Monday, April 2, 2012

Brick & Stone houses

So our casual house hunting continues. OK so it is my more house hunting. I check several real estate sites practically everyday for any new houses or price changes on houses that I have been watching. There was one that Andrew actually liked that came back on the market a few week's ago. But then it disappeared again this week. I went back and forth on it. It is super cute bungalow with an in-ground pool but I think it would have ended up being too small for us. It also needed quite a bit of work. Possible basement mold, upgrade the electrical which might have included rewiring and then the cosmetics like removing stained carpets and possibly replace it with new flooring.

I've been keeping my eye on a couple of other listings but both are currently listed over our budget. One is closer to what we could afford then the other.

Brick Ranch
This house has 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom and is 1144 sq ft plus a basement. The benefits is the electrical is already at 150 amps and it seems to be in relatively good shape. Mostly just some cosmetic upgrades are what is needed. It also has a one car garage and basement space that we can finish and use as Andrew's Man Cave. Of the two that I'm watching this one is closest to our budget but still out of reach. It is also not to far from our current apartment. I think our Christmas tree would look fabulous in those corner windows next to the fireplace.
   

Stone Retro Rambler
This house is much larger(1800 sq ft) but needs more updating. The kitchen is covered in 50's pink tile. But it has a beautiful big living room and and the kitchen and dining room are completely separate rooms. It also has 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom and a 1 car garage with an unfinished basement. But it is also $30,000 more than the other house which is also already over our budget. This one is a foreclosure and it is pretty close our current apartment. I love the storage unit in the dining room and the built-in bunk beds in the pink kids room. The other nice thing about this house is the good sized corner lot.
64 Spring St Westerly RI 02891 Home for sale - MLS #999375 
64 Spring St Westerly RI 02891 Home for sale - MLS #999375 64 Spring St Westerly RI 02891 Home for sale - MLS #999375 64 Spring St Westerly RI 02891 Home for sale - MLS #999375

I'm loving the brick and stone exteriors on both of these homes. Andrew refuses to like either because he knows we can't afford them. He also thinks the wide chimney on the brick house is a little strange. My problem is I get so emotional attached to houses. I start to imagine us in each house and the projects I could do to each.

Brick house: I think I'd remove or cover the brick on the kitchen peninsula. Or even maybe just white wash the brick if it is real, that way you can see the different shades of brick. A beautiful example of white washed brick is shown here. I'd probably also consider removing the cabinets over the stove to open the kitchen up to the dining area.

Stone Rambler: This one probably has quite a few projects. There is an entry hall between the living room(blue) and the dining room(green) that I would love to make look like a mudroom. The pink kitchen definitely needs work.

Uh oh the dreaming and planning has started.