Thursday, August 28, 2008

Goethestrasse 5

Well, we signed our lease today! Hurrah! We still have a few bureaucratic hoops to jump through- but we should be able to move in (with loaner furniture) next week. It will still be 3-4 more weeks before our furniture and other belongings arrive via slowboat. We hope the baby comes after the crib- but it's gonna be close! Here is the grand tour---


Rob & Charlotte in front of Goethestrasse #5. There is a kindergarten around the corner- Germans begin at age 3, so our landlady is looking into registration info for me. It is only for 3 hours a day, and I'm guessing Charlotte would love that next year! Oh, speaking of the landlord/landlady- they treated us to a very nice lunch today and already adore Charlotte. Their daughter (who lives next door with her 2 children) is named Julia-Charlotte. lol

Let's start at the top floor. Charlotte has claimed this little cubby space for a playhouse. The closets for this room are right next to her.

This is part of the upper floor as well. It has been semi-divided into 2 rooms- you can see the space at the top of the wall here. I think Charlotte will be in the one half and the baby in the other half- once he moves into the crib in a few months.

This is the view from Charlotte's soon-to-be-room. :)

One of the things that we really like about this house compared to most German homes is that 2 of the 3 stairwells have closed risers. It makes it a lot less scary for little kids. This stairwell is original to the house-- it was built in the 1920s! (Most of the house has been drastically updated since then.)

The next floor coming down has the master bedroom and guest room which are divided by these 2 big doors. You can see the closed rolladen on the door to the balcony behind Charlotte.

This is the view from the guest room out the balcony... your room is waiting for you!!

Also on this floor is the master bathroom. Yay, I get my own sink! ;)

Charlotte and I are both really stoked about this tub! I bet Rob is too come to think of it. There's also a separate shower stall and of course a toilet.

Coming down another floor to the main level... this is the "terrace." It's basically a nice big deck area off the living/dining room. The bell tower behind Rob chimes very loudly and LONG I think 2-3 times a day. That will take some getting used to.

This is the living/dining room area with the blinds closed. Apparently we can set the blinds on a timer- to go up and down at certain times of the day. Sounds tricky. Thankfully, they can also be done manually. The windows wrap around the front and side of the house on this corner and this is where we access the terrace as well.

Finally, this is the kitchen. I can't wait to have a kitchen again! This one is much larger than many that we have seen and has TONS of cupboard space. It also has a dishwasher and fairly sizable European style fridge (they are quite a bit smaller than their US counterparts.)

One more look at the kitchen, just because it makes me smile. :)

There's also a bathroom on this floor. And there is an "unfinished" basement where we will be able to have an American style washer and dryer- hurrah! And also some storage space.

Anyway, we are very much looking forward to our new home. :) We're going to start making that guest room comfy as soon as possible- so get your passports ready! ;)

8 comments:

Kel said...

Congrats on the house! It looks like a wonderful place. How big is that guest room? Should I plan on brining my little ones with me, or should I leave them home? ;)

Brandy Van Tassell said...

Congratulations!! I always love to move into new places. It looks so beautiful, I love the view from Charlottes room.

Mim said...

I am jealous of those views. The house looks very nice. I'd love to have those windows with the timer thing. It looks very bright and airy. So fun!

I wish I could come and visit!

The Spiveys said...

it looks so nice! now we want to visit!

Kat said...

wow it looks amazing! they start school at 3 wow C will be a super smarty when she gets back to the USA. Miss you!!!!!

Kelly Maloney said...

Congrats and I wish you all the best! The house looks beautiful and I bet Charlotte is so happy to have all that space.

Anonymous said...

Looks nice! We'd love to visit someday, if we ever get to take a real vacation.

Nate

Anonymous said...

congratulations the house looks sooo cute! we will have to come vist for sure. hope everythings going ok! email me

maura