16.0117-0900 My "quarters"!
@24.0911-1301.99 by Atx
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Dear Marla,
Apparently, the house was originally built with a deep porch all the way around it. One of Jame's earlier grand fathers had won the house and all of the land - about 1000 acres in a card game sometime in the late 1800's. The main house was just a rectangular box big enough to accomodate five bedrooms upstairs and still have a balcony overlooking the living room, with it's high, cathedral ceiling and huge, stone fireplace downstairs. It took up one entire end of the house.
James and Lorraine used to have their bedroom upstairs. After the car accident a decade ago, which put Lorraine in a wheelchair, they moved to one of the 'study' rooms on the first floor as their bedroom.
The Hahns had, essentially, moved all of their operations -- writing, crafts, and sleeping to the first floor. As a result, they rarely visited the upstairs any more... The bedrooms gradually began to aquire the kind of dusty, old family junk that was probably destined for the attic, but didn't quite make it past the 2nd floor.
However, when the Hahns decided they needed a live-in housekeeper several months ago, they converted their old master bedroom upstairs to a one-room efficiency apartment for them to reside in. Wow, Marla! You should see my 'quarters'. It takes the entire other end of the house. It has a balcony which overlooks the waterfall and gazebo and has it's own stairs to the porch below. There is a small kitchenette, a dining area, a small desk and some comfy stuffed chairs. Yikes! The walk-in closet has as much floorspace as the bathroom, which even has a Jacuuzi!
Oh Marla, When I left my old trailer that morning to find a new job, I never in a million years would have thought that I might wind up in such an incredible situation like this! It's utterly beautiful here, my job is 'light' housekeeping which suits me well, and, so far, my employers seem like wonderful people. I don't think I could have possibly fallen into a better situation,. This job is amazing!
Apparently, a generation of Hahns, one with a lot of kids, converted portions of the big porch that surrounds the house into six 'study' rooms. The parents realized that, given the isolation of the Hahnestery, they had to not only home-school their kids but they also had to help them to simply be happy in their cloistered world. This meant each needed their own 'soverign' domain to study which was not where they slept... As the children grew up, these rooms gradually transformed from infant childhood playrooms to adult studies and/or craft rooms.
The Hahns adopted one of the side rooms on the 1st floor for their bedroom several years ago. It's much easier for Lorraine that way. No stairs.
My quarters are their old master bedroom upstairs at the western end of the house. The main room is the entire western end of the house. It is huge! I'm guessing it's 25 feet wide. There are windows on three sides! A large sliding-glass door opens to a small veranda with a view of the valley and a set of "private" stairs going down to the ground near the hot tub.
It's gorgeous!
The vaulted ceiling makes it look even roomier. There is even a small balcony which has outside stairs going down to the ground near the main deck where the hot tub is. I have a nice view of the waterfalls and can hear it at if I leave the windows open. It's 'white noise' puts me to sleep quickly. There's a nice computer on the desk where I am writing this. There is a small refrigerator and a microwave oven, so I can do some minimal cooking up there if I wanted to.
Even the master bathroom is enourmous. It has two sinks and the toilet is in its own little room, separate from the bathing area which even has a one-person jacuzzi. (The toilet has a bidet. That changed my life!)
Three other housekeepers slept in this room. Briefly. Apparently, the Hahns have trouble finding housekeepers who will last more than a few weeks at the Hahnestery. The isolation is just too much for them. One of them even quit the day after they had started. Lorraine thought they were probably too "extroverted".
That is kind of a big deal. Its one of the first things James asked me about before hiring me. I've been here for a few weeks now and I am only just beginning to appreciate the deep solitude here and my introversion. I feel a sort of peace here.
Oh! It has been so nice to have a steady trickle of money coming in. The Hahns' give me room and board and a reasonable salary. The only expenses I have now are my clothes and my health insurance. I should be saving lots of money, but I'm not doing that. Instead, I've been filling my closet with new rubber garments and toys. As I am the one who takes Sarah (the horse) up to the mailbox to get the mail every day. I can easily intercept my parcels from around the world. The Hahns never see them.
(Yeah, that's right. I get to ride a horse every day! It's like a school girl's dream. There are 4 different "scenic horse trails" leading from the house to the mailbox. All I need to do is put a saddle on her and climb on. Sarah takes it from there. She knows where she's going. She even chooses which trail we take. )
The Hahns are very sensitive about my privacy. They almost never come up to the 2nd floor where my apartment is located except to access some dust-covered junk from one of the "warehouse" bedrooms. My door is at the opposite end of the hall from the main stairs. Usually, the Hahns just call me over the house intercom if they need me for something.
James or Lorraine sometimes remind me that I am not "on duty" after dinner is served. (Lorraine suggested it was a great excuse for leaving the dinner dishes in the sink to do the following morning. I like Lorraine. ;-)