Target Village - Mr. Potter's Mansion

This building is huge. It is one of the three largest buildings in this collection.

In the film, it can kind of be seen when the young George, Harry, Marty, and Sam are sledding down the hill when Harry falls into the river. In a scene that was cut from the film, Potter watches the action occur from his mansion, and a no trespassing sign can be seen next to the river, marking Potter's property line.

The side of the box reads, "Built in 1889 at a cost of more that $250,000.00 the Potter mansion is the biggest and most imposing home in Bedford Falls. It is no accident that Mr. Potter chose a home that looked like a feudal castle. As the 'lord of Bedford Falls', Mr. Potter's home rules over all real estate in the community. As large as it is, nobody is ever seen visiting the old miser."

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Target Village - Mary Hatch's House

This is the home where possibly the most shocking and misunderstood line of the film was spoken by Mary Bailey, "He's making violent love to me mother!" Mary's mother wasn't very okay with George. She was too enamored with Sam and his money.

The side of the box reads, "Before Mary Hatch married George Bailey and moved into the Old Granville Place, Mary lived with her mother in a quiet corner of Bedford Falls. In this quaint little dwelling that always smelled of pine needles, Mary tries to woo George's affections with the strains of "Buffalo Gals" on the Victrola and her own special cartoon sketch of George lassoing the moon."

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Target Village - Uncle Billy's House

Uncle Billy's house is where we watch Uncle Billy break down after he looks all over for the missing $8,000. He tells us that he has looked in every room, "even rooms that have been locked since I lost Laura." Laura, Billy's wife was a character in early versions of the script, but it was later decided to make Uncle Billy a widower.

The side of the box reads, "This match stick cottage built in the late 19th century is where Uncle Billy Bailey lives with his pet crow, squirrel, and a menagerie of other pets. The town eccentric, Uncle Billy's place almost seems enchanted. Inside, clutter fills every room, but still the friendliest house in town.

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Target Village - Bert the Policeman's House in Bedford Falls

Bert the Cop lives next door to George Baily. We wouldn't know this if it weren't for an error. During the opening prayer scene in which the camera pulls away from the street in front of the Granville House, we see Bert run out of his home, next to the Granville house.

The side of the building reads: "Bert the cop knew just about everyone in Bedford Falls, and everyone knew him. There wasn't much crime to fight - a broken window, an occasional lost dog, but the people of Bedford Falls loved and resected Bert. He and his family lived in this modest home right in town so he would always be available when needed."

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The It's a Wonderful Life loft and hallway

When we got our new house, my wife gave me free reign to decorate the upstairs loft and hallway however I wanted. I chose to decorate it with my It's a Wonderful Life collection. Check it out.

We moved

In my last blog entry, I told about the possibility that I have Multiple Sclerosis. A second reason I disappeared for the last year is that once we got my migraines more or less under control, we decided it was time to buy a new house and move.

In February, 2016, we started getting serious about getting a house. My wife and I got married and lived in a mobile home (the preferred diggs of divorced dudes everywhere) for almost 10 years. Most of our stuff was in a storage unit and we needed more space to live. And I was getting tired of not being able to set up my It's a Wonderful Life ceramic village due to said lack of space. So we started looking.

We found one in a neighboring town that was huge (3000 square feet) and within our price range. It was a gorgeous house that was probably a hotel back when it was built in the 1800s. Then we paid for the inspection and found enough issues to send us running back to realtor.com.

We finally found a house in a small, quiet town. On the day we went through it for the first time, were the 7th family to go through the house on that day alone. We knew that there would be offers on the house because it was a great house, so we decided to make an offer that night and gut-check ourselves in the morning to make sure we really wanted it. We were the third offer made on that house that day. Our gut-check was super solid, and after some negotiating, we bought it.

And we love it. It's such a quiet, low-key town. Maybe a little more conservative than I prefer but everybody minds their own business and it's been wonderful. We have a large yard with room for a huge fire pit. We have a gargantuan deck on the back of the house that has been great for several parties and get-togethers so far. And the best part was that besides some cleaning and a little bit of paint, the house was practically move-in ready.

Our 3-foot-diameter fire pit and some top-shelf beer makes for a relaxing fall evening.

I can't wait to finish putting up my It's a Wonderful Life ceramic village this week (I'm almost finished. Pictures and video to come soon!). We even have room for two Christmas trees, and Jenn gave me free reign over our upstairs hallway/landing, so I decorated it with my It's a Wonderful Life collection, which stays up year-round.