I saw a sign yesterday, advertising a house for sale. Five (5) bedrooms and seven (7) bathrooms; 6,200 square feet for only $249,000 or best offer.

Five bedrooms and seven bathrooms. Really? What kind of lifestyle, I wondered, leads to such a house design. Ah, I thought, maybe they are a very sociable family and entertain a lot. That could be a reason for having more bathrooms than bedrooms.

Maybe the owner is a germaphobe and doesn’t want to share a bathroom with anyone else. I imagine a Keep Out! sign on the door of the bathroom that he chose for his own. The only other person allowed in would be the maid, of course, who would come in twice a day to clean it and then the owner would clean it again after she left.

The price: $249,000 or best offer. It was just one of those little signs stuck into the ground without any room for an explanation, but I’m sure it’s not really “or best offer.” It probably means “or best offer” above a certain price level.

I just wonder how many people are lined up with their piggy banks, trying to put in the best offer they can afford. The idea of having A Room of One’s Own is definitely attractive. (with apologies to Virginia Woolf)