Discovering the Nixdorf

I first came across the house browsing real-estate listings last fall. I didn't pay much mind to it - the asking price was beyond any theoretical budget we had, the house looked a bit strange, and our attention was caught by a much cheaper fixer-upper close to our apartment. We spent some time contemplating that house - it seemed like it might be the only way we could afford real estate in Northern NJ - but eventually concluded that it was less of a fixer and more of a tear-down. The several feet of standing water we discovered in the crawl space may have had something to do with that decision.

About two months ago, I was idly browsing once more. It really hasn't been a great time to think about buying a house these past few years, as I've bounced from undergrad to a short-lived job to grad school, and the last semester of a very intense dual-masters program was certainly a bad time, but looking at houses online is a great way to procrastinate.

And what were the chances that I'd come across anything we could possibly afford, that was in walking distance to the train line, that we could actually live in (unlike the tear-down), and that appealed to us?

Too high, as it turned out.




It was strange and intriguing. It was listed for a full 10% less than it had been in the fall, which brought it into the range of theoretical possibilities. Our first impressions, roughly in order:

• Might be affordable
• Almost an acre of property???
• Oddly close to the road
• Strange stone facade
• Cute front entrance area and dormer
• Built in 1793

Wait - built in 1793? Really? This required further investigation.