My Dream Home

I fell in love with a house. You’d think I would be happy, but I’m sad. I guess, it is the non-reciprocating type of love, when one side is always brokenhearted. Well, that would be me…over a house.
I knew it from the very beginning, it was a big mistake that we even considered viewing that house. I haven’t felt that strongly about a house ever, or maybe I have, but now I’m just super tired of looking for one, and I subconsciously want this to be over….?!

Anyway, this last Sunday, we had only 2 houses to view. None of them deserved our attention, really. Okay, perhaps the first one, but I, honestly, tried so hard to make myself like it. My efforts were in vain. It wasn’t a bad house, just too small for the money they wanted, and it lacked character. The backyard was decent. A very nice exterior (hacienda). We love Mediterranean style houses, they remind us of home (Europe). However, the house simply didn’t do it for me. And I so wanted to like it. Anyway, a nice house but not for us.

If truth be told, one thing really bothers me when it comes to houses, or to be more precise, when it comes to their interior set up. The family room is usually the room with the fire place, right? This is the room where the TV set goes, basically, your main hang out room. Well, most family rooms, at least those that I’ve seen, are so small, that I can’t figure out where the TV goes. (See, my TV is very important to me, I love movies!) You have a fireplace, you have a big plasma TV, and you have a tiny family room, what do you do?! It follows that, your focal point will be either the fireplace or the TV (it can’t be both, otherwise you’ll go crazy). On the other hand, you can’t have two separate designated areas, for your home theater, and for a cozy sitting area by the fireplace, there is simply no room, so you have a problem. I mean, I do. However, I think you should be concerned too. In fact, we are left with 4 possible options: 1) ignore the focal point rule; 2) buy a cabinet that hides your TV; 3) hang you TV over the fire place (and you’ll tremendously enjoy the two black holes on your wall); or 4) buy a different house! None of the first three options appeal to me. Obviously, I’m going for the fourth one.

It was a very cold, windy Sunday (01/20/08), and I was glad that we were going home. Well, not quite so…
Two weeks ago my husband and I were driving by one of the neighborhoods we liked, and it was then we saw this beautiful colonial house with a rather familiar “for sale” sign. The house looked big, the backyard looked promising. We couldn’t see much from far away. My husband called the listing agent to get more info about the house. It was way too much money for us. Of course. I tried not to think about that house anymore, I mean, it was simply pointless.
Well, apparently, the image of that house was still haunting me. As a result, on that cold, windy Sunday, when we thought we were officially done with the house viewing, I suggested we go and check out that house…again. Our real estate agent Jane happened to be with us, so we thought she might call the listing agent and request a viewing of the house, despite the consequences.
It turned out it was an open house day, and it was easy to get in. I had a feeling I’d like this house a lot. I did. Very much. I want this house. Badly. How can it be so darn expensive?! Actually, the price was reduced a little, still too pricey. But, boy, was it nice…Spacious, airy, open, sunny. A house with a nice "Californian feel" not congested like most split levels I’ve seen. That house was simply “The House”. It had everything I wanted: a nice location, a huge backyard with a lot of trees and privacy, a Florida room with skylights, a gym room, an office room, and numerous other rooms. I didn’t really care about the number of the rooms, but the way the rooms were set up. Different. Good different. The truth is, you just know when a house is right for you. The most important question is, Can you see yourself living in that house? And if you can, go for it. (If you can afford it, of course! :)) Probably not much renovation would be necessary, since the house seems to be in good condition. I even liked the kitchen cabinets, and I never do. Okay, breathe….Given that we can’t afford the house, (we can’t afford even thinking about it), we decided we’ll keep an eye on it and see how it goes. If nobody buys the house within the next month or two, we’ll shoot for it. We’ll make an “affordable” offer and see what happens. In the meantime, I hope nobody snatches it! If it’s destined to be, it will be! I’ll keep you posted!