rmckee
Well-known member
Hey everyone-
Thrilled to finally be able to post about my own garage. I've been lurking, commenting, (drooling) on and over this site for more than a few years now, and have always loved the community the forum has. As a few of you may know or remember, I completed a thru-hike of the 2,185 mile Appalachian Trail in 2014, and was absolutely thrilled to meet a few of you as I hiked up the mountain ranges and through your east coast backyards. The strength of this group is awesome, and the encouragement changed my hike infinitely for the better.
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I began shopping for a house in 2014, just a few months after I finished my hike. Interest rates were great, market was great, it seemed like the perfect time. The Boston market is a difficult one, especially as a first-time and single homebuyer. My list of requirements was quite small: 2 bedrooms and either a garage or a porch. My realtor was acutely aware of the fact that I needed one or the other, so when she found me a place a little outside my ideal radius that had both, I was sold. I grew up about half an hour north of Boston in a small suburban town, and the new property landed me about 5 minutes from the city.
The house was great, constructed in 1910 with recently refinished floors, 2 bedrooms, an office, formal dining and living room, and super outdated kitchen on the first floor, and downstairs is a small 2-car garage and an in-law apartment. The garage was in rough shape, probably long since forgotten, and had exposed cast iron piping hanging well below the horsehair plaster ceiling. While my realtor appropriately was hesitant to see anything aside potential for "stuff" to accumulate, I saw potential for a small, clean, working shop. As all of you know, the first-time home buying process (or any buying of a home) often leaves little money left to do big things, so the remodeling of the garage was going to take a very far back burner to things like the kitchen.
It's been a year since I bought the place, and a lot has happened since. I'll outline in the future posts, but I wanted to officially get this thing started, as otherwise I'll just sit on here looking through everyone else's garages.
Regarding the name, it's a bit of a working title, but I was at a bar with the same name in Charlotte, and figured it fit perfectly for a garage where the view from the driveway looks right out over Boston's skyline.
So Citylights it is. More updates to come.
- Ryan
08/2015 - Initial Purchase by Ryan, on Flickr
This is a photo I took on my final walk-through before closing, just to give you a very basic idea as to the early stages of what I'm working with.
Thrilled to finally be able to post about my own garage. I've been lurking, commenting, (drooling) on and over this site for more than a few years now, and have always loved the community the forum has. As a few of you may know or remember, I completed a thru-hike of the 2,185 mile Appalachian Trail in 2014, and was absolutely thrilled to meet a few of you as I hiked up the mountain ranges and through your east coast backyards. The strength of this group is awesome, and the encouragement changed my hike infinitely for the better.
--
I began shopping for a house in 2014, just a few months after I finished my hike. Interest rates were great, market was great, it seemed like the perfect time. The Boston market is a difficult one, especially as a first-time and single homebuyer. My list of requirements was quite small: 2 bedrooms and either a garage or a porch. My realtor was acutely aware of the fact that I needed one or the other, so when she found me a place a little outside my ideal radius that had both, I was sold. I grew up about half an hour north of Boston in a small suburban town, and the new property landed me about 5 minutes from the city.
The house was great, constructed in 1910 with recently refinished floors, 2 bedrooms, an office, formal dining and living room, and super outdated kitchen on the first floor, and downstairs is a small 2-car garage and an in-law apartment. The garage was in rough shape, probably long since forgotten, and had exposed cast iron piping hanging well below the horsehair plaster ceiling. While my realtor appropriately was hesitant to see anything aside potential for "stuff" to accumulate, I saw potential for a small, clean, working shop. As all of you know, the first-time home buying process (or any buying of a home) often leaves little money left to do big things, so the remodeling of the garage was going to take a very far back burner to things like the kitchen.
It's been a year since I bought the place, and a lot has happened since. I'll outline in the future posts, but I wanted to officially get this thing started, as otherwise I'll just sit on here looking through everyone else's garages.
Regarding the name, it's a bit of a working title, but I was at a bar with the same name in Charlotte, and figured it fit perfectly for a garage where the view from the driveway looks right out over Boston's skyline.
So Citylights it is. More updates to come.
- Ryan
08/2015 - Initial Purchase by Ryan, on Flickr
This is a photo I took on my final walk-through before closing, just to give you a very basic idea as to the early stages of what I'm working with.
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