New House: Sunset Over Trees

So we've got a lot going on right now and it feels like a good time to stop and remember why we made the big move to begin with. I remember the trip because we were all sick to some degree, our son has some special requirements and when he is sick it's best not to expose him to lots of people. We had to get out of the house, we had to go somewhere.

I had been looking at this house online and trying to convince my hubby that it was worth a look. We like cheap, ugly and potential in our house candidates. This one was amazing, so ugly! It was also huge. Really huge! Even for the neighbourhood it was in it had exceptional square footage. One of the previous owners had decided to add on an extra suite and the square footage was ridiculous because of that. When we arrived we fell in love. Not so much with the house. It had good potential but a house can be changed around, my advice is to look at the stuff you can't change first. Location, size, community, accessibility and neighbours. This house was off our radar mostly because it was not in the city, it was about 25 minutes out of the city limits. My hubby wasn't sold on the idea of living in a small town, there were issues about the leasehold land and he grumbled a bit about why it was on the market for so long. He had seen the pictures online and when he looked at them, he saw work work work. Lots of work.

So on this particular Sunday we decided to go for a drive. Take the kids out, open the windows and get some fresh air. We decided to check out the house and the community just to see, just for something to do. On the way out I called the listing agent who just happened to live in the community and he just happened to be available. Nice! We could see inside.

The community was amazing. As soon as we drove in we realized it was something special. There was a fire station with charm, a little community centre, soccer fields and everywhere I looked there were families. Families walking, biking, running and playing. The whole place was a settled into a forrest of giant pine trees. It was like a campground with really big expensive tents. I fell in love with the idea of living in a forrest. It was just then, in the afternoon sun that a family of deer walked out on the road and wandered into the trees across the street. Arrow straight into the heart of me. TWANG! I saw my kids enjoying the nature, I saw a community of families and I saw a really lovely place to spend my down-time.

My husband was blown away. He couldn't really speak except to say "this could work hey?" over and over again. The resulting house tour, inspections and such turned up nothing that scared us too bad. He fell in love with the garage and the basement because of woodshop potential, he fell in love with the community, he absolutely saw the haven from the city that I had wondered about. We saw all kinds of potential for a home business. The massive amounts of work were obvious to us but the truth is, when you are looking to rip it all apart anyway, you want to have something as gross as possible. There is no sense in paying good money for something that is in OK shape when you want to get rid of it no matter what. There are some things, like in this house for example, that need to be a certain standard. The structure needs to be sound, the mechanics need to be working and the place needed to be livable. This house was smelly, neglected, dirty and in need of some updating but after replacing the gross tub I think it would be safe to say we could live here for a while.

We ditched our 1100 sq foot city home in favour of this 2700 sq foot country home. There is a forrest that surounds us and a river just behind the house, not 5 minutes from our back door. My son met a young boy not 4 houses down from us and they bonded instantly. They adore each other and we now have weekly playdates (at the old house there were no kids that we could play with in our neighbourhood). When I go for a walk I am greeted by the soothing trees and sky, not cars, and the views are amazing. I can see sunsets, stars and the air is unmistakably fresh. I'm chomping at the bit to get started on the work, the transformations and the nesting. I'm excited to make this new house a home.