We've looked at about 15 houses so far, mainly in Newberg (now struck from the list) and in the hills just west of Portland (our favorite location so far). We'll look at another batch of houses with our realtor tomorrow, this time in Bull Mountain and Raleigh Hills, and head down to Bend for a bunch more next week.
It is all very exciting: we are thrilled at the prospect of getting out of our apartment and into something substantially larger. It's a nice enough apartment, but we are done having my office in the living room, our furniture crammed in the living room, the litter pan in the guest bathroom, and listening to our upstairs neighbor's music.
I only thought to bring my camera to our most recent showing, and like a dummy I didn't put on a wide-angle lens. So I only have a few photo details of the houses we visited yesterday. But we'd love to hear what you think, so I've posted a few below. Note: If you click on the photos, you'll probably get a blank page because I've made them private on Flickr. But if you use the special links I provide for each house, you'll get to see them all in large sizes.
So far, we've seen some real duds but also a few solid maybes. Among the former is one we visited yesterday, where we were greeted with the following sign in the driveway: "Parking for Dale Jr. Fans Only." We had a feeling it wouldn't go well from there, and it didn't.
You can't really drive up the very narrow and incredibly steep driveway, and then you have to climb about 20 rickety stairs to get to the front door. And inside it was just small and weird and felt like it might fall down at any second.
The Current Frontrunner
So far, our top choice is, amazingly, a townhouse. It's located north of Highway 26 at the Cedar Hills Blvd exit and has a Portland address. We were most definitely not looking for a townhouse, but this is a seriously wonderful place in an outstanding location - closer to Portland but still in the suburbs. And it's an end unit with a fabulous nature view, so it doesn't feel as townhousey as it could.
You can see all the photos of this house (and in larger sizes) here:
http://flickr.com/gp/sacred_destinations/4dGd01
The neighborhood.
Every house has its pros and cons and none of them will be perfect (at least in our price range), but this one has the fewest cons of any house we've seen so far: its lack of property and a price at the high end of our budget. It is also bank-owned, which means perhaps a better deal but also potential hassle. But it has absolutely everything else on our list. Most importantly, we both just feel like we're home when we visit. We'd be interested to hear what you think!
First, it's big - the square footage is actually higher than most freestanding houses we've seen! Second, it's seriously beautiful inside. It was built by Renaissance Homes, which our realtor tells us is known for high quality construction, and it does look so much more solid and stylish than most new homes.
The kitchen is the most beautiful we've seen yet, and the floor plan is ideal. The living room, dining room and kitchen are all in an open area with hardwood floors, which is just what we love.
Front door and stairs to top floor; bathroom on main floor; balcony ceiling.
Kitchen. The living room is to the left and the dining room to the right.
Gas range
Living room (the green looks better in person, but maybe we'd paint it red...)
The master bedroom and bathroom are huge and there are several extra bedrooms, any of which could make a great office for me. There is also a nice laundry room on the top floor.
Master bedroom; master bathroom (has a big shower too); huge walk-in closet with shelving. These are all much bigger than they look - I could only capture glimpses due to my improperly chosen lens.
We love this carpet, which is the same throughout the house - stylish and practical.
And the views are one of the best parts about this place. The back of the house looks out over a protected greenspace, which has wonderful walking trails. This makes the lack of a yard a lot more bearable - we still have space and nature. I've even mentioned the possibly of planting a clandestine garden in the nature area - maybe a few carrots here, a potato there...
View from balcony (the living room and master bedroom look this way too)
Walking trail
View to the right from balcony
So this is the one to beat for the moment, but we're still hoping to find an equally great home that has some property to go with it.
A '60s Contender
Another house near the top of our list is really cool, but doesn't feel quite as much like home. It was built in 1963, but has been completely remodeled inside. And it has a front yard and a back yard! The current occupant looks like quite an interesting lady - she's done some great stuff with the house.
The downsides to this place include: an only average exterior, location on a fairly busy narrow road, no extra bedrooms on the top floor, one bathroom that hasn't been remodeled, a big basement we may not use all that much, and a smallish (although nice) kitchen. But it's quite pretty inside and really has character. What do you think?
You can see more and larger photos of this house here:
http://flickr.com/gp/sacred_destinations/h2585f
Kitchen and back yard
Kitchen looking to dining room and entrance. I forgot to take a picture of the living room, which is just to the right. It is small, but has a large picture window and woodburning fireplace.
Master bedroom
Master bedroom; master bath; big walk-in closet
Wacky basement living room, complete with full bar.
Garage. We peeked inside and saw a silver Audi TT and sweet yellow lab looking up at us. Sadly, I suspect neither of those are included.
Back yard
Front yard
Driveway and busy road
We also have 2-3 other good contenders that unfortunately I don't have pictures of, all in the same general area (west Portland).
I'll post again soon with the latest news and more pictures!
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