“This is the good stuff,” Liam noted. “From when furniture was built to last.”
He turned his attention to Miranda. “We’re definitely interested in the furniture. Have they given you a figure for it?”
The real estate agent looked at him thoughtfully. “I have some idea, yes. Let’s talk about details after you’ve seen everything.”
“Yes, good idea.”
Going back into the kitchen, they found there was another doorway leading into a small hallway. Off the hallway was a utility room with washer, dryer and ironing board. Naomi blinked at it.
“People still use those?”
Behind her, Miranda laughed. Continuing on, the hallway led out to meet up with the other hallway, beyond the staircase, so they came full circle back to the front of the house. The bedroom suite off the main hall had a surprisingly modern bathroom, complete with safety handles for the toilet and tub.
“Look!” Naomi pointed at the towel rack in one bathroom. “It’s heated! What a terrific idea for cold winter evenings… or mornings.”
“A few years back, the owners weren’t able to continue going up and down the stairs, so they had the bathroom completely remodeled, and moved into this suite,” Miranda told them.
Naomi wandered across the room to the white-framed double doors leading outside. “It’s got its own patio,” she observed. “Nice.”
“Hmm.” Liam eyed the suite thoughtfully, from the adjustable bed with its floral quilt, the attractive white dresser and small writing desk, to the white lace curtains at the windows. He pressed on the mattress, commenting, “Memory foam..”
Naomi watched him in curiosity, wondering what was going through his head. As they followed the realtor up the stairs, he leaned close to murmur, “I could rent the suite out as a shifterbnb. We have one, you know. Like an Airbnb but for Others only.”
Naomi had to stifle her laughter, since they were coming to the top landing where Miranda was waiting for them. The tour of the upstairs was brief; four bedrooms, all with air conditioning, heaters and ceiling fans, as promised, and two bathrooms. The furniture there was in the same style as that downstairs; strong, built to last, and well-cared for.
They all trooped back downstairs, and Miranda led them back into the living room and out the glassed double doors onto a wide patio in the back yard. Naomi frankly gaped at the size of it. She’d known it was an acre, but somehow she hadn’t realized how big it would actually look.
“I think you’ll need one of those riding mowers,” she told Liam.
He huffed out a laugh. “I think I’ll need the number of those gardeners,” he retorted.
Her gaze fell on the carriage house, and she gave a little skip-hop. “I’ve never seen one of these before,” she confided to Miranda. “I’m so curious to see the inside.”
“The downstairs is nothing special,” the real estate lady told her. “Just a big, empty space. But the upstairs was renovated into a living space back in the seventies, and it’s never been used, I’m told.”
Naomi groaned. “Not more green kitchens!”
Miranda laughed. “No, it’s very nice, I promise.”
It was two stories… after she’d looked up carriage houses online, she’d expected that. It had been clearly built to match the main house, of the same architectural style and the same stone. There was a large door, larger than a single garage but not as big as a double, and a regular door to one side. A stone staircase to one side led to a door on the second floor.
“There’s also an inside staircase,” Miranda told them, unlocking the front door. “There’s no bathroom downstairs, but there are several rooms, any one of which could be remodeled into one if you’re so inclined.”
Inside, the main room was surprisingly spacious, and clean. Despite the cement floor, it was attractive, with its stone walls and wood-framed windows.
“The windows here are also double paned,” Miranda explained, seeing Naomi’s gaze on them.
An open staircase led to the upstairs, which had not one but two bedrooms, as well as a full bathroom and a small kitchen, very basic, but functional.
“You could rent this whole upstairs out as your bnb,” she whispered to Liam as they followed Miranda back downstairs. He shook his head, though.
“No, I want this for patients who come from out of town and have to stay over, for whatever reason.”
Okay, that made sense.
Going back into the house, Miranda paused just inside. “Shall we go to the dining room, and we can go over the details?”
Naomi dug into her purse, finding her Kindle.
