After driving for about half an hour we pulled up to a tall beautiful rot iron-gate. Douglas pressed a button on his dashboard and the gate slowly rolled open. As the car slowly pulled forward up the drive I got to see Ren’s house for the first time. All the other times that I had come to London Ren and I had met up somewhere in town or at my Aunt’s house.
The Winslade’s house stood two stories tall, except it seemed to be stretched out a lot more than a normal two-story house. The entire house was encased in beautiful white bricks and had floor to ceiling French windows. The porch wrapped around the entire house and had a rot iron railing to match the gate out front. To the left was the garage, it was built separately from the house because the house was built about 150 years ago when the first generation of the Winslade family purchased the property. The house had been a victim to a fire about 60 years ago and was damaged beyond repair. Ren’s great grandfather completely rebuilt the original house from the ground up making sure everything was exactly the same as before. The only change he made was adding a basement.
“Oh my god.” I whispered out loud. I was imminently in love with the house and I hadn’t even seen the inside yet.
Ren let out a laugh “Knew you would love it.”
Douglas pulled into the garage and we all climbed out and headed up to the front double door. Ren opened it and stepped back to let me in. I walked over the threshold and my jaw dropped.
Directly in front of me was a grand staircase leading upstairs, it fanned open at the bottom and was made out of a beautiful cherry wood. The railing top was a forest green while the fence part was made out of copper and was in the shape of twisted vines and leaves. The main floor was completely open. To my right was the kitchen, which consisted of white wooden cabinets and counters with a bright green stone like countertops and the appliances were all stainless steel. There was an L shaped island part that made the kitchen into a perfect square. On one side there was an eating bar. Behind that was a massive dining room table with a frosted glass table top and white legs with white chairs that had green cushions, the exact same as the bar stools. I could see the side of a massive aquarium that was against the side of the stairway.
To the left of the staircase was first a room in the front corner, which I assumed was a bathroom. Then sat a beautiful black grand piano, I knew that Mary-Ellen played and Ren knew a few songs as well because he would play around on my piano at home. The farthest into the house was the living room. From what I could see from my spot at the door was a massive flat screen incased in an elaborate chocolate brown entertainment stand that was attached to the wall. Surrounding it were photos, pottery and books. The furniture was white leather and it all appeared to be the glorious Stressless line from Norway.
“Wow.” That was all I could say. I just gawked at how beautiful and tasteful it was.
“It’s home.” Ren smiled as he walked in behind his father and shut the door.
“Give her a tour Ren, I need to go up and make a few phone calls. Let me know when dinner is ready.” Douglas hung up his coat in the closet before disappearing up the stairs.
“Alright let’s give you the 5 cent tour then shall we. Just follow and listen to me.”
Ren walked around to the kitchen side and stopped behind the staircase. I followed and when I came to a stop by his side my jaw immediately dropped again. I looked up and saw that on the back wall of the house there were only two windows but they were two stories high and about twenty feet wide each. The upstairs hallway was open downstairs and had a dark cherry railing, the same wood as the staircase. In between these two massive windows was a double French patio door that led to the backyard.
Ren walked up to the door and just before he opened it he turned to me. “Just a heads up, you may get mauled.”
I gave him a puzzled look as he opened the door for me. I stepped out onto the back porch and I heard the sound of something running. I turned to my right and saw two German Shepherds bounding excitedly towards me. I immediately dropped to my knees and started petting them.
Ren kneeled down beside me and grabbed the bigger one with the black leather collar. “This is Theo and that one trying to kiss you to death is Tess.” I laughed as I gave Tess a hug to prevent her from licking me.
“They’re gorgeous! How old are they?”
“Just turned three so they have a ton of energy.” Ren got up and grabbed a tennis ball that was sitting on the deck. Theo and Tess’s attention was caught immediately; Ren pulled his arm back and threw the ball far off into the backyard. Both of the dogs flew off the deck, racing each other to the ball.
“Alright a moments peace to continue the tour. So to your left of the porch you will see an outdoor kitchen. Complete with a dishwasher, fridge and BBQ.” The counters were made out of a bleached wood and were topped off with a tan coloured stone countertop and stainless steel handles to match the appliances.
“To your right here is a sitting/lounge whatever you want to call it area.” There was a cabana style tent over top of the U shaped couches. The cushions were cream and the coffee table and couch was made of the same bleached wood as the counters in the kitchen.
Ren took a few steps that direction. “Pretty sure you know what this is.” The deck had been built up around the hot tub, sort of like a raised platform. There was a set of stairs on either side to climb up. It overlooked the pool in the backyard.
Ren went back to the center of the deck, straight ahead of where we came out of the house was a stairway to head down a rock path that was lined with small trees and garden lights. To the left was the stairs to get to the open lawn part of the backyard and a rock pathway that led out to the back pond. To the right was the stairway to get to the pool and pool deck.
Ren took the stairway leading down the little garden path with the trees. At the end of it was a fountain. You took a left and climbed the small flight of stairs into the gazebo that overlooked the pond. It was such a beautiful, peaceful spot.
Ren leaned on the black rot iron railing facing the pond. “This was my grandmothers favorite place, she did so much of the garden work on the little path. She kept on changing it until she got it right. I remember working on it with her when I was little and she was watching me for the day. I keep it in shape or else she would scold me when she comes over.”
I laughed lightly “Well it’s absolutely amazing. You’re doing a great job.”
He turned and smiled and me. “Well I need to finish dinner, I’ll give you the rest of the tour after we eat.”
“Sounds good to me.”
We headed back into the house, Ren made his way into the kitchen and I pulled up a seat and the breakfast bar. We talked and laughed as Ren chopped, cooked and mixed various ingredients and soon the house smelled amazing. My stomach was growling with anticipation.
The house sounds amazing! I can't wait for more.
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