House Quirks

I did a property search on our home and found that it was built in the 1960's. As far as European houses go, it is not that old. It is, however, quirky.

As anyone who has visited Europe can attest, there seems to be a general fear of electrical sockets in bathrooms. You will find outlets for shavers only in European bathrooms. The Brits take it a step further in safety consciousness. They have a switch for each socket - throughout your house. You have to turn on the socket in order to use anything. This is a good thing for when you go out of town - you can shut off electricity to any outlet you wish. But, it can be frustrating trying to figure out whether you tripped a fuse or whether it's the switch. Already happened to me. The full baths don't have a light switch. There is a string (like one you would find on a ceiling fan) that you pull to power the lights in each bathroom. No biggie, but different. 

We have a makeshift mud room that is part of one of the half baths, complete with a bench and hooks to hang your coat if you really have to go when you get home.

Trying to figure out how to balance heating our shower with heating our house was another learning curve this week. And, yes, we had the heater on because it was freezing. In August! Luckily, the warm, plush blankets I ordered arrived and they keep us all warm enough to forgo the heat.

Perhaps the most interesting quirk is not that we have two full size European refrigerators, but that neither of them is in my kitchen. They are located in a breezeway between the kitchen, garage and garden door. Regardless, it is better than having a refrigerator in my living room like the one we had in Vienna.

But we love our house, quirks and all.