House Hunting

I was just talking to K.C. about house hunting, and I agree 100% with her-- House hunting is fun.  It’s oddly thrilling to peek inside a home and imagine what life would be like there.

And to be in a position where I can actually walk in to a house, love it, and buy it? How awesome is that?

Speaking of which,  I started our family house hunt by walking through two houses today. Both were really interesting, and in a lot of ways either house would be good for us.

The first was brand new construction in an Old Town neighborhood right down the street from us.

It was a really nice house, craftsman style. 3000 square feet over three levels. Everything about the house was new and clean and lovely. But, there was something missing that I couldn't put my finger on. The house was so new & elegant, it just didn't have any personality. It seemed like a nice house, very grown-up. But it seemed like somebody else's nice grown-up house.

The second house, I fell in love with a little. No rhyme or reason to it... I just walked in and felt right at home. It's a 3300 square foot brick house that was built in 1985, but has a bit of a mid century mod feel to it. It looks like a ranch from the front, but has a walk-out basement.

The main room off the front door is enormous. It's the largest space in the house, and has a super tall vaulted ceiling. That huge main room is a multi-purpose space. It has a large kitchen, which opens onto a dining area, which spills over into a huge living room.

The big living/dining/kitchen room has a huge bank of windows at the back that look out onto a large wooden deck. Below that is a huge yard with lots of mature trees. Beyond that is 40 acres of open space. Beyond that, the mountains. It's a really majestic view, and despite the fact that it's in a subdivision (at the end of a cul de sac), it feels very serene and private.

The big room also has a bay window that overlooks a small courtyard at the front of the house, and a screened in porch at the back (to the side of the deck). There's tons of natural light. Down a hallway are a master bedroom with attached bathroom and 2 huge his-and-hers walk in closets, an office, and another full bathroom. All wood floors throughout. Downstairs has a walk-out basement, two more bedrooms, and another bathroom. The bedrooms down there are very large and bright, and one of them is perfect for Frankie-- Huge, with a hardwood area that would make a great play space, and a carpeted section where the bed would be.

There's central air (finally, thank god), a wood-burning stove, a sprinkler system, and a 800 square foot garage with a little workshop/workbench area built in. That'd be great for Matt.

The only problem is that kitchen and bathrooms in the house are badly in need of updating. The kitchen appliances were probably top of the line in the 80s, but now are really dated. The kitchen hasn't been remodeled in so long, it actually has a trash compactor in it. (Seriously... Do they even make those things anymore?) The bathrooms are just old. Not dirty, just old (and old-fashioned).

Come to think of it, the house actually reminds me a little of my grandma and grandpa Myers' lake house in Angola. It's really similar in a lot of ways. Maybe why that's why I'm drawn to the place so much?

Another potential downside is that the house is really far away from the center of town. It's not even remotely close to Old Town, and even farther away from the major shopping areas on the south side of town. Also, there isn't a playground anywhere in the vicinity, and it doesn't seem like there are many families with young children in the neighborhood. The neighborhood is quiet and seems to skew a little older. That's something I like, but probably wouldn't be Frankie's first choice.

Still, if all of the fix-er-up projects were finished, it could be a really spectacular house. And honestly, if it was completely updated, we'd never be able to afford it in the first place. So, iit's probably a good thing that those cosmetic updates still need to be done.

Anyhow, I'm  now anxiously waiting for Matt to get home so we can walk through the house again on Saturday. He's excited about it too, so it seems like a genuine possibility.

It's weird, though. How can I possibly love the second house that we've looked at? Am I rushing it? It's had to say. Still, I can definitely picture us living at that house. And since we're super picky about the houses we like, that's saying a lot.