Wander through enough homes and you`ll learn that every one seems to have at least one conversation piece: a redwood whirlpool room, 30-foot blue spruces in the front yard, access to a private lake.
But they all pale in comparison to having your own birthing room. Buy the 1870 Victorian at 216 S. 1st St. in West Dundee and that`s what you can brag about.
Walking through the doorway of the 12-by-11 room off the home`s main entryway, it`s hard not to look around for some visible sign of the drama that played out there in days gone by.
But today it`s peaceful, quiet and light, offering views of trees outside the tall windows. It has a closet, a water stain on the ceiling and carpeting with matching green and white wallpaper that seem somehow out of place.
”I wonder how you distinguish it as a birthing room,” said Greg Miller of Elgin, who attended the open house last Sunday at the home, listed by Coldwell Banker Fireside Realtors for $174,900.
The room is considered a den now, though it could still be a birthing room, said selling agent Bette Costello. ”Yes, kids are going back to (births at home).”
In fact, people are going back to Victorian homes in general, seeking the nostalgia and comfort they inspire, she said. ”When people come home, I think they like that old-time protection and warmth.”
Besides these offerings, this home shares the qualities common to many Victorians: decorative moldings around doors and windows, wood floors and high ceilings with many cracks that need fixing.
The two-story home is one block from both the Fox River and Main Street in a village of about 3,500 residents. It`s surrounded by huge shade trees, bushes and flowers.
There`s no garage, but the driveway is large enough to park two cars. The white, aluminum-sided house has mauve shutters and a front porch that`s detailed in mauve, brown and white.
Bringing the exterior color scheme indoors, the walls of the spacious entryway are painted rose, with white trim and molding.
Just off the hall is a small, 14-by-13-foot parlor with a wood floor and white ceiling fan. The old beige wallpaper is peeling and needs to be replaced, a repair that`s also needed in a few other rooms.
Also off the hall is the 13-by-12 dining room with a worn sisal rug, a door leading onto a side porch and a fancy peach, pink and white paint job.
”It reminds you of sherbet, doesn`t it?” Costello said. ”Peach and raspberry sherbet.”
Another doorway leads downstairs to a basic laundry room and a hodgepodge of a cellar that includes one dark, paneled room and another, much more friendly room with light wood paneling and blue carpet.
There`s a bathroom adjacent to the home`s screened-in porch, which offers a breezy, bug-free view of the perennials and shrubs on the side lawn.
A huge window above the sink in the new 13-by-9 kitchen looks onto a similar garden on the opposite side of the home.
The kitchen abuts a 22-by-15 family room, which has a black cast-iron, woodburning stove, windows on three sides and raspberry-tone wainscotting.
Upstairs, the family room roof becomes a porch for the 22-by-13 master bedroom. Down the hall are two more bedrooms; both measure roughly 13 by 12 feet, have walk-in closets and need new wallpaper.
Serving all three bedrooms is a full bath with off-white ceramic tile floors.
Miller said he loves the charm of such Victorian homes and has wandered through 15 to 20 in varying condition, from real fixer-uppers to fully restored showpieces. ”Obviously, this is in between,” he said.
