Whether I’m ready for the next step or not, it’s happening – this weekend we went out and looked at houses in the area my dentist man has chosen. He has agreed to the acreage, but we’re not exactly sure if it’s to keep the neighbors away from us…. or us from the neighbors? Either way, we don’t want to be able to see people. ”You…. you just stay over there, got it!”
At least an acre was the prerequisite. But while we were out on the hunt, we discovered that an acre was not nearly enough to keep people at bay. I could still see them. I could still hear them…. and their little dogs. Granted my husband is a fibber when he says “This is the last house”, so technically I wouldn’t have to listen to it the rest of my life, but I still don’t want to hear other people’s dogs, or kids, or music, or cars. Ok, maybe it’s to keep me from them?
We noticed two and a half was just about right. The two we really liked were both on about that much. And both are completely different.
A one story, which is good for large dogs (with a very tiny “basement”). It was obviously renovated to sell quickly. A “flip” if you will, but very nicely done! It’s on a pretty level lot. Tiny yard, but about one and half acres of dry grass (think hay) as a good “buffer zone”. Two outbuildings for various tools *grin*…… Because most of the land is dry, the sheep and goats would keep the fire hazard at bay. It has absolutely no view to speak of, unless you like looking at fields of hay? But that’s fine, that means I don’t see other people’s houses either.
My favorite draw to this house is the open kitchen/great room area. The house may be smallish, but it feels huge and has windows everywhere. That would mean it needs nothing done except to be personalized. That would be something we’ve never encountered?
The other is two stories, same square footage, but not good for large dogs. The upstairs living area is completely redone, but all the bedrooms and downstairs are in serious need of renovations (excluding the very well done bathrooms – THAT is a new one for us. Stupid bathrooms). Most of the land has a slope to it, but also has nice, smaller watered area we could envision a pool in at some point. There is also an out building with great storage. The slope would be great for sheep and goats, not much else. My dentist man loves the view.
Our draw to this is the downstairs, which would make a great living area for the boys (read: keep the funk in one place) which has 2 bedrooms and a “great room” area with a second partial kitchen. Nice for entertaining.
So this week, we’ll be going over all the info to see which house we think will work better for us. The boys, including the big one, are leaning towards the two-story, while I’m leaning towards the one. I can hear my dentist man from the other room “Happy wife – Happy life boys. Remember this!” Thanks dear?
Through-out the day we got a lesson in home oddities. We learned there was a such thing as a “built-in blender”. One house, which didn’t seem to have a front door, had a lovely cat pee aroma but wanted full market value – we left rather quickly. We looked at a very strange house with a cat door into the master bedroom. The same house had an indoor gun range and over 3400 sqft, but all of it was partitioned off almost like cubicles? I’m not even sure how many rooms there actually were in the house, I started getting a bit lost? I would have taken the house and knocked out all the walls, but the land was unusable. Two acre’s of hill. Besides, I don’t think my fat cat would fit through that tiny cat door?
Before looking at houses on Sunday, the boys and I toured the town while their dad worked at his new office on Saturday (one day a week until we’re out of active duty). The town was throwing some sort of carnival, so we thought we’d join in. Hours of rides to keep them entertained. *SPOILED*
While it was exhausting and I’m still adjusting to the idea, it was nice to not think about “that house” for a few hours. A nice breath before the leap into our newest adventure.
