passatdoc
Well-known member
My parents live in a town home they bought in 1972. While we were still in high school, they downsized from the "Big House" and bought three town homes with the proceeds (two for rentals, one in which to live). This proved to be a wise financial decision, because the rentals helped to pay for our post-secondary tuition (and still generate income to this day).
They realized they didn't need the huge house and yard once we were gone at university, and they wouldn't have our help in the house and garden except possibly during school breaks (summer, etc.). The town house has 2000 sq ft (about 195 square meters) which was not a huge space reduction from the former house (I think it was 2600 sq ft but on a 1/4 acre lot, a big yard for a city home--San Diego).
The other reason for moving was that the town homes were much more conveniently located near my parents' offices (a dentist and an interior designer), cutting their commutes by more than half, and this was during the first "energy crisis" of 1973-4.
What was NOT so convenient was that the homes were outside of my secondary school enrollment boundaries, but I was allowed to continue in my original school, as was my sister when she reached secondary school age (because she had an older sibling--me--in the school). The school district allowed younger siblings to attend since we could carpool to school, thus simplifying transportation issues. The drive to school was 15-20 minutes, depending on morning traffic.
The first year we moved there, we were lucky in that a new next-door neighbor had a daughter (one year ahead of me) at the same school, so carpools were possible, and by the second year in the new home, my sister and I were using a hand-me-down used car to drive to school during my final year of secondary school. By the time I moved on to university, my sister had a driver license and drove the same car to school alone for her final two years.
Anyway, the homes when originally built had harvest gold color Hotpoint appliances. The dishwashers have long ago been replaced, but the harvest gold Hotpoint upper-lower range/oven units are still going strong. My parents' range has a crack in the large oven window, so they can't use self-clean and have to clean it manually. Burners and drip pans have been replaced for a like-new appearance.
Eventually they may replace it, but it would take some work because the replacement would have to be an electric range with hood, or electric range with over-the-range microwave oven/exhaust fan. In addition, the wall behind the range (which has never seen light of day) would need to be refinished into a backsplash (the Hotpoint unit has an integrated metal backsplash in harvest gold). The refrigerator (GE profile) and dishwasher (KA) are both black, not exactly matching the harvest gold oven but they could care less, they like it.
By the way, the original washers were harvest gold Hotpoints, replaced by harvest gold GE's, and now replaced with white Maytags (top loaders) about five years ago. Unfortunately they were purchased after the end of production of Dependable Care machines, so who knows how long they will last.
They realized they didn't need the huge house and yard once we were gone at university, and they wouldn't have our help in the house and garden except possibly during school breaks (summer, etc.). The town house has 2000 sq ft (about 195 square meters) which was not a huge space reduction from the former house (I think it was 2600 sq ft but on a 1/4 acre lot, a big yard for a city home--San Diego).
The other reason for moving was that the town homes were much more conveniently located near my parents' offices (a dentist and an interior designer), cutting their commutes by more than half, and this was during the first "energy crisis" of 1973-4.
What was NOT so convenient was that the homes were outside of my secondary school enrollment boundaries, but I was allowed to continue in my original school, as was my sister when she reached secondary school age (because she had an older sibling--me--in the school). The school district allowed younger siblings to attend since we could carpool to school, thus simplifying transportation issues. The drive to school was 15-20 minutes, depending on morning traffic.
The first year we moved there, we were lucky in that a new next-door neighbor had a daughter (one year ahead of me) at the same school, so carpools were possible, and by the second year in the new home, my sister and I were using a hand-me-down used car to drive to school during my final year of secondary school. By the time I moved on to university, my sister had a driver license and drove the same car to school alone for her final two years.
Anyway, the homes when originally built had harvest gold color Hotpoint appliances. The dishwashers have long ago been replaced, but the harvest gold Hotpoint upper-lower range/oven units are still going strong. My parents' range has a crack in the large oven window, so they can't use self-clean and have to clean it manually. Burners and drip pans have been replaced for a like-new appearance.
Eventually they may replace it, but it would take some work because the replacement would have to be an electric range with hood, or electric range with over-the-range microwave oven/exhaust fan. In addition, the wall behind the range (which has never seen light of day) would need to be refinished into a backsplash (the Hotpoint unit has an integrated metal backsplash in harvest gold). The refrigerator (GE profile) and dishwasher (KA) are both black, not exactly matching the harvest gold oven but they could care less, they like it.
By the way, the original washers were harvest gold Hotpoints, replaced by harvest gold GE's, and now replaced with white Maytags (top loaders) about five years ago. Unfortunately they were purchased after the end of production of Dependable Care machines, so who knows how long they will last.
