The Dream House

About ten years prior to Albert’s retirement, Estella and Al realized their dream of having a new house.  It was located at 527 Chain Drive in the town of Menasha.  The unusual name of the street stemmed from the fact that a motorcycle club had originally owned most of the land where the sub-division was built.  The property was backed up to a lovely woods with plenty of wildlife, including deer, so it gave Albert many hours of pleasure watching the critters.  The grandkids loved it.  As seclusive as that sounds, it was within walking distance of the Valley Fair shopping mall, the first enclosed mall in the Appleton area, so Estella could get out and enjoy shopping easily.

ABOVE:  Estella is on the porch of their dream home.  Most of the exterior was of a pinkish-beige cut stone accented with stones of a slightly bluish hue and trimmed with redwood.  It was lovely.

TOP RIGHT:  This picture was taken in 1962 from the empty lot across the way.

CENTER:  This shot was taken ten years later, in 1972.  They had a lot of snow to shovel that year.

BOTTOM:  Their back yard faced the woods.  It looked like a park.  Estella had a small garden and clothes lines out there.  The entryway from the front of their three-bedroom home was separated from the spacious living room by a room-divider planter.  You could walk past the entry closet and directly into the kitchen on a vinyl-covered floor for easy upkeep.  The rest of the house had hard-wood floors.  Albert had a good-sized “den” for his guns behind the garage.  It had a full basement and a double garage.  Estella also had what she called her “mud-room” off the kitchen by the back door and half-bath.  This was the laundry area.  The dining room, which was off the kitchen on the other side, had a recessed ceiling.