One of my favorite things about this house is the basement. We’re habitual apartment dwellers, so we haven’t accumulated a ton of stuff, but I really hate throwing things away, and that does not make Ed happy. For context, Ed moved to the US when he was 18 with two suitcases and if forced I bet he could pare down his stuff to two suitcases right now. Some clothes, a laptop, his Kindle, and (I’d like to think) a picture of me. I, however, absolutely must bring boxes of photos from high school, notes from college classes, my first pair of baby shoes, and a thousand books with me every time we move. So the basement is kind of a big deal, especially given the lack of closets on the main floor.

Right now the basement is not a lot to look at. It’s a cracked cement floor, a low ceiling covered in exposed pipes, some plywood sheer walls (for earthquakes), an old chimney, and an darkroom created by a former tenant. And it will likely stay that way for a while, with the possible addition of a washer dryer and the definite addition of some boxes of middle school yearbooks and the dress my mom wore when she got married.

Eventually, though, Ed wants a man cave with a big TV and plenty of room for his video games. And I want an actual laundry room with storage space for extra clothes. And we both want a pool table. That would be awesome. The trouble is that this will be obscenely expensive. We’re going to bring in an architect to see what might be possible and whether finishing the space will be worth it when we eventually sell the house. I hope so, because that would basically double our living space. Also, did I mention the possibility of a big screen TV and a pool table? Then we could have a quaint cottage upstairs and a frat house in the basement. This would serve the dual purpose of making our house more awesome and making my friends less freaked out by the fact that we are both married and homeowners.

Ed and I bought this our cottage spontaneously. We weren’t really looking to buy a place at the time. We made the rounds and went to some open houses on weekends, sure, but that was more just Sunday recreation for married yuppies than it was an actual endeavor.

Also, saying “we” bought the cottage spontaneously may have been a bit misleading. Ed was in Europe when I went to go see the cottage. He found it on Redfin and sent me the listing, and I said I’d stop by the open house while I was out running errands. It was a (relatively) inexpensive fixer-upper, it was a free-standing house, and it was perfect. So I called him and announced that I wanted to buy it. He was still in Europe when we made an offer a few days later. In fact, he didn’t return until 6 days before closing. Yes, my husband bought a house sight unseen. He’s awesome.