The Setback

Well, our craftsman dream must wait a while.  The buyer could not get financing and we will have to start back at square one.  I am sad and disappointed, but there is nothing to be done.  Our house has continued to show and we are hopeful to have a new offer soon, one that will work out.  Until then, we dream about the house we will be building on the land we will buy as soon as we sell this house.

A Plan

The housing market in our little town is much different than that of the surrounding areas.  Our town is quaint and homey, but is also a college town and vacation spot for antiquers.  Houses are still selling here at great prices.  When we decided to list our house, our agent told us to list it high. "Ask whatever you want and we can always come down in a few months," he said.  We talked about it and listed it for way more than we ever expected to get.  And to our surprise...the house showed...a lot! We had more action on our house than all of the other houses listed with the realtor's office.  After two months, we had a good offer and decided it was enough to pay off the mortgage and buy some land for our new house.  (YAY!!!)

The next step was to find a plan.  (My sweet husband is a home builder...I am a lucky girl.)  We wanted to find something simple and cost effective to build (the house will be an investment).  We wanted something in the arts and crafts style and found a website that had several house plans that we liked. 

This is the house we almost built...it is from  The House Designers 
It has a simple floor plan and is almost exactly what we wanted.  (We almost bought this plan several times!)

But, after house sitting for my mother and father in law (who have a gorgeous home with a great outdoor living space), we decided that we wanted to spend a lot of time outside.  We want Jack to be able to play, we want to bar-b-que and host parties in the back.  And the land that we found is perfect for outdoor living.  It is on a hill with mature trees and a creek.  So...here is the plan that we chose.  It is snobbishly called L'Atessa di Vita also from The House Designers

We ordered it online for $695.00 and got it in the mail less than a week later.  As we wait on the closing of our current house, we are busy moving things into a storage building on the edge of town and sorting through the piles of junk we have amassed in the less than 5 years we have lived here.  It is sad to leave this house, but I am so excited to start the next project.  Here is a picture of Jack and Daddy going over the PLAN!

South Park

This is the house we made home. We spent countless hours working on the house.  We painted, renovated and decorated to make this 1940's kit house look like it did in the 1940's. 

When we planned on expanding our family, we had to expand our then 800 square foot house!  We did an addition (that I drew and my husband built).  We added an extra bedroom, bathroom, laundry room and closets.  But after about three months after Jack was born we knew that we would quickly outgrow our house.

This is the house that we currently have a contract on.  We are tentatively scheduled to close on August 5, 2011.  We are selling this house to move to the country and build our "Craftsman Dream Home!"

The Past

This used to be my house.  When we first walked in for a showing I HATED it.  I passed through with the mindset of "next" but my then fiance had other ideas.  "It's perfect," he said.  We closed on it on September 23, 2006. 

The minute we walked in the door as "home owners" I ripped up the kitchen floor and we ordered our first of many pizzas to celebrate the occasion.  This began years of making the house our own. 

That feels like a lifetime ago.  Since then we married, traveled, got a puppy (who is now lovingly referred to as "Tubbs"), had a beautiful son and completely remodeled our home.  I wish I would have taken pictures of the beginning.  It has come a LONG way.