I was in an old bank vault!

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First off, in case you didn't know, I'M A DREAMER...

...and isn't this just about the cutest little thing you've ever seen?

Ali & Rod have an accepted offer on a house and this little bank building is kitty-corner across the street. I'm not going to say any more (or at least not much) about their house until it's a completely done deal!

But the bank... can't you think of a million different things a person could do with this adorable little building?

Such promise! That clock is kind of hideous (in that it's too big and doesn't really "fit"), but that burglar alarm, the pillars, the tile!

There's even a "bullet hole" in that big arched window in front...

John Dillinger? Al Capone? Bonnie & Clyde? Did any of them pass through this little town once upon a time??

There's some work needed, for sure. It's fairly cosmetic in front, but things start to fall apart... literally... around back.

I tried to convince myself for a sec that this:

...was originally a little more like this:

...but, no. That is definitely a gigantic bulge due to water damage/poor water management from the roof. It was a really nice day yesterday, so snow was melting, and we could actually see it happening for ourselves. It's been happening, apparently unchecked, for years. And years and years and years.

And inside (on the other side of that wall)...

Apparently that back window was open for a while (years and years?), too. Rusty found and shut another open window in the basement when we were there.

That's after we'd already seen this upon entering:

I don't really think that part is from water -- or if it is, not only from water -- because the floor is not in awful shape and there aren't watermarks on those tiles. This might have been just plain old vandalism (which makes me feel a little more hopeful about the overall roof situation).

Junah was quite amazed by it all.

I was a little bit heartbroken.

There's a big front room, two smaller rooms in back (one is the vault/future bathroom), and a full basement (where the bathroom is currently located). And lots of spiders.

The little welcome chicken and the Vault Ventilator sure are cool, though, aren't they?

I could probably get this for a song, but I'm afraid it might take a symphony to get it in usable/habitable shape. I'm still thinking about it... it came immediately to mind every time I woke up last night... I'm still dreaming about it!!