Believe it or not, but my wife and I are living in the 5th house we have bought together … and I have loved them all. Looking back on all the houses we have owned, there wasn’t a single one that I would have said was a mistake. Most we lived in for just a few years – although that was never the plan. We would move in, I would start working on them and – well, (wiping away tear) they got to a point where someone else wanted them.
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This is the one that we are living in now – have been for the last 3 years. We moved here when the housing market went into the toilet and we could reach and buy into the neighborhood. It is a 2,000 square foot, 2 bedroom, 2 bath house with a grand total of 6 rooms if I don’t count bathrooms and closets. The house was designed by an architect and built-in 1967. Despite the fact that it is definitely showing its age, I love my house.
Apparently so does someone else.
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Towards the end of last week, we found a letter in our mailbox from a realtor who said she had a client who was looking for a home and blah, blah, blah.
While this is good news on one hand – confirmation that my house is desirable – it’s terrible news on the other because I’m not done with this house yet. In fact, I haven’t even gotten started yet. I have spent hours sketching up how I would amend certain things, adjust it to suit our lifestyle and bring the finishes into the 21st century.
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The floor plan for my house is compact by all conceivable standards in my neighborhood. I am surrounded by houses 2x, even 3x larger, most of which have been built or modified within the last decade (or two). Mine is still in its original 45 year glory and most would consider it a tear down – the only value being the lot.
Of course, my wife and I are trying to change that.
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The weather in Dallas has been amazing lately and with Spring in full swing, it was time to log in some serious time on the yard. I took the picture above with my phone as I was laying in my hammock (a Father’s Day present from 2 years ago) watching my wife and my daughter Kate work on a planting bed that Kate claimed as her own shortly after we moved in. We’re making memories here.
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Yard was looking good, everything cleaned up and put in its proper place so it was time for a hammock buddy. We sat and discussed animals, vacation trips, rollie-pollies … whatever came to mind.
It was a perfect ending to a day spent at home. Despite the sweat and effort, this is where we wanted to be – together. My wife took this picture to record the moment.
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This isn’t the first time a realtor has gone fishing to get something for a client so I’m not putting too much stock into this going anywhere. Having already sold 4 houses, I tend to know that when we buy a house, our aesthetic will make it desirable to other people – I mean c’mon … I am a residential architect and not just some guy in the next cubicle. What the letter did do was to get me to spend some time thinking about how important a house can be to a person … or family. We are making memories here and despite my earlier predilections to sell my house and go on to the next challenge, things are different now. My daughter goes to a particular school, she has friends, I have friends (sigh)
I had something else scheduled for today but as I sit here on a Sunday night, I couldn’t turn my thoughts away from just how lucky I am to do what I do for a living. My house plays an important role in my family’s life – it’s a silent contributor to our lifestyle, for better or worse, and for the first time in 5 houses, I am reluctant to think that this wouldn’t be my home. I hope that the residential projects I work on are as well received by the people who live in them.
Cheers,
ps – if you wanted to catch-up on all the posts I’ve written about my house, this is the place to find them (here)
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