Thursday, November 1, 2012

Could it be? Bangor Foursquare 2.0

I have returned, fair readers! I, the owner of the Bangor Foursquare! And, indeed, I am still the owner. Much has passed since my last posting - including a move to the boondocks (i.e., rural Maine), a new marriage, a new step-daughter, and a new cat - along with some fine individuals to rent out the Bangor Foursquare.

Since all of that transpired, the new fam and I have been trying to decide where to next hang our hats - preferably somewhere closer to work for me, not too far away from work for him, in a neighborhood with other children, and a place with good schools. We looked high and nigh and after many months of doing so, came to the conclusion that the Bangor Foursquare offered the best of many of these worlds. So, yes, my friends, we will be moving back into this house! Even more exciting, we will be doing some fun and sexy improvements on the Bangor Foursquare in the months to come!

Our original plan was to knock out the garage and build a new 2-car attached garage with a new family room connected to the kitchen and a master suite in the second floor. All of this was quite exciting until we got wind that there were some potential city codes that might tell us otherwise. After a depressing visit to the Code Enforcement Division of Bangor, Maine, we learned that we cannot do any of these exciting additions as there is a strict limit on how much of a lot can be developed. We cannot enlarge the footprint of the house. This means we build up and we build down. We have learned a detached garage is okay but we're trying to find out if we can even add a breezeway so we do not have to step foot in the chilly Maine winterscape on the way from the house to the garage. Sigh. Such is the building code.

So, we're waiting to hear from said Code Enforcement Officer about our options before we make our way to an architect, a builder, and - of course - the bank. I'll update with more details soon, including some ideas for the new basement and attic. Anyway, fun updates in the months to come :)