Dream House for Sale

Way back during one of our many house hunting periods, we saw a lovely old Japanese house in Taito-ku near Ueno Zoo. It had tatami rooms over looking a garden, a cedar lined bath, a sun room, and a total of 7 bedrooms. It was big and drafty and I fell in love with it the moment I walked inside.
We were all set to rent it, but the owner’s mother disagreed. She didn’t like foreigners and didn’t want her son to approve us. So we didn’t get the place. It was very disappointing, but how can you argue against an old woman’s prejudices? We kept looking.
Yesterday I discovered that it is on the market. All 7 bedrooms, the garden, the bath and everything for 15,680万円, or about 1.5 million US dollars. The house is around 160 sq meters (1725 sq/ft) on 172 square meters (0.04 acres) of land.
That’s way over our budget, so I am destined to be disappointed once again. But seeing the floor plan flooded me with memories and for a few moments I daydreamed about living there. I could run a B&B. I could host an artist’s colony. I could sit in the tatami rooms and gaze at my garden. Maybe someday, somewhere.