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.
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