in which THIS IS GETTING PRETTY EXCITING, GUYS

went over and loitered awhile this afternoon during the scope and inspection, and IT’S SUCH A GREAT HOUSE

the double closets in the master bedroom, the en suite, the storage in the laundry room, the covered patio, the fun open area between kitchen and living room that isn’t really a dining area but would totally work on the rare occasion we might host Thanksgiving or Christmas as a large dining room…

there’s a linen closet and a coat closet, and the smallest room will make an ideal guest bedroom, and behold the awesome built-in cabinets in the main bathroom:

look at all that space! all the towels can live IN THE BATHROOM so the linen closet can just hold bedding! and the drawers in the china cabinet can hold table linens! insanely well thought-out!

i even love a lot of the hardware and finish in the kitchen and bathrooms, they’re not merely retro, they’re original, i love this shit:

the back yard is generous without being huge, there’s already a concrete pad for a rotating laundry tree, and the creek (ok, irrigation ditch) runs along side for coolness and gurgle

the kitchen is adorable, plenty of cupboards and counter space. there’s room for a bigger stove if we upgrade. i love the weird little china cabinet, but i think i’ll paint it

~+~+~

so the back story is that we rented a great little house three Christmases ago, and we love this street because it dead-ends at an irrigation ditch, on the other side of which was an apple orchard which is even now being turned into a vineyard

no. through. traffic. lovely! big open spaces, just very nice

it’s a few blocks from the Freewater end of Main street, which may very easily be an up-and-coming area with the growth of the Rocks District wine industry and become charming and walkable

it’s just a great location, and the same builder built the house we’re in and the house across the street… which just went on the market, because the occupant passed away last fall

so we called the agent the day the sign went up in the yard, and found ourselves suddenly tryna buy a house even though we were in no way prepared

weirdly, it’s working out: we got pre-approved, we were eligible for a no-down USDA loan, and everything seems to be… happening?!

one of my aunts is even gifting us our closing costs, because she just… felt like it (!!!)

christ we’re lucky, it’s wonderful

~+~+~

the patio is covered and protected on three sides, but there’s air flow because there’s a breezeway that is also the walkway between the carport and the back door. it’s awesome. we could live out there: grill, patio furniture, windchimes, it’ll just be wonderful, just have to put in some greenery on the other side of the yard so we’re not staring into the rear neighbor’s sliding glass door

there’s a weird thing the builder seemed to do a lot (at least three of the houses on this street have these), and it’s roofed and sided like a garage, and it’s at the end of the carport, but it’s really just a workshop where you’d keep tools and repair things. probably a quarter the size of a one-car garage. we’ll probably use it as combo garden shed/bicycle parking. the lawn mower and weed whacker will either live in there too, or in the shed in the back yard.

~+~+~

haven’t yet received the results of the inspection and scope, but as far as i know there’s nothing terribly wrong with the place, the biggest issue so far is the shower/bath plumbing: it leaks when the shower’s turned on and has to be repaired. an access panel will have to be installed in the master bedroom closet to get to the pipes, but it won’t be terrible.

furnace is relatively new, water heater’s old but seems healthy enough. stove hood fan needs to be replaced. no idea about the roof yet.

this is fucking bonkers, but i’m very excited — hanging out in the house for a couple hours today made me realize that i freakin’ love it and hope this all works out!