Main floor
The front room
Gas fire, the good sofa, and the window seat everyone ends up reading in.
Gas fire, 55-inch television, board games in the window seat
Room by room
Every room, and what is in it
Nine rooms and spaces, each with the thing about it that matters after two days rather than after two minutes. Photographed on changeover mornings, which is why nothing is styled and the beds are made the way our cleaner makes them.
Main floor
The kitchen
A 1948 kitchen with a new gas range in it. No dishwasher, and we are not putting one in.
Gas range, no dishwasher, coffee: a filter machine and a stovetop pot
Main floor
The dining room
Round table, eight chairs, and the only room where all eight of you fit at once.
Seats eight, extra leaf in the sideboard, best desk in the house
Main floor
The screened porch
The best room in the house from late April to October. No heat in it, so useless in January.
Table for six, swing seat, mosquito screens replaced in 2025
Main floor · sleeps 2
Bedroom one, the back bedroom
Queen bed, main floor, the quietest room in the house.
Queen · blackout blinds · central air
Main floor · sleeps 2
Bedroom two, the street bedroom
Queen bed, main floor, two windows onto Old York Drive.
Queen · bay window · central air
Main floor · sleeps 2
Bedroom three, the twin room
Two singles that can be pushed together, main floor, next to the bathroom.
Two singles · can be joined · central air
Up fourteen steep steps · sleeps 2
The attic room
A double under the roof, up a steep flight. Hot in July, and the one room we discount for.
Double · window unit · 5ft 10in at the bed
Outside
The yard, the alley and the parking
One parking space off the alley, a fenced side yard, a fig tree that fruits in August.
One alley space · grill · fig tree · gate, not a dog-proof fence
The other half of the list
What this house has not got
Read this before the photographs talk you into anything. A house that sleeps eight with one and a half bathrooms is a real thing to plan around.
- A dishwasher
- The kitchen is the 1948 one. Double sink, a wooden rack, and eight of every plate and glass.
- A second full bathroom
- One full bath on the main floor and a half bath off the kitchen, in a house that sleeps eight. Mornings need a rota.
- Air conditioning in the attic room
- A window unit that holds 78°F until about three in the afternoon in July, and a ceiling fan after that.
- Step-free entry
- Four steps to the porch and two into the hall. Three of the four bedrooms are on one floor once you are in.
- Off-street parking for a second car
- One space in the alley. The rest is free street parking, and on a Friday night you may be two houses down.
- A silent 5:40 in the morning
- A freight train crosses the trestle four blocks away most mornings. You hear it with the windows open.
- A pool, a hot tub, or water you can see
- None of the three. The river is a fourteen-minute drive and the beach is over two hours.
- A strong AT&T signal
- One bar at the back of the house. Wi-Fi calling works; the fibre is 300 Mbps and we test it every changeover.
- A high chair
- We lend a travel cot if you ask a week ahead. No high chair, and the dining chairs have no straps.
- Anyone coming in while you are here
- We clean before you arrive and after you leave. No mid-stay visits unless something breaks.