Chapter 4

May First 1969, Andie turned 19. She had a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and one in History. In June, she should defend her Master's in History. Her Doctoral subject was approved by her History professor. She had funding for her research. She had her pilots license and three aircraft ... the Mig? you question.

The Mig was stolen by the CIA and shot down over Egypt in 1973. The crash left the plane fairly intact and the pilot was shot trying to destroy it. I imagine that would be an interesting story if the Mossad would release the information...

With her Spanish Lottery winnings, Andrea bought a house on Cambridge Drive ... it was far and away too big for her so she hired a Rental Agency to let out rooms to grad students. Andy acted exactly like a renter. None of the other renters knew it was her home The only distinction was where she lived in the home; Andie lived in the attic. Not part of the attic ... Andie lived in the whole thing. When asked about it, she explained that no one wanted the attic ... it was cold in the winter and hot in the summer.

"I did a little remodeling and added some window units so it's livable." Yeah right ... remodeling to the tune of a hundred grand.

The house lot was half a double block wide, wooded but cleared of brush. To the north were two sets of small shops with a gap between where the gated drive to Andie's garage was. The garage was a simple 24 by 24 workshop housing Andrea's hobby; old cars.

On the other half of the block there was another large house. The two homes were separated by a twelve foot high granite wall with the other three sides having a four foot wall topped with a scalloped spiked wrought iron fence. The other house belonged to a fraternity ... the wall was for sound control and to keep them out.

The house faced southish, with the length of the dwelling trending east-west. The dimensions were 88 feet by 40 feet (inside dimensions)and three stories above ground with a full finished basement. The foundation was rough blocked granite ... with arches between rooms. If nothing else could be said about the cellar ... it was the perfect dungeon. Iron clad doors with wrought iron hinges and barred high up windows. The rooms in the basement were the first to rent in the Fall and the waiting list was long. The four rooms were 665 square feet or 20 by 35 with a five foot wide hall

Early in the life of the University a geology Ph.D. candidate wrote his thesis about the natural gas dome under the house. The original owners had no idea and burned coal until the city outlawed it.

The boiler was converted to gas.

The home was purchased with mineral rights. The fuel bill was quite high until Andie brought in a drill rig and had the gas dome tapped. The high pressure natural gas was piped through twin turbine driven generators so the house and the line of shops to the north featured free electric and free heat.

Andie informed the city after the fact. However, no one had considered a self-sufficient house and there were no ordinances against it. One was immediately passed but the house on Cambridge was grandfathered in.

The power company was requested to maintain an electrical connection..."Just in case," said Andy. The meter ran backwards and the Power and Light was forced to buy her excess.

The Rental Agency Andie employed to keep her house full also was responsible for maintenance and security.

There was no pool but there was an outdoor hot tub able to seat 16 in comfort. The hot tub was built into the east end of the 88x24 foot deck built onto the north side of the house. Entry to the deck was through three sliding glass doors ... one in the dining room in the middle of the house, one in the kitchen ... with access to the back bath and a third door that was accessed through the study lounge on the second floor by way of a nice staircase to the deck.

The ground floor was spilt by a hall that ran from east to west with an escape door on the east end.

The kitchen featured quality appliances and a separate locking refrigerator for each renter. The kitchen was on the west end with windows on two sides ... the aforementioned sliding glass door in the middle of the wall. To the south of the kitchen were a series of five equally sized rooms with wheelchair access to four of them. The middle room was access through stained glass double doors to Cambridge Drive. Stained glass 10 foot tall windows flanked the front doors.

Almost a mudroom, the foyer was home to the Bettinelli locked access elevator that serviced the top two floors and Andrea's attic. Andrea had the sole key to the attic lock. The elevator was ... quaint ... noisy ... and beautiful. Flanking the elevator were two locking doors giving way to the house.

Shoes were not allowed in the home. Each resident had a wall space for his or her shoes and slippers. Both walls ... east and west ... had benches to facilitate shoe removal.

The four wheelchair rooms had private baths and other amenities seldom found in campus housing until the 1980's.

Chapter 5 »