Lizzie crossed over the front of the car to stand next to Matt. Eric Fent, the lawyer, sauntered over to them, pleased with their reaction.
"Oh my gosh," Lizzie gushed "It's beautiful!"
"This was your Uncle's summer house?" asked Matt.
Lizzie shrugged. "I suppose so. It is a lot bigger than I had imagined though."
They stopped talking and watched Eric, waiting for him to confirm that they were at the right house.
"I have the keys here; who wants to do the honor?" He said.
Matt looked at Lizzie, paused for a long moment, and then took the keys. They walked up to the house together. There were a couple of cone shaped topiaries on either side of the entrance and two very elegant wall lamps on both sides of the door. Matt slid the key into the top lock and then the bottom lock. The bottom lock gave him some grief and he struggled to turn the key.
"Honey, you want me to try?" Lizzie asked.
"No, I've..." The locking mechanisms gave way and the door swung open. "got it." He finished. He flashed her a cheesy grin. They walked in and stared in awe at the foyer in front of them. It was admitidly dated, but it was incredible. The walls and columns were dark oak and continued on up the staircase. The floor was white tile and chipped in spots, but it was nothing that couldn't be fixed. The ceiling was painted in such a way that it appeared to be dome, but it was just an illusion. At the center of the 'dome' there was a stunning chandelier. Eric began to rattle off some general information about the property.
"This property was originally bought by Stuart McDaniels in the 1850's-1860's. They built the house on the property but it was unfortunately destroyed by fire in 1906. By then, it was in the hands of Stuart's son Dean McDaniels who built a new house on the old foundation. Dean McDaniels' son Carter, took over and then Carter's son Terry, your uncle. Over the years it has remained in the family and been subject to frequent remodeling to keep it maintained." They continued to explore and while Eric was rattling on, they moved from the foyer into what could be a sitting room. There were a couple items of furniture, draped with sheets to ward off dust. The room was long and it had a bay window; Lizzie loved bay windows. They moved on through a swinging door to the kitchen. It absolutely took their breath away. "As you can see, the kitchen has been updated; all new appliances, new counter, new paint, etcetera, etcetera. The structure itself is very sturdy. The roof was redone a little less than two years ago, there are no structural cracks. Pursuant to your uncles will, upon his death, a maid service was hired and brought out here to clean everything, from top to bottom. He didn't want you to have to worry about that."
Suddenly, Matt turned around and put his hand up for pause. " So, wait a minute here. Does all this mean that we get the house? Is there a payment that we have to make on it, or something for the land or property tax? We are newly married and young and we can't really afford something like this. I know this wont be free so why don't we get it out in the open." He folded his arms and waited for Erics response; Lizze chewed nervously on her lower lip and held Matt's Arm.
"Actually," Eric replied, "your uncle really did cover everything." They stared blankly at him, so he cleared his throat and tried to explain it further. "When it comes to this house and this property, the only bills you will have to pay will be for water, electric and gas. Your uncle set up a fund, into which he put a lot of money so you two could rest assured that if anything happened such as an increase in property tax or damage to the house, you would have a fund to draw from in order to pay it. There is no mortgage since it was built and kept in the family. Now, if you do not want the house, there is a major property value, so you do have the option of selling."
Matt clarified. "That is it; just gas, water and electric?"
"That is it." Eric said. "I will make copies of all of the paper work, the title and deed and make sure you have it. If you are still uncomfortable, take it to another lawyer and have them look over it for you."
Matt pushed air out and took a furtive glance at Lizzie who in turn gave a slight nod.
"That sounds agreeable." He said.
"Wonderful! Now why dont the two of you contiue on your little tour of the first and second floor and I will make some phone calls to the office. When you come back down here, I will take you to the cellar."
They nodded and left Eric in the kitchen. They came into a dining room that was just as open as the other rooms so far, just as dated, and of coarse, had an elegant chandelier in the center. Lizzie couldn't contain her excitement one more minute. She very abruptly turned, grabbed Matt by the ears and pulled his face to hers and kissed him. She let him go and let out a quiet squeal of excitement. He shushed her sternly, but couldn't keep himself from smiling. Then he spoke seriously.
"Honey, I know you are excited, so am I, but we really need to keep our feet grounded in reality. I am going to take all the papers to another lawyer and have them examined just to make sure that is all we have to pay. Once I confirm it, then I want you to call and check on the bills for the property so we get a ball park figure of what our budget should be. We just can't get too exctied incase we can't afford it."
"You're right," she sighed, "we would have to rebudget gas too, because it is a farther drive to work from here."
"Yeah. Let's keep looking and we will talk about it more at home." Lizzie nodded in agreement.
They kept moving through the house and upon exploring the main and second floor they discovered the house was a three bedroom, two bath, dark oak wood was consistant through the house, there was a jacuzzi tub in the master bedroom, a swimming pool out back with a shed, and a weeping willow tree on the side of the house. It was literally a dream come true. They eventually made their way downstairs and met up with Eric again. He was no longer on the cell phone and he was gazing out the window over the sink when they came in. Without turning he asked;
"You two ready to see the cellar?"