Mt Albert House

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This is for the record, part of the family diary. So I shan’t apologise for the excessive photos. Much as I would like to.

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We bought our house in Mt Albert in December 2006, three weeks before Astrid was born. We’re moving back to London on May 31st 2008 but we’ll keep this place for now.

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The only work we did was to paint the kitchen and part of the hallway white, change most of the curtains and take up the carpet in half the living room.

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By the time we leave there will be white walls and polished floors throughout the house. In my head reside plans for a complete overhaul, which will be done when we return one day with pounds in our pockets.

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That or we just sell and move to Cheltenham.

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We’ve not been in a position to do much to this place and I’ve never really been happy with the interior – although I love the house to bits.

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Our stuff kind of sits awkwardly in it right now. Our things just don’t match the rooms – or the yellow stained wooden shelves.

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There’s plenty of room for everything. I’ve got three work areas;

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Sewing.

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The shop room.

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And the office.

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I’ve been lucky to have half the living room for my sewing. It would feel too lonely tucked away elsewhere.

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The exterior’s gorgeous – a 1940s california bungalow with the garden of my dreams. It’s been the perfect house for beginning our family, and it’s a comfort to know it’s here waiting for us whenever we decide to return.

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The blue of the hallway proved too much for us this time.

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A dark space I’m sure our books have appreciated.

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A cool refuge it was in the hottest Summer in ten years.

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We’ve lived with the magnolia.

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And the brass light fittings.

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The yellow ragroll has graced our bedroom on a daily basis.

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Strangely, it’s peculiar charm has rather grown on me.

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I’ll probably miss you house. I’ll definitely miss you garden and leafy streets. I won’t miss the hideous local shops where I have to hold my hand over my nose as I walk past the rows of Chinese takeaways and Internet Cafés with blacked out front windows. Mt Albert was once a graceful area – a lot of it still is – but sadly the shops have gone to absolute ruin.

Another good reason to move to London (that and the Caerphilly cheese).


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15 responses to “Mt Albert House”

  1. kevin avatar
    kevin

    It is a great house and I will miss it. But not enough to want to come back for a good while.

  2. Alison avatar

    Thankyou for your tour of the house. I feel the here, and not here. The revealed and the hidden. the love of a place, the need to want to be somewhere else. The home, the heart, the family, the ties, and all that will be missed.

  3. Megan avatar

    I think you are doing exactly the right thing, going where your heart is. I am so jealous that you can.

    Love these pics of your house.

  4. Irene avatar

    I can feel your feelings. To an extent, of course. We shall be moving to our own house,the forst in 14 years of marriage in the summer.
    I have lived in many houses in the past. I’ve cried leaving most of them. But I think you’ll find England inspiring. I haven’t been there in many years, but I keep up through friends and the net, and it is a major inspiration to me. So, cheer up. Do your farewells (it’s good to know the house is there for you) and look forward to sipping the new. After all, come to think about it, not that many people get to experience the change of continents and hemispheres and similar yet different cultures.
    Wishing you the very best.

  5. lottie avatar

    oh yes, that blue. love it. but I can see how it might peek through the white a bit.

  6. Lindsay avatar

    What a wonderful garden and lots of space! Prepare to have a lot less room in London (unless you have unlimited funds!) – but at least you will have the Heath. Which as well as the wide open spaces, hills and woods now also has the best, brand new children’s playground which Astrid will love. And you’ll be arriving just in time for the pools to open too.

    It’s a strange feeling leaving your home behind, I remember taking similar pictures of our place before we moved to Australia for a couple of years. It was lovely to have it there, waiting for us when we got back.

  7. Creature of Habit avatar

    Sniff.

    It’s always hard leaving one place, change it so unsettling for me. But, you have such excitement on the horizon…..LONDON!

    Your move is giving me ‘the itch’…… *looking at map to see where I could move*

  8. hanna avatar
    hanna

    Thanks for sharing, no apologizing necessary, I love peeking into other peoples homes. Your garden is truly wonderful, it has that look about it as though it has been there a long time, like it would have little pretty surprises that pop up and say hello in spring. And your work spaces! lucky you! I wish I had all that work space, mine is a tiny nook at the end of our dining room/lounge only just big enough to squeeze me and my fabrics into.

  9. Diane avatar

    Your house is beautiful and I dream of a garden like that. You seem to have a lot of space – one thing we don’t seem to have anymore in the UK. I envy your freedom to move – we are so deeply rooted with work and finances that it wouldn’t be an option until retirement 🙂

  10. kimberlee avatar

    it is a special house and I enjoyed the many photos, I’ve been there, I keep thinking to myself.

    i’m glad its waiting for you. and I do hope you return!

  11. Bishty avatar

    Your house looks gorgeous and I love that picture of the mountains (the one above the iron!). Can you tell me more about it? Thanks.

  12. Ravenhill avatar

    How nice to document your home this way. So many lovely spots, art and the GARDEN! I hope things are going well for you in this hectic time.

  13. lilou avatar

    great house which will wait for you … and England will be so much fun!!!!

    Kiss

  14. Astrid avatar

    Thanks for sharing these shots of your home. It’s such a lovely place. Fun seeing my allium photo there on your wall 🙂

  15. Aga avatar
    Aga

    thanks for the tour of your house, charlotte. i feel as if i have been there.

    beautiful place, but i feel that you are capable of making every place your own and special.

    England- Charlotte is coming soon!!!!

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