We are in the south west of the country in the lavender section approximately where it says "Dolj"
Some readers have requested a bit of assistance to help visualize where we're living these days.
I'm happy to oblige especially because a few photos might go a long way toward encouraging my friends to come and visit. Now you know my ulterior motive.
Like every house, this one has its own story and if you're not particularly interested in reading about it, just skip down to the photos or get off this page entirely and go play with your kids, clean your dishes or take a walk. Which is what you should be doing anyway.
We go back to the summer of '99 when Silviu and Pia were living in a horrid apartment in the city of Craiova. (Not all apartments are horrid but this one fit that description). For five weeks Mihai, Mircea and I lived in this apartment and experienced dog urine in the hallways, a non-functioning elevator and no less than 3 episodes of flooding from the upstairs neighbor's apartment. I won't even describe the tram that ran outside all hours of the day and night.
Untenable /en'tenebel/ adj. A certain apartment in Craiova.
Fortuantely we were able to purchase a stand-alone house in the countryside (thus we arrive at Obedin) and we were liberated from puddles of dog urine and waterfalls filled with the neighbor's debris coursing down the walls.
Originally the house was a three room structure with no electricity or running water and I think it says something about quality of life in the city that we were better off here than in the apartment.
The ultimate goal of course was to obtain modern amenities and this they we were able to do in a relatively short period.
Okay, not a very interesting story if we stopped there but, wait, there's more....
Somewhere along the way, during a visit to the States, my mother-in-law got her hands on an old collection of Architectural Digest. Pages were perused, desires germinated, plans were formed. She is nothing if not an ambitious woman.
What began as three rooms grew into 3 floors with 6 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, 2 fireplaces, 2 kitchens and, well, you get the idea. It's enormous and there's plenty of room for you when you come visit.
The really amazing fact is that this was all built by my extremely talented, hard-working father-in-law with the additional knowledge and skill that he learned from our dear friend Wayne Bussberg. (shout-out to Wayne)
Originally it looked a lot like this:
And eventually became this:
Untenable /en'tenebel/ adj. A certain apartment in Craiova.
Fortuantely we were able to purchase a stand-alone house in the countryside (thus we arrive at Obedin) and we were liberated from puddles of dog urine and waterfalls filled with the neighbor's debris coursing down the walls.
Originally the house was a three room structure with no electricity or running water and I think it says something about quality of life in the city that we were better off here than in the apartment.
The ultimate goal of course was to obtain modern amenities and this they we were able to do in a relatively short period.
Okay, not a very interesting story if we stopped there but, wait, there's more....
Somewhere along the way, during a visit to the States, my mother-in-law got her hands on an old collection of Architectural Digest. Pages were perused, desires germinated, plans were formed. She is nothing if not an ambitious woman.
What began as three rooms grew into 3 floors with 6 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, 2 fireplaces, 2 kitchens and, well, you get the idea. It's enormous and there's plenty of room for you when you come visit.
The really amazing fact is that this was all built by my extremely talented, hard-working father-in-law with the additional knowledge and skill that he learned from our dear friend Wayne Bussberg. (shout-out to Wayne)
Originally it looked a lot like this:
Further details....
downstairs guest room where Dănuţ is busy working finishing his novel
Second spare bedroom
entry way going up into the rest of the house
kitchen
looking down into the living room at two boys on a lazy Saturday afternoon
upstairs
upstairs bedroom
boys' bedroom
upstairs bedroom #3
view of the backyard from the upstairs balcony
Pia and Silviu's bedroom and bath (on the middle floor)
a few more shots around the property:
our bee hives (fantastic and copious amounts of honey, some of which we will be sure to send home with you if you come and visit)
our "vineyard" such as it is
3 comments:
Is there room for me? lol
I remember the stories when your father-in-law was building that house and staying with you all. How nice to see the finished product and how nice that you can stay and enjoy it. Maybe one day I can see it in person but I am enjoying the pictures.
Still fantasizing about a visit . . . don't count us out yet. Joe, Stephanie, Chiara, Lucian2
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