The Tarheel house was so named because it was sky blue like the colors of our alma mater, UNC-Chapel Hill. The original owner had been a graduate of UNC and had painted it this color.
We felt fortunate to have found this house during a bad economic time at a good deal. It was outdated in certain ways. It only had eight feet tall ceilings throughout the original parts of the house. The three and one half baths had old fixtures, cabinets and countertops. One upstairs bath had a jarring chartreuse green toilet and double sinks with navy blue laminate counters. The other two plus the half bath had busy floral wallpaper. There were five bedrooms in all with one master upstairs and one downstairs. A negative feature was that the laundry room was upstairs to accommodate the four original bedrooms.
The kitchen had an ancient original built in stove with attached microwave that I was afraid to use. There was an original Jennair cooktop on top of the tiled island. The nice feature of the kitchen was that it had a beamed ceiling, cottage-styled cabinets with vertically panelled doors and a big picture window overlooking the back yard. The almost acre sized yard had a park-like feel with an expansive lawn in the back. One side was wooded between the next house. The back of the lot was beside a creek whose bubbly waterfall sounds could be heard after a heavy rain. The down side of the yard was that the house was on a considerably sloped hill from front to back. Parking in the driveway was challenging though the garage was level.
The desirable features of the house outweighed any negative. A more modern master bedroom was added to the lower level at some point. It included 9 foot ceilings, hardwoods, two walk-in closets plus a lovely master bath with shower, tiled garden tub, vanity and his and hers sinks. In addition, features that attracted us included shiplap in the dining and living room, built in bookcases, a window seat, an office above the garage and a huge walk-in attic for lots of storage space.
My Favorite Stories 