Love at first sight

When do you know a house is "the one"? In today's market many buyers are reluctant to make a long-term commitment, but some buyers do make a love connection the minute they walk through the door. Here are tales of Twin Cities home buyers who experienced "love at first sight." Home Sweet Home: Jeff Bokelmann & Rachel Harvey

What was never on the wish list was buy-ing a house that had gone through foreclosure.

But when Harvey and her fiancé, Jeff Bokelmann, first stepped onto the open front porch of a bank-owned and vacant 1919 two-story farmhouse near Isanti, Minn., she knew it was special.

Bokelmann had low expecations, too, so he was elated when he stepped through the front door and was greeted by a pristine dark oak staircase and oak columns that separated the spacious foyer from the living room. They loved the three-season porch with knotty-pine paneling out back, too.

"It felt homey, like my grandma's house," said Bokelmann. "I told Rachel, 'This is it.'"

Harvey, of East Bethel, and Bokelmann, of Ham Lake, had toured four other houses, including a 1940s former cabin on Coon Lake and a new house in an East Bethel development. Not only did the three-bedroom farmhouse have rich character, but it included six acres of land, a couple of pole barns and a six-car garage where Bokelmann, a mechanic, could work on cars.

It was also priced right at $139,900, but with a 1960s kitchen, vintage floral wallpaper and wood paneling, the house needed some work. Harvey, an interior designer, was up for the challenge.

Love was clearly in the air. A few days after first looking at the house, Bokelmann proposed to Harvey at the bottom of the grand staircase that had first caught their attention. Harvey accepted and the two submitted an offer to the bank. They will close on the farmhouse in March and get married this summer.

"We knew it was the home where we could live and raise a family," Harvey said.

You Can Buy Love: Rene Myers-Kelley

"We first were thinking about buying a condo," said Rene Myers-Kelley, who because of a knee injury had to sell her beloved house in St. Paul's Mac-Groveland neighborhood because she could no longer climb the stairs. Low-maintenance one-level living would better suit her family.

At the suggestion of their real estate agents, Myers-Kelley -- along with her husband, Michael Kelley, and daughter, Sophia -- toured a couple of single-family homes anyway. They fell head-over-heels for an updated 1950 two-story house with beautiful back-yard gardens in the Como neighborhood.

Myers-Kelley immediately was drawn to the home's visually appealing display of original artwork in the living and dining rooms and warm wall colors. It also was the only property in which they could check everything off their "must-have" list, which included two bedrooms and a bathroom on the main floor and two bedrooms on the second floor that could serve as a retreat for her teenage daughter. It had hardwood floors, an updated kitchen, a finished basement and a three-season porch that could be used as an art room. A fireplace in the living room was an unexpected bonus.

"To me, a fireplace was a luxury I thought I would never have," said Myers-Kelley, a behavior specialist for the St. Paul Public Schools.

"When I come home every day, I say, 'I love my house.' Even when there's no one there."

Instantly Smitten: Angela Mclaughlin

"I walked in, caught my breath, and knew this was my house," said Angela McLaughlin of the 1926 lemon yellow two-bedroom cottage in southeast Minneapolis she bought last fall.

McLaughlin, a recently divorced apartment dweller, longed for a house with a fenced yard for her dog. She had looked at nearly 50 homes before the price on the lemon yellow house was reduced to within her budget. Plus it was near the light-rail line and her job at the Minnesota International Center.

With crisp white-painted woodwork, wood-trimmed archways, shiny hardwood floors and sunlit rooms, the charming house made a good first impression. It felt cozy, not cramped. After admiring the French doors off the dining room and seeing the remodeled kitchen with sparkling new appliances, McLaughlin was sure this was the one.

When she learned that the previous residents were a young but growing family, she felt even more connected to the house. "It was loved and well cared for and that's what drew me in," McLaughlin said.

On her first night in the house, she handed out Halloween candy to the neighborhood kids.

"My house isn't flashy or extravagant," she said. "But it's still perfect."

Penthouse Passion: Brian Jacobs

Brian Jacobs is a Delta flight attendant and interior designer who was living on the 14th floor at Reflections at Bloomington Central Station, a pair of glass condo towers overlooking the Minnesota Valley Wildlife Refuge in Bloomington. He picked the location because he often rode light rail to the airport, and he had been hired to decorate and furnish model units in the building.

Then Jacobs looked at a light-filled unit on the top floor, which had two stories of floor-to-ceiling glass and a panoramic view that stretched far and wide over the metro area. He was smitten.

It could have remained unrequited love, but the market softened and the price of that unit fell to within his budget. Jacobs moved up to the top floor last June, and his love affair with that 17th-floor penthouse condominium deepened when he first saw the sun rise over the Minnesota River and eagles soar over the wildlife refuge.

"This is the best place I've ever lived," he said. "I can't wait to get home."

Lynn Underwood • 612-673-7619