ditching the tourette

When we bought this house, my husband and I made one solemn commitment to each other: the gun tourette deck in the front had to go by year's end.  We just barely kept that promise.  Our first contractor said it would be "impossible" (with lots of inflection) and when we would ask what it would cost to make it possible he would claim it would be "in the thousands" (again, with lots of inflection).  We're both Capricorns so I was not going to accept his answer.  I was also beginning to discover that the impossible-in the thousands response came from him when he did not want to do the job or did not know how.  So I found another local contractor who offered to take it down and replace the french doors with matching windows on either side - all for just under $2,000.  I was giddy at the thought of this home transformation and envisioned my gleeful neighbors hoisting me up on their shoulders and offering to pay me for what we had done to finally improve their property values.

After quite a bit of haggling with the Village, I got the permit for the roof work.  December 12, 2010, the tourette came off, very, very easily I was told because it was barely affixed to the roof.  In fact, at the last minute I asked if they could remove an exterior light fixture off the deck. The contractor grabbed it to see how it was attached and it came off in his hands.  That's because they nailed it to the siding - to the siding. 

Not so fast though with the stunning transformation.  Yes, it looks better (a fellow house blogger aptly uses the term "progress" as opposed to "after") but the roof is still slanted on one side, the cheap vinyl siding remains, and the windows are not what I wanted (but what I was required to have per the Village).  I am realizing we have got to hire an architect who can help us redesign the exterior (not to mention the interior marble and plasterboard extravaganza). 

Mr. Marbles welcomes you to Lombard Street...

When we bought this Queen Anne bungalow almost a year ago, we were under no illusion that it was a nice, charming Oak Park home.  You see, we had just essentially paid to sell our condominium in the big city and so our choices among available and affordable single family homes were pretty limited.  We settled on this house because of the location - not too close to the highway but close enough to walk to the train and school. 

So why am I trying to "find" a bungalow if I already live in one?  Because the prior owner, who I recently nicknamed "Mr. Marbles", did everything possible to un-bungalow the house.  He put on an addition that sits like a square, cheap vinyl-sided hat on the house.  He tore out most of the original woodwork and windows.  He covered up the original fireplace and windows framing it.  He dropped ceilings and added several glass block windows.  He removed all of the original exterior doors and replaced them with black iron security or steel doors.  Rather than fix a broken door bell or light fixture, he just added more (thus the four broken doorbells and the five light fixtures in the master bedroom).  But the final and unrelenting act of cruelty on this house?  He loved marble and put it everywhere he could.  We have two types of marble on the fireplace, three kinds in each bathroom, and even marble insets in the woodfloors!  He also apparently loved rocks and given our children the endless entertainment of throwing around tons of red, black, and white rocks.  So thanks to Mr. Marbles we have our work cut out for us.