As always life doesn't always happen the way that you plan, but sometimes that can be a good thing. Steve and I went house hunting in the Vancouver, WA area back in March. We first looked at some darling, but old, houses with some land. Dreams of having a very large separate studio and perhaps classes, oh and of course perhaps some pygmy goats danced in our heads. But then reality set in. Can we really take care of five acres in our current situation? Do we really want to constantly be fixing up an older home? Do I really need to add more animals and responsibility to my life? We switched tactics and took a look at new builds. We looked at several different builders and their communities. Nothing really made us want to jump up and down. One builder had a nice community but the house plan that we thought would work for us wasn't going to be started until this November and finished by next summer! Yikes! That's a very long time to wait for something that wasn't a swoon-worthy house.
As we left that builder we saw a sign for another builder. What the heck we thought. So we followed the signs a mile or so up the road. As we drove through this community and saw all the finished houses we thought that the signs must be old, must be a mistake. But we continued on up the hill past all the pretty new houses. At the top of the hill we saw these two lots and this wonderful view of trees, lakes and waterways. Oh my! It was simply gorgeous. Of course it was raining like crazy so the sky was dark and stormy and there were puddles everywhere. Ah, it was truly love at first sight.
We called the agent and the lot on the right was still for sale. Miracle of miracles that it turned out we could manage the price. More than what we originally wanted to pay, but doable. The floor plan of the model (about ten minutes away) was dreamy ... 12' high ceilings in the living room with tall windows to drink in the view. Ah, and the ability to carve away a few feet from the laundry room to turn a back bedroom into the perfect sized room for Freddie the longarm. How could I resist this siren call?
Right next to our lot, between the other lot is a kayak path to the water. Not sure I'll be kayaking of course, but it looks like a nice long walk down the steep hill.
It took a while for the permits to be approved due to the amount of new homes being built in that area. Last week they finally were able to break ground. Fingers crossed that we'll have the keys by the end of November. We can't wait.
Here's to new beginnings!
