As I'd guessed: good news for you, if a little heart-bruising (it makes me think, somewhat irrationally, of the report last week about historic sites in Mongolia razed so the town can sell to developers). I wish you'd find someone mad enough to lift the house and move it across town.

As a citydweller, I am a little insulted by "It's a very urban environment...." so close to accounts of "trash in our yard." Also, "urban" is often a race keyword; you might want to find another.

Before you go, be sure to use a video camera and take a tour of your home. That way when your little one is older and wants to relive some memories of his childhood home, you will have them. My son was 4 when we moved away but he still asks all the time about the "little house". I just pop in the video and he watches and remembers.

Chris, it's urban LA, radically different from urban NY or SF. Here, the description fits. And I meant no racial undertones. The neighborhood is mostly white, actually. To me, urban means density and noise and traffic.

Annie, that's a wonderful idea. We'll make sure to do that!

And, see, i wouldn't describe your area as urban; urban to me is Manhattan, downtown LA. And when I lived in the same area, I had none of those issues, despite the fact that we, too, lived in a pretty (and HUGE) duplex right next door to an apartment building.

But all that is beside the point. I think you would, eventually, find a buyer who would live there, but that you wouldn't gain anything in the waiting, and might even lose because of it. Plus your timeline would be thrown off.

I, too, will cry to see that house go away. It's so breathtaking. I wish I were that crazy-enough person Chris talked about--or, rather, that rich-and-crazy-enough person, since I got the crazy down pat already. ;-)

I think you're doing the right thing. It is just a house, even if it's a gorgeous house. You, on the other hand, are living beings. And if the destruction of one house gives the three of you an easier time in your new life, makes that new life possible, then it's a no-brainer.

You turned that into a beautiful house. We'll be taking that place with us in our hearts. We had fun there... good food... shared love and laughter. Visited with old friends, made new ones. That said... it's y(our) past. Take the money and run. We'll do it again in NY :-)

It's so sad! No more New Years Day brunches in that nice house! On the other hand, you'll be out near me, and that can't be a bad thing.