I've always wanted to live in a named house...

Welcome to Dunelm Mount. (For those of you who were wondering about our choice, we went with the retired professor and the vicar.) We've spent the last few days moving suitcases, cleaning up, rearranging furniture, and spending our life savings in expensive English groceries. We also are sans Internet until the end of the month when DSL will be installed, so if we are slow on replying to things, blame the lengthy wait times for anything technology-related around here.


Dunelm Mount is a 19th century row house on the cleverly named Western Hill, a (steep) slope leading up to the west of the river and the cathedral/castle/city centre. At some point in its life, Dunelm Mount held a boys school, housing none other than the former oh-so-unpopular prime minister, Tony Blair. So really it's like saying we're living on the ranch in Texas where George learned to ride a horse. At least that’s what we figure.

See photos of the place...
(I've added too many photos to this post, and it's acting up. So... if the formatting makes it difficult to read, I apologize!)

One enters the house on the second floor. The four rooms on this floor are all library/parlor related and simply overflow with books (well, the whole house overflows with books). The first floor has the main kitchen, the ancient washer (no dryer), and an exit to the rear garden (yard), while the third floor has 4 large bedrooms.









We are on the fourth floor, the attic. A big staircase comes all the way up the center, dividing the floor in two halves.










On one side is our sitting room/study/dining room...










and the other is our bedroom. While our original university flat was lacking in furniture, this place overflows with it. We think they use the attic as a repository for old wardrobes, tables, dressers... Especially dressers; we have six.




The kitchen is a tiny closet off the stairway, as is the rather large bathroom.
























As for the professor and the vicar… well, the professor is a retired church historian professor from the university. He seems to know everything there is to know about local history, especially if it involves a religious institution, and we’ve been caught several times in a “one quick question” turned half hour conversation. This man’s wife is an Anglican vicar (minister) and has a large vicarage (parsonage) in her parish (district) in which she spends about half of her week. “The most over-housed couple in Durham Country,” the professor called them!

They decided to let out their top floor a few years ago when a theology student showed up from Germany with no housing and limited options. We decided to make the move last week from university housing because of the cheaper rent, the closer location, and, well, it’s just so English! It’s a little odd knowing they are below us, especially since the staircase has no door, but I think we’ll get used to it. The main challenge is the minimal heat… it may be a cold winter!