The decision to put our house on the market actually took quite some time. We had to first ascertain whether or not our current house would be able to accommodate not only Ella and her needs but also the needs of Ava and Henry; not to mention us, and of course our beloved dog, Sasa and our now single cat, Doublestuff.
From that distant thought the list of accommodations, remodeling, use of space, and storage is a list that seemed to grow as we were making the decision. And while Ella is a phenomenal driver of her power wheelchair, the space she had to work within often presented challenges; repairs here and there were cropping up more frequently. The kids were growing and the house, in contrast, seemed to be shrinking.
Yes, it took quite some time to finally pull out the stops and put our house on the market.
Many months ago, when we first planted the seeds of our plans, a church member who is also a realtor, stepped forward and offered us her services. Sandy Turnipseed (Naper Home Realty) not only stepped forward, she stepped into our lives, our home, our trials, and our search for the house that would provide everything we needed to raise our kids in a healthy, independent environment.
With the expertise that Sandy holds in the real estate game she miraculously sold our house in a mere 14 days. That's right, 14 days! Her advice, her confidence, and her delightful personality all played a role in marketing our property...and furthermore played a role in us finding just the right house for our special needs.
Once we accepted the offer on our current house, we knew the race was on to find a new house (our buyers would like to close at the end of April). We had already ventured out to see close to ten houses, none of which would work for Ella and her wheelchair for one reason or another. We were feeling quite discouraged. But then we were fortunate to find a house that we feel can be modified to meet Ella's needs! And we felt really good about this house. We thought this could be "the one".
We put in an offer on this new house. And we waited. The owners countered our offer. We then countered theirs. And we waited some more. Finally we came to an agreement and we will be buying the house!
The house is located on a quiet street in central Naperville. Compared to our current house it's closer to downtown Naperville as well as to our church. It also happens to be four houses away from the elementary school!
But most importantly, the house has the features we need to make it work for Ella on a long-term basis.
It has wide open doorways that her wheelchair will easily fit through:
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| Foyer looking into the living room |
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| Dining room looking into the living room |
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| Family room |
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| Kitchen |
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| Open foyer |
The entrance from the garage is a straight shot through the laundry room into the family room. In our current house, Ella's chair cannot navigate through the turns of our laundry room, which means she can only enter the house through the front door. In the new house, she will be able to enter through the garage so that we will not need a ramp at the front door.
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| Standing in the family room, looking through the laundry room to the door to the garage |
She will have a large bedroom to accommodate all of her furniture and equipment with room for her wheelchair to navigate once we get an elevator:
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| Ella's bedroom |
The kids' bathroom upstairs has plenty of room for Ella's wheelchair to move around and has the capability to be modified into an accessible bathroom when the time comes.
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| The kids' bathroom |
The basement is a blank canvas to be made into an accessible playroom (with an office).
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| Basement |
The deck is low to the ground, which will make it easy to build a ramp for Ella to have access to the backyard.
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| Deck and backyard |
While this house is structurally ready for Ella, we still have a lot of work that needs to be done. But luckily, there aren't too many major remodeling projects. We need to paint the entire interior house (we love the white trim in our current house!), including the kitchen cabinets. We need to fence in the backyard. A few things came up in the inspection that will need attention. And we plan to finish the basement at some point.
But we couldn't be more excited to start our next life chapter in this house!
We know that purchasing this house could not have been even remotely possible without the love, generosity, and sincerity of so many people; near and far, young and old. It truly does take a community to raise a child!
Of course, if you know of anyone who would be willing and able to help with the work we need to do, please let us know. Some areas that need work:
- Painting
- Minor electrical work
- Minor landscaping
- Possible plumbing work
- Finish the basement
- utility room
- storage closet
- office
- drywall & insulation
- drop ceiling/lighting
- flooring
Things are moving quickly (closing for both houses is currently set for April 30th)...and as said before...we are really excited to start this next chapter of our lives.
