Bringing Back Sligo

We have started the process for registering Sligo with the Virginia Landmarks Register (VLR).  Surprisingly, it does not appear that anyone before us has attempted to do the same.  I am fairly certain the house would not qualify for the National Historic Registry but it may qualify for the VLR.  This isn’t to say that our application will be approved; I don’t know what exactly they’re looking for and it’s doubtful that just the age of home will land it on the registry but it’s worth a try.  If we can get it on the registry then we may qualify for tax credits which will help immensely.

It saddens me that the property was left to fall apart for so long but I also understand how a home this size and age can get away from a person.  For comparison’s sake, our current house is a mere 27 years old and it was in such a state of disrepair that it was foreclosed because the owner couldn’t keep-up with the repairs.  I think it goes without saying that it was Marcus who found both Sligo and our current home.  I also did a little house hunting and kept finding perfectly fine homes without holes in the ceiling or nests in closets or ancient animal carcasses in the basement but I guess because they didn’t have any of those issues they weren’t interesting enough for Marcus.

Some of you may have looked-up the Zillow listing of Sligo and seen the interior pictures.  I had, too, before seeing it in person.  The pictures still didn’t prepare me for what the house looked like in person.  Some of you might have wondered what I thought when I saw Sligo for the first time, in person.  Take it away Tyra:

My literal reaction to walking into Sligo for the first time.

I don’t mean to be dramatic but…maybe I was a little dramatic.  To be fair, this was the first thing I saw when I drove up the driveway:

The vulture tree.

That boded well for the rest of the viewing.  The next thing I noticed was the smell.  It turns out the cottage had a fresh animal carcass just inside the door and the smell was permeating the perimeter of the property (alliteration!).  Sorry, I didn’t get a picture of that; I pretty much avoided that area like, well, like a dead animal was near by.

Once inside the main house, the first room I entered was the kitchen which is located on the south of the house (and trust me I usually have no clue which way is north, south, east, or west but I’ve been looking at maps for the VLR application and feeling frisky).  Directly to the right of the entrance was a small room which was full of random stuff.

One corner of the kitchen, stacked with books.

A view of the rest of the kitchen area.

The small room off the kitchen and also the scene of Marcus’s accident. (Picture pulled from the Zillow listing.)

As I walked past the kitchen I entered a dark hallway and what used to be a bathroom.  Past that was a second small room and then the two main rooms of the first floor plus the foyer which is a room in itself.

The downstairs “bathroom.”  (Picture pulled from the Zillow listing.)

The second small room off the back of the house.  (Picture pulled from the Zillow listing.)

The foyer. Pretty sure the graffiti on the wall, to the left, does not say “Good luck you.”  Also, the door that is closed in the background of the picture is the second room off the back of the house.  (Picture pulled from the Zillow listing.)

As I continued walking through the house I came to the two main rooms of the house.  Both were left in a state of disrepair with quite a lot of old and broken furniture and just general stuff piled in corners.  However, the one thing I saw and grudgingly admitted was amazing, were the very large, double pocket doors that separated the two rooms.

The large pocket doors that separate two rooms on the first floor.

From there, I gingerly picked my way over the broken glass and trash bags full of stuff and headed up the stairs.  The stairs are in amazing shape and are about four or five feet wide.  At first I thought maybe the stairs were so wide because of the style of dress in the 1890s but now I’m not so sure.  I was envisioning hoop skirts for that time period but after a quick Internet search I know that’s not correct.  Too bad because I was really hoping for a Scarlett O’Hara moment and maybe even a dramatic goodbye kiss with Marcus at the front door (not insinuating he’s going to leave me but we’re only just at the beginning of this renovation process and we still like each other).

The stair banister is slightly worrisome for me (Hello, my name is Lauren and I’m a worrier) because it stands about four feet tall but Marcus pointed out it would be he or I that would be more likely to fall over since it hits at our hip or lower.  So, as long as the ghosts are friendly and aren’t the pushing kind I’ll be fine though I might avoid walking on that side of the stairs until the ghosts and I have established boundaries.

The three rooms upstairs were all in relatively good shape with the exception of the broken windows and plants growing through them oh, and the nests.  Have I mentioned the nests?  The bathroom upstairs was in the worst shape of all the upstairs space though it would appear that some work was being done before the previous owners left.  After the second floor I went to the basement which I touched-on in a separate post but can’t stress enough just how dark and creepy it was.

I suppose that’s it.  I just scrolled to the top and saw that I originally started to write this post about the application with the VLR so, my apologies, I know I went off on a tangent there.

Thanks, Tyra.  You have such a way with emotions.