My house is nothing fancy, but I love the fact that I designed and built it myself. Sure there are some things I would do differently the next time, but overall it was the smartest thing that I've ever done. Also, my garage is bigger than the house that I grew up in.
I grew up in a house that predates this country. Built in 1730, it's from a time when houses had names. This one was called "Prophecy" and it was originally a quaker meeting house. The house has been added onto a few times over the years, but my bedroom through my childhood was one of the original rooms to the house.
There's even an overview of it in the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties.
I absolutely loved living there. Middle of nowhere. Floorboards creak as you walk through the house. Tons of space to play around with cars. We used to shoot cans right behind the house. My parents still live there and they've turned it into an absolutely amazing place (while preserving the historic aspects) and added a huge shop to boot.
One of the downsides to living there was virtually no internet access (I still have to go sit in a McDonalds 20 min away to get work done when we visit) or cell reception, but I've grown to believe that might not be the worst thing. There's one window where you can get enough of a signal to send and receive texts. All our friends knew this so whenever people came over they would leave their phones on that front window sill. You could tell who was around in the house by glancing at that sill. It still makes it hard to call my parents though.
At my apartment now I have really fast internet and good cell reception, but I get warning letters every time someone reports me to management for working on a car on property. It's a different life.
Hmmm, let's see.
The good: solid 1932 construction and all that goes along with that.
The bad: solid 1932 construction, and all that goes along with that.
I hate the wiring in the house, but it'd have to be gutted to fix it. Nothing is standard sized anymore. Replacing anything means custom work. And can I tell you, I hate plaster walls now?
When we moved in:
And now:
What I do like is the master suite. A perfect retreat. Here's a computer rendering I did before building it:
I need to redo the main floor of the house and want to upgrade all the wiring from the cloth bound stuff, get bigger front and rear doors and make the kitchen a little more user friendly and add storage. Here's some views of what we intend to do:
Ed Higginbotham said:Middle of nowhere. Floorboards creak as you walk through the house. Tons of space to play around with cars. We used to shoot cans right behind the house.
I have that too, and my house is only ~55 years old. I have those other 3 things too.
We have no cell phone reception at home, so that is nice. Our closest neighbor is 100 yards away across the road and we are on a major road (for our area) so it gets plowed well in the snow. Structurally, the house is...interesting. It obviously started off as a small home that the previous owners progressively added to. All those additions are getting old and run down, so we now have the joy of fixing those back up.
But hey, I can go out back and shoot clays all day long and nobody is going to complain.
I'm sitting in my sunroom (still) sipping wine (still), and thinking this is nice. We had some crazy weather come through this afternoon ... T-storms, wind, hail. But I sat out here and watched all the action. Anyway, now I'm still here after dining out, and enjoying the atmosphere. I love my abode!
This was a builder- standard, useless fireplace when we moved in. I worked my butt off to trade-out for this fireplace insert, forced-air, catalyst-equipped badassery. Then I worked even more putting the slate up. This is without question the focal point of our lil pad out here in the woods.
By the way, the fireplace is very beautiful.
Having grown up in a mobile home aka trailer, living in a “regular” stick built home for the past 25 years is ok but sure is a lot more money not only in purchase price, but most everything else about it including property taxes. Maybe it’s a keep up with Jones’ thing for a lot of people but a big house (this one is 3,000 finished sq ft) is less and less my thing especially as the kids get older and are home a lot less now.
If I can wind my life down with a house half the size of the current one but with a big garage, that would be my ideal.
In reply to 759NRNG :
Pictures of the house can be found on Google Earth street level. Nothing to look at. Just looks like a lot of other houses in the neighborhood.
It's app. 2200 sq.ft. 2 story. I sometimes call it a four story with the cellar and the attic.There is an enclosed stair way to it. Many houses of the era were built like that.
3 bedrooms , One and a half baths. Low taxes and cheap to heat.
Best part, it can be had for 80K
Ed Higginbotham said:I grew up in a house that predates this country. Built in 1730, it's from a time when houses had names. This one was called "Prophecy" and it was originally a quaker meeting house. The house has been added onto a few times over the years, but my bedroom through my childhood was one of the original rooms to the house.
There's even an overview of it in the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties.
I absolutely loved living there. Middle of nowhere. Floorboards creak as you walk through the house. Tons of space to play around with cars. We used to shoot cans right behind the house. My parents still live there and they've turned it into an absolutely amazing place (while preserving the historic aspects) and added a huge shop to boot.
