Dear Bullamanka-Pinheads,
My cousins and I own a 72-year-old house that we inherited
from our grandmother.
My cousin Estelle is living there for the time being.
My cousin Linda wants to improve the house to increase
its selling potential.
She says we will have trouble selling it because there
is no built-in dishwasher in the kitchen.
Our grandmother never had one of those.
Linda wants to have a dishwasher installed next to the
kitchen sink, in place of a drawer and cabinet.
Estelle says that would ruin the symmetry of the old
kitchen cabinets.
She says the kitchen cabinets are original to the house,
and I believe that they are.
Estelle says, why not put the dishwasher in the corner
across the aisle from the sink?
It is almost as close to the sink, and there is only a
small table there now.
The table could be moved somewhere else.
Linda says, who wants to take dirty dishes out of the
sink, and TURN AROUND to put them in the dishwasher?
Besides, she says, it will cost thousands of dollars to
install plumbing pipes in another part of the room.
Estelle says, the old cabinets are beautiful and historic.
She says, tearing out one of them would be like smashing a
hole in a stained glass window.
Linda says, nobody but Estelle likes old cabinets.
People today want the kind of cabinets they see on TV.
Estelle says, if we tear out the cabinet, where will I
put my pots and pans?
I tried to suggest a compromise, that the dishwasher door
could be made from the old cabinet and drawer fronts.
Estelle objected that it was not reversible -- that using
the cabinet pieces that way would mean nobody could ever
put it back the way it was, even if they did come back to
their senses.
Linda objected that it would be impossible, that even if
it were possible, it would be too expensive, and besides,
we don't want to HIDE the dishwasher from potential buyers.
What should we do?
Very truly yours,
Philip McPherson
Toledo, Ohio
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