Expanding House

In 1952 the unfinished attic on the second floor was converted into two bedrooms to make room for Peter. Richard, Stephen, and I had been sharing the larger downstairs bedroom; Richard and I were in bunk beds and Stephen was still in a crib. The original stairs were next to the kitchen; these became a closet and storage area. New stairs were created opposite the front door. If the stairs had been left as they were originally, I would have had to go through Richard's and Stephen's bedroom to get to mine. Two front dormers were created to make the bedrooms bigger. Dad and Uncle Pat worked on the project; I recall being apprehensive about the holes in the roof before the dormers were completed.

In 1956 after Michael was born, we finally accepted the reality we were not going to find a bigger house with such a great backyard. We added a huge dining room and a garage to the house; we also added a back dormer and a bathroom upstairs. The dining/family room made the house liveable, enabled us to host huge family parties. Grown children could sleep on the convertible couch in the dining room when they visited. The small house was big enough for all the love, life, chaos, and learning it contained.