One of the downsides to living there was virtually no internet access (I still have to go sit in a McDonalds 20 min away to get work done when we visit) or cell reception, but I've grown to believe that might not be the worst thing. There's one window where you can get enough of a signal to send and receive texts. All our friends knew this so whenever people came over they would leave their phones on that front window sill. You could tell who was around in the house by glancing at that sill. It still makes it hard to call my parents though.
At my apartment now I have really fast internet and good cell reception, but I get warning letters every time someone reports me to management for working on a car on property. It's a different life.
I love the creaking floor boards thing so much I intentionally built it into my “new “ house. I took beams fresh off the sawmill and nailed ( and glued) subflooring of rough sawn 2 inch thick boards to them.
Then because that was too much variation I nailed 3/4 plywood on top of that and finally wide plank 3/4 inch finish flooring. Let’s just say it averages level. But has some, •••••. interesting,?, character in it.
Yes, you have that right. 3&1/2 inches thick of wood on the floor. Hardwood ( except the plywood) because I bought the wood so cheap. ( 15 cents a board foot). That means a 4x8 size cost me only $3.60 Most of the flooring was Ash,some Elm, and a little Tamarack.
I’m a little disappointed in the lack of noise. I wish the squeaks and groans were louder but I guess 18 years really isn’t enough to bring the floor into full song yet.
Oh, nobody can sneak up on me even in a deep sleep sawing logs, Even my little grandchildren will cause some squeaking.
6 months ago my home was a car. Not a nice big ol wagon, an FR-S sports car. The place I'm at now is pretty sweet. Indoor plumbing and a bed, even.
This is why I love y’all...and the “off topic” section.
I’m sitting on my porch. I LOVE my porch. I’m listening to Cicadas, my HVAC cranking away, and someone off in the distance cuttin grass. In the evening light beamin through the trees, I caught a glimpse of some Chanterelles I plan on plucking tomorrow evening.
I also LOVE our creeky oak floors AND creeky doors.
I’m really going to miss this place. The new house is on 20X more acreage, but I’m starting to worry it’ll be LESS private. Planting lots and lots of trees soon.
I’m a “porch m.....an 4 life.”
It’s my single biggest requirement for the new house: BIG, COVERED, (preferably screened-in) porch. Where I can step outside, fire up the grill, be alone with my thoughts, and apparently post some nonsensical rant on a car message board.
And a big garage.
And a shop.
And this lamp.
And this ashtray.
And the paddle-ball game.
I love my house, MOST of the time. Built in 1894, parts of three homes were moved onto the site then the porches were added. Old BX wiring. plumbing from the early 1900s, some updated in the 1940s. Blown in insulation and vinyl siding is a Godsend.
Joining two sky lights in a trapezoidal box was my first big project. Next was the 24 X 42 garage.
I don't have many pictures, but it's more "eclectic" than Victorian. Just finished the white fence, 150 ft. and my back hurts; but it looks good at night.
I really like our house. I bought it in Sept '17, it had been a total loss by the insurance company because of smoke damage.
A real estate agent bought it at auction, rehabbed and I purchased it the day it went on the market.
In a few years, we still probably sell it and either try to move out of OKC, or buy a slightly bigger house with a larger backyard. We are on a corner lot so it's decently sized, but a lot of the space is in the front.
I like that my house has no HOA.
I like that I'm building equity in it.
I like that I purchased a house well within my means, and can likely afford to live here even if I made 1/3 of my income.
Other than that, I'd probably be happier living in a different house.
In reply to Brett_Murphy :
Don’t be too eager to do the sell and move up the housing chain.
When you sell just assume it will cost you 10% . Not just commission, but moving costs, closing costs, the fact that you’ll need stuff like curtains, drapes, rugs, eventually your furniture won’t be suitable etc.
That’s 10% of what your house is worth. So if you sell your house for $260,000 good bye $26,000.
93gsxturbo said:The good:
Well built 1950s ranch in a quiet suburb, across from a park, on Lake Drive (Lake Michigan). See all the wildlifes, walk out the front door and in a forest. 2 driveways and 4 garage spaces with a high bay. 10 minutes to the freeway, 20 minutes to downtown Milwaukee, 1.5 hrs to O'Hare, 30 minutes to work. Great neighbors. Will be paid off in 7 years (10 year mortgage)
The bad:
Kinda small (1050 sqft with full basement), corner lot with sidewalks on both sides, taxes are brutal.
Curious where you are in cudahy, we're in St Francis and I jog/bike along the lake and parks all the time. I'll have to pay attention for the yellow viper!
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