Escrow is closed and my title is now on record! Headed up this afternoon to pick up the key. Get ready for lots of “before” pictures!

You know what’s charming about buying a house in an old neighborhood?  Realizing that the “tract” that makes up your neighborhood was laid out in 1889.  In this case, the tract was named after two guys — Worrell and Ward — who owned vineyard acreage in the area, much of which was lost to the phylloxera infestation that hit Napa county in the late 19th century. I’m still doing some historical research, but I’m assuming that Worrell and Ward decided to subdivide the land and sell it for residential development rather than replace the vines destroyed by phylloxera.

You know what’s not charming about buying a house in an old neighborhood? When you realize that the lots and property boundaries haven’t been surveyed in a more than a century. And you suspect that maybe your old cottage partially sits on someone else’s land. And so you’re going to need a survey. And there are no markers or monuments for a surveyor to work from. Which means your survey is gonna run you well into the four figures. Ouch.

Here’s what I’m buying:

A PORTION OF LOTS 111 AND 112 AS SHOWN ON THE MAP ENTITLED, “MAP OF THE SUBDIVISIONS OF THE WORELL AND WARD TRACT, ST. HELENA, NAPA CO., CAL.” FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY RECORDER OF THE COUNTY OF NAPA, STATE OF CALIFORNIA ON JULY 12, 1889, DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS:

COMMENCING AT A POINT ON THE NORTHEASTERLY LINE OF SCOTT AVENUE AT THE MOST WESTERN CORNER OF LOT 112 ABOVE REFERRED TO; AND RUNNING THENCE NORTHEASTERLY ALONG THE NORTHWESTERLY LINES OF SAID LOTS 112 AND 111, A DISTANCE OF 100 FEET TO THE MOST NORTHERN CORNER OF SAID LOT 111; THENCE SOUTHEASTERLY ALONG THE NORTHEASTERLY LINE OF LOT 111; A DISTANCE OF 52 FEET; THENCE SOUTHWESTERLY AND PARALLEL TO THE NORTHWESTERLY LINES OF SAID LOTS 100 FEET TO THE NORTHEASTERLY LINE OF SCOTT AVENUE; THENCE NORTHWESTERLY ALONG LAST MENTIONED LINE 52 FEET TO THE POINT OF COMMENCEMENT.

The seller signed all the paperwork today and promises it’s in the hands of FedEx (she lives in Milwaukee).  So a Wednesday close is still possible. . . Isn’t the suspense killing you??

PS — I love that a couple from Milwaukee bought a “winter” vacation home in St. Helena. It ain’t exactly tropical here in the winters, but I suppose it’s better than Milwaukee!

Well, I was supposed to close escrow today. I had visions of spending the weekend swimming, puttering around in the garden, drawing house sketches, etc. It wasn’t meant to be, though. BUT, I did sign all the closing paperwork this morning!  Closing is scheduled for next Wednesday.  Keeping fingers crossed!

Looks like the closing date — scheduled for Friday — may have to be pushed to next week. I’m already feeling super-anxious about it, and the delay won’t make it better. Why the delay? The mortgage paperwork, of course. [sigh] . . .  [deep breaths]

Lev’s latest idea for the house:  He (and a crew of laborers) tackle the demolition of the existing house. He says it would save money AND be great exercise for him!  And then he started waxing nostalgic about when he was 13 years old . . . and his dad put a crowbar in his hand . . . and told him to start tearing down walls at the cottage on 22nd St.  Um, yeah.  Is this a good idea, folks?

The blog project has me inspired to take more pictures again.  So I snapped some images from yesterday’s “pest” inspection while wandering around.

A beautiful old redwood (on the property next door):

Light & shadow through the wisteria:

This week I got the pest inspection report.  For someone who’s never read one of these reports, it was somewhat alarming.  No termites, thank goodness.  But there were findings of potential “fungus damage”(!) and maybe some “dry rot”(!) and some mysterious “white powder”(!) in a corner that apparently frightened the inspector so much he didn’t inspect the area.  So Lev and I went over there yesterday to check things out and see what’s what.

Good news. No fungus.  No dry rot.  Just some weather damage to old wood, and some peeling paint.  Mostly in areas of the house that will likely get torn down.  Oh, and the “white powder”?  Um, dryer lint that had accumulated on the ground in a corner near the exhaust vent.  Sheesh, I have no idea why an inspector would be so alarmist, but Lev says that’s just what they do.

Here’s Lev doing some inspecting:

And measuring:

And here’s what old wood and peeling paint looks like:

Not so scary. . . So I’m releasing the inspection contingencies tomorrow!

Here we go! Maybe it’s a bit premature to launch the blog, as I don’t actually own the house yet. . . But it’s under contract, and the appraisal came in where I needed it, and the pest inspection seems ok (we’ll poke around a bit this weekend to check some things), and so I should be able to release the inspection contingencies. Then all I need is for the bank to actually loan me some money! So I’m keeping fingers crossed. . .