Hubby and I have been grappling with the issue of moving away from this property.
The reasons are not that many but are important nonetheless.
With the house surrounded by huge areas of lawn, there is a lot of mowing, like two days' worth; also with snow in winter a lot of plowing. We are far away, a 40-45 minute drive, from either of my daughters. We are 25 minutes from the nearest hospital and grocery store. The house, while well-built, laid out and maintained, needs updating inside from top to bottom. A big job for us to take on which we could do but that still wouldn't fix the location.
I have a confession to make. I love houses. I love looking at plans, imagining different lay outs, comparing features, all or any of it to do with houses. Perhaps I could have been a builder or a real estate agent in another life.
So looking at houses is an enjoyable outing for me. There is a boomer crop of houses for sale here this year and a buyers' market right now.
Here are a couple we looked at. All were much closer to daughters and a town but not in a town. Hubby has an aversion to suburbia!
Hubby has a special love for the stone houses built by the settlers over a hundred years ago. So a lot of our search was devoted to those properties. Here is one, built in 1832 by the McLaurens from Scotland and is a designated heritage home. We totally fell in love -briefly.
The property was spectacular. You can't see it here but this house is poised on the bank of a river, a pretty river you can fish in or canoe or picnic beside. The three vegetable gardens were all laid out; there were two barns, a chicken coop, a solarium, a screened in porch and an in ground saltwater pool, all on 100 acres, all 10 minutes from the nearest town with an excellent rated hospital.
I was drooling at that point...before entering the house.
The inside was a central hall design...a plus. Lovely rooms with those 2 foot wide window sills. But it needed updating. In particular,the kitchen and bathroom were circa 1960 and would need a complete redo. A younger couple's home, we decided in the end, with a heavy sigh.
This home isn't stone but it fit so many of our requirements it remains a possible fall back house.
Beautifully built with built-ins galore and wainscoting all over. This house has the prettiest kitchen/eating area I have ever seen. The kitchen window is posed right in front of a very tall tree.
A beautiful gazebo, basement, walking trails, sitting on a small lawn in the middle of over thirty acres; yes, it really comes so close to being exactly what we want. It was a little more elegant than I would want but then we realized the owners also had two large dogs and had special non scratch flooring installed. Hardwood floors that were made to look like engineered wood...yes, I guess they can do that these days.
Hubby's other dream is to live on water. We looked at this home several times and I still daydream about it. Coming with its own portion of one of the local rivers it is very special. Inside all wood fashioned by a master craftsman. It was a treat just to look out the windows and take in the views.
One of the days we were there, I spied two little animals playing on the riverbank at the end of the front lawn. I snuck down and took a photo.
I was able to identify them, just barely, as beavers before they sounded the alarm and disappeared. So this house comes with its own beaver family!!
And I love beavers, though I'm not sure I'd want them in the front yard.
So seen anything here you like? Have a favourite?
You'll have to check back later on to see what we may have found for us, if anything. It is all fun.
Hope there is something fun in your weekend.
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