flip it in 3 to 5 years. Fourteen years later we are still here. The house was built in 1897 in the Shaw neighborhood. where most structures are brick and built between 1880 and 1920. /http://stlouis.missouri.org/shaw/

To the right is a picture of our second floor bathroom (picture taken in May) as it has been for the last, oh...10 years? Yes, just about that long. But we are happy to report some progress. "He" has recently replaced all the old plumbing and electricity, added vents and strengthened floors, etc. Me? I supervise.

Below is a picture of the bathroom taken last week. So you can see that things are moving right along.

Amazingly, we have remained married through all this, and remained relatively happy. (?)

Owning and restoring an old house is a test of endurance. A real life money pit, it can test the bank account. Our dreams of flipping have faded as it is testing our mortality as well, taking much longer as we get older. We do wonder if we will be able to climb the stairs to use the bathroom when this is over. I've recently thought about where we might install an elevator to get us up and down the four levels of the house since He would have trouble leaving all this behind after having put so much into it: his sweat, his money, his satisfaction of having done it.

Oh well.