"It"s just a list that will always be endless as thinking will always be breaking and need fixing. It"s just the impermanence of material. Nothing lasts forever. I"m glad to report though that this house was built a lot better than I though, the structure is very well planned to endure all this time. I don"t know why I thought it wouldn"t be. The last remodel was probably around your father"s time so we should remove the insulation and redo a couple of rooms. I found a surprise in the attics as well which is that what I a.s.sume is the missing books in the study from your father and previous is all still here and remarkably well preserved considering the circ.u.mstances. Although I would have liked there to be more furniture from the time period that this house was built so we"ll have to bid on some things from Sotheby"s or Christie"s. I did find some local construction work who will start on the base work of installing new insulation so they"ll be all up here making noise. Don"t worry too much about it as there really aren"t many valuables inside the house to worry about. The garage will have someone standing for security until CCTV can be installing. My sources tell me there are stories of a beautiful baroness whose come down from New York City.""Oh stop. They"re probably more interested to see if they can get a job at Wong Industries so they can all move to America. You should be careful as I expect many of them will try to concoct a good sob story as to why they are deserving. You"re also the true New Yorker here. I grew up in suburbia. I"m not even a famous race car driver, I was mediocre most if not all of my brief career. I"m nothing to gawk at, you"re the real prize here. But enough, how do you feel about this place"s potential to draw in tourism?"
Henry pursed his lips as he spoke. "In terms of architecture, this is a fine example of that time period. The outside had held up remarkably well and we have good potential to make historical bedrooms for the school children be shown how people lived during those times. Unfortunately we are sleeping in them, which is fine, but I think it would be better if there was a separate display from our living section if that makes sense. We should perhaps some of the guest bedrooms into these sort of historic recreations, but then we will have less viability as a wedding venue as it clears away s.p.a.ce for functions. The back windows were we"re sleeping also have the better views which as a functioning hall for events is not good. I also found out we have a balcony facing the park outside that could be a nice nook for meetings and such. It"s a complicated manner to balance all of these elements so our--" Henry paused to clear his throat, "your potential is really boundless in the usage of this house."
Ellie"s breath caught as she realized what he had said. It brought a blush to her cheeks which she tried to diffuse by concluding the matter quickly. "I wish going to an auction house to get the right furniture is within budget. But there are other costs to think of which is transportation and porters. We"d also need to hire a historian to make sure they were arranged in a historically accurate representation. We"d have to make sure the museums are informed we"re open for tours. It"s quite a long list of things. As long as the walls are sound I can definitely rest a bit easier. But I doubt I can afford any more than that."
Although he didn"t like it, he did agree with her. His hands were tied in the same way that hers were if he did not find another way. Henry knew he could ask for other a.s.sistance in this matter to garner a better option. It would present itself, surely. He spun his spoon through the watery soup that was the appetizer. For an appetizer it didn"t really stroke his appet.i.te. He pushed the bowl back. "I know you went out to see the estate. Did you find anything interesting?"
"It"s a lot of unused farmland which is such a waste seeing all the debt could have easily been paid off if someone had taken care of the land. But now that there is damage, we"re going to have to reverse what"s been done. Which is going to be frustrating because it means the land won"t be plantable for a few seasons. We are going to have to get further in debt just to start to climb out of it which I"m sure the lawyers are going to have a heyday with." Ellie sank into her winegla.s.s as she took several sips in quick succession. She made a face as the alcohol hit the back of her throat. She then coughed before continuing with a worried elbow planted into the table. "My car also got stalled in the mud because I accelerated too quickly while drying to get up a hill that had a lot of water bubbling in it. Gosh you"d think I"d know better from country based tracks, but I have lost my touch for a bit after not really driving in so long. I miss it, apparently there is a racing circuit here too in the United Kingdom that I could join if I pa.s.sed the initial trials. I am positively itching to give it a go. What if we had a track here with a prize for charity? I have been thinking about it."
Henry smiled as he was not surprised that these intentions were coming from her. He joined her in drinking deeply before commenting. "I knew you"d realize it eventually. You"re not old enough to really care for land and lineage. Good. I look forward to watching you from my house in New York. I"ll be your first American fan. Maybe if it"s during the weekend I could fly to the stands to cheer you on."
"That sounds nice. But I"d like to hear your opinion on the land usage as you are also a developer. Maybe we could commission some kind of commercial strip for local businesses? I can"t really say I have the experience to comment on those sort of things. Why don"t we go out for a drive when the mud dries up? Would you be willing?"
Henry perked up with interest. "I"m sure the forecasted sunshine should mean we should not go tomorrow. Let the road be dried and we"ll go the day after. Tomorrow is when the contractor will be here so I should stay here to make sure they aren"t cutting corners. I don"t want to be nickled and dimed by someone not adhering to building code. We"ll have hefty fines as this is a historical landmark. It"s delicate to balance so I need to stay close."
Ellie understood his reservations, but was sad she would have to wait a day for him to finish up. The thought of showing him her old haints and favorite sports really made her feel restless. She really wanted him to love this place as much as she did. He was already enjoying their shared intimacy with his own pa.s.sion and the management always brought a smile to his face. Maybe they would build something here that would last both outside the house and inside.