Dinner and drinks on my back deck. Snowballs on the front porch. It's officially July.  And I'm more affordable than ever: 

Excited to see the rose bushes along my driveway are in full bloom.  There's enough to put a briliant bouquet in every one of my rooms.  Ahh, to be an early 20th century Victorian in the spring.

I'm so excited, I can barely keep the roof on my attic.  Someone wants me! They really want me.  My owners approved an offer today. Things are looking up.  And I'm looking forward to meeting my new family soon.  

 

I hope they have pets.

 

Bully-big day, and believe me, I've seen my share of them since 1918.  I've got a nice family coming to take a look at me today.  That's always a good feeling.  Even more exciting: The Baltimore Sun featured me in their real estate section online.  I'm pretty humbled, to say the least:

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/business/realestate/blog/2011/04/3br_victoria... 

All this fuss over little, old me.  If I weren't a stoic grey, I'd be blushing.

Finally, the weather has warmed, and that's brought out the hungry fish in the back yard pond.  Many of my rooms overlook the koi pond.  My previous owners had an art studio in one of those rooms. My current owners have their office there, with a desk right up against the window for  the perfect view.  What better inspiration for a spring writer, a perpetual daydreamer, or just someone who really likes looking at fish all day long?

I was built in 1918.  A simpler time.  Back then, Lauraville was just a country suburb of Baltimore.  I - and houses like me - were summer homes for the rich folks living downtown.  When the weather got hot they came out here, where the July breeze and big plots of land beat any stuffy old rowhome. In fact, I'm right across the street from the old summer home for the Esskay family.  Yup, the people who make hot dogs.  

The neighborhood around here is pretty quiet.  Lots of large homes and large properties.  You don't see much of that in Baltimore.  

But I'm close to lots of great places.  Like Clementine.  The Hamilton Arts Collective.  The Hamilton Tavern.  The Chameleon Cafe.  Lake Montebello. Red Canoe.  

On some days, you can even hear the sounds of a train whistle and smell the beans roasting at Zeke's Coffee.

I used to belong to an interior designer who was on HGTV. He put a lot of love into restoring me and making me beautiful.  That's why my current family fell in love with me.  I was the place where they cut their first lawn, where their boy took his first steps, where they had their first cookout.  But it's hard for them to keep up with a big place like me, esepcially when they have to travel so much for work.  They both work in and near DC.

So they're hoping we can find someone who can take care of me.  I'd like that very much, too.

 

My agent, Mary, made a movie about me.  It's not Gone with the Wind, but I like it.