Top 3 Homes

Victorian style home with shingle roof

A while back I was sitting on a floor of a vacant home with a friend of mine. Kirstin works on the lending side of this business, with Opes Advisors. It was a slow afternoon, as the home was on the more expensive side, way above the magic 1 million mark, and the home had been on the market for a while. After chatting about dinner plans, latest news in our personal lives, and the random stuff the conversation turned to the home we were sitting in. A beautiful home, yes, but what would you do differently? How would you have done it, if it were yours…

I would have done living space in a different way. Pushed the kitchen a bit further back to create a larger living space, and as I have had to deal with my beautiful dark hardwood floors, and the fact that every speck of dust shows on it, I would have picked a lighter color of hardwood. No, not the traditional oak or maple, but something with an ashy hue to it, but that’s just me. I love white kitchens and floors that won’t show every single dog hair.

As I view multiple homes in a week, I have a list of my all-time favorites. Not necessarily homes for me, for a family with three kids and a dog. Not all huge mansions, thinking over one or two million bucks would correlate straight with my desire to live in them. No, these homes are all very different, in different neighborhoods and price ranges varying from the lower 800’s to 1.7 million. There has been a couple of homes that I could have, most definitely moved straight in, but not very many. But, there’s still that ever changing list of top 3 homes, or if I’m quite honest two of those homes have stayed on my list for quite a while.

Not in any particular order, let me tell you about those homes, and maybe you can figure out something that they all have in common.

There was the small home with a spectacular view over Lake Sammamish. I think it had at least two, if not three entrances leading you in from different angles