***MyColonyNJ***

queenbone

I am late in responding to your post below, but I wanted to say thanks for sharing the pictures of your house; it is huge and awesome!!!!  You all have put a ton of love into that house and I am sure it loves you for it.  It takes a lot of imagination to see beyond the animal cages and mid century fake paneling!  It's a great house and your improvements look wonderful.  Was that an old servants' staircase that was covered up in Colin's room?  Right by the door it looks like the start of a stair skirting and there was a rectangular patch in the flooring.  Anyway thanks, I enjoyed seeing your house.

MyColonyNJ

yeah - we call that the cage room.  funny that it is our dining room LOL.

And you are right, it was servants stairs in the back of the house.  The stairs (in Colin's room) have been cover for about 50 years - according to the previous owners on the other side.  The lower part of the stairs were exposed.  the previous owners used the stairs as shelves.

Since the stairs were covered on the 2nd floor, and we would almost lose an entire bedroom if we uncovered them, we decided to close the stairs on the 1st floor.  They are just covered, not removed.  So, when you go to the basement, you can see the underpart of the stairs.  You know who ever buys the house after us will wonder "where the heck are these stairs" lol

Our realtor was SHOCKED that we wanted to make an offer on the house in the condition that it was in.  But, what I saw was the wood trim, and knew that we could make something out of it.

plus, it was a short-sale (AKA Pre froclosure) so the price was right.

queenbone

You are very lucky, it is a great house.  And I imagine the house is happy you are filling it with children and not caged animals.  I can't stop loling at the thought of it.