My Pop was never happier than when he was in his workshop, with his tools, rebuilding a motor to a lawnmower. Our mowers, much like our cars, could outrun anything on wheels.
The rule was that if we came across a mower being left out for heavy trash pick up, we had to pick it up and hold on to it until he and my Mom came to visit. There was one spring when my backyard looked like a graveyard of mowers. He was intensely happy.
Now his workshop was a masterpiece. Tools, nuts, bolts, gaskets, etc. flowed from his tool chests. Every part of his work benches were covered with his tools. He had chests filled with, you guessed it, more tools. It was something.
I have little doubt that if my Pop had stayed a single man, his house would have looked like the one featured in this week’s column.
Yeah baby, let your eyes soak it all in.
This one-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bathroom townhome is located at 2047 Muirfield Circle, Elgin, Illinois. You are probably thinking, “Who in the world would buy a townhome with a dune buggy in the living room?” The reincarnation of my Pop, that’s who, because this testament to mechanics everywhere sold March 15, 2023, for $155,000.
This guy really loved anything and everything that had to do with cars or bikes or just about anything with wheels. I would bet you dollars to donuts that the Hot Wheels car case and the Hot Wheels lunch boxes above the television are the same ones he had from when he was a kid.
Yeah, yeah, anybody can put a lovely vase on display in their living room. You know what else is nice? A portion of a motor in your man cave. That also works.
And I do not want to hear any static about the dune buggy in the living room. One of my favorite cartoons from when I was kid was Speed Buggy. Once I hit that billion-dollar Powerball I am buying my very own dune buggy to go with my beachfront property. I digress.
To the kitchen! It is glorious.
Take a deep breath. You can smell a mix of motor oil and Old Spice with a dash of gasoline.
I am disappointed that tool chests were not used as dressers. I mean come on. Commit to the theme why don’t ya?
You have to appreciate this guy’s passion when some of the shelving in his closet in his man cave-like house is used to show off more car parts and the opposite wall has photos of cars.
How about we make our way to the garage?
In this man cave, you can get to the garage through the French doors located in the living room. Or, you can use the garage door like anybody else.
My Pop would have loved a hydraulic lift. It was the only thing he did not own. Funny thing is that I still stop when I see a mower tossed to the curb. I can only hope that my Pop’s workshop in the afterlife is as nice as this townhouse.
For more photos go here.
