The House Hunt

Today's my anniversary. 

Yes, another one. 

What? I can have more than one!!

Exactly one year ago today I walked in the front door, for the very first time, of what was to become my new house ....and I fell in love. 

Interestingly enough, I was ready to make an offer on another house. A completely different type of house. 

This house was no longer on the market. 

But during a site visit with a potential client, we started chatting about little things - what do you do for work, where do you live, etc....and I mentioned my house hunt and that I was ready to put an offer on a house. 

She told me I really had to see this one before I put in that offer. 

Yeah, sure. I've seen so many bombs....whatever. Ok, give me their contact info. 

And I reached out to make an appointment to view the house. 

That was no longer on the market. 

The rest was history. 

Kismet. 

Was this the style of house I was looking for? I'd say no....I set out looking for a small cottage yet when I walked into this Chalet style home I knew it was perfect for me. 

It checked off so many of the boxes on my Must Have list. 

1. Must be on a quiet road and not directly on the road but rather set back, safe for the dogs. Check!

I'd say this is a pretty quiet road, wouldn't you? My road is one of  the prettiest in the area....I loved this road long before I found a home here! Lucky me!

2. Must have a decent size deck for entertaining - check!

My deck wraps around and I actually have the fire pit area, a dining table with 4 chairs, a garden swing, and another smaller dining table all in separate areas on the deck. Works for me!

3. Must have a fireplace or wood stove to keep energy costs down. Check!

Granted, it did not look like this when I bought the house - there was an ancient wood burning insert that I had to take out and replace. It was most definitely not up to code and anything but energy efficient! But the stone hearth was there and I fell immediately in love with that. 

4. Must have room for a vegetable garden yet not be too much land for me to take care of. Check!

The fenced veggie garden was already in place, it just needed some TLC. And the house sits on 1.5 acres, but some of it is wooded so it's not overbearing for me to take care of. I use a push mower (cordless rechargeable one from Worx tools) and take care of the lawn myself for the most part. Once per month I have someone come in and cut the grass and weed-wack. I hate to weed-wack!! I just hate the way everything comes flying back at me, bouncing off every part of my head and body!! No, thank you! 

5. Must have a minimum of 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths. A master suite with Jacuzzi tub and walk in closet would be a huge bonus!

Well, it didn't have a master suite. But it did have 4 bedrooms and 2 full baths. 3 bedrooms/1 bath upstairs and 1 bedroom/1 bath downstairs. Perfect for sharing a home with my adult daughter! I combined 2 bedrooms upstairs to create my master suite so the home now has 3 bedrooms, 3 full baths. Perfect. 

6. Must have decent bathrooms and kitchen - check!

I really didn't want to get into ripping out kitchens and bathrooms. I wanted to be able to move in right away and any improvements would be done while I was living in the house. 

I love my kitchen. It's nothing fancy but it suits me to a T. It's got a great work flow and it's open to the dining room. What more could I ask?

7. Must have room for me to host Christmas dinner for 15+ people. 

This house nearly lost me on that one. I fretted about the fact that the dining room won't be large enough to seat all my family for Christmas dinner. 

And then I just said, "Get Over Yourself, Lady!"

It's one day a year. 

And the rest of the year the dining room is absolutely perfect for us. 

8. Must have a nice view. Check!

The house sits on a hill and has views of the mountain ranges on 3 sides. That works for me!

9. Must have a garage and ample storage for garden tools, etc. Check!

I have a two car garage plus a garden shed...and of course my wonderful garden cottage. Nuf said. 

10. Must have a basement or a slab. NO CRAWL SPACE. They just totally creep me out. There's not one chance in H**L I'll ever go into a crawl space. Ever. For anything. Ever. All the pipes could burst at one time and I still won't go in there. So that was an absolute deal breaker for me. 

Nothing creepy about this lower level living space!! My daughter's room is behind the white door at the bottom of the stairs - en suite, with private bath and private entrance. Perfect situation for two adult women living together! There's also laundry, partial kitchen, and my other daughter's living space down here....as well as a tiny office and utility room. 

11. Must have nice neighbors. 

I think we're good. 

Welcome to my dream house. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can view the photos from my initial house tour on my Before & After post.