Dear God! We've done it. 2.0

The wait is over. We have secured our names on the wall of the "clinically insane home-buyers" as we recently closed on our forever home; or as Jeff will tease, our home for the next 5-20 years. I'm never moving again!

We decide it was time to start the home search this spring and hooked up with a very cool realtor, Stewart Ramirez. We figured we were old hats at this game and made a laundry list of must-haves for this next purchase. We looked exclusively on the north side of Chicago. Neighborhoods that sat on the Chicago border and some of the suburbs that still have a city feel. There were a lot of duds. But what we found most surprising was the sacrifice of home size:yard size and vice versus. We needed a bigger place and a yard for the monkey. We weren't finding the house, especially in our price range.

One night, it always starts that way, one night Jeff was checking out the local listings on one of the public sites and said, "Look at this house, but don't look where it is." The description was as follows:

A Mini Fortress surrounded by trees set back from beautiful Longwood Dr. Home features tastefully appointed formal living & dining room, sun parlor, den, plus a main floor family room! The grounds are nicely cared for and meticulously maintained. Updates include a boiler, 2010, & a tear off roof, 2004. Short walk to school shopping and Metra.

Um, yes please! The only catch...it's located in Beverly. Where the hell is Beverly? Well, Beverly Hills, as it is officially called, is located on the far south side of Chicago. It is known as the "Evanston" of the south side and the "Village in the City". Needless to say this potential home and neighborhood peaked my interest...so we called Stewart.

This is what we found...

I can see the Christmas stockings and friends crowded around this inviting fireplace.

Jeff has an office and an area to contain his organized chaos...the door can be closed. Big perk!

The arched windows reminded us both of Neah and some of the romantic homes we adore.

Dining room for Thanksgiving and dinners with friends...who will sleep over since the drive is longer and there is room for guests!

More updated kitchen than one might expect.

There are no words.

Master

Family room

Guest

The room I thought Clementine should have but she walked in looked around and said, "No."

Attic...aka playroom or guest or "the kid who we think is most likely to sneak out" bedroom.

It's a "grandma house" with amazing potential but it is very far south from the active and energetic Lincoln Square that we love so dearly. The only way to feel jazzed about this location was to do plenty of research. "What did you find?" one might ask. Well, let me tell you....
-The public school is highly regarded
-Solid and affordable private schools
-Hills and great walking
-Activities at the local park are cost effective and abundant (~$25 per class for 8 weeks)
-The Beverly Art Center (music classes and concerts)
-Downtown Chicago is a 10-15 minute Metra ride, the stop is walking distance from the house.
-We are closer to family because we don't have to brave traffic through the entire city to get in or out of town.
-Close knit neighborhood community

Beverly is known as a blended and integrated community. People flocked here and made a point to create a true community.

So we put in an offer, it was accepted and then the negotiations took us on a ride. Everything was a-okay but instead of a standard 30 day close the sellers wanted a 90 day close. We reluctantly agreed and this summer flew/crept by as we waited to move into our house. The closing process was EPIC and we thought it would never happen but it did.

Here we are, in our new house. And so the work begins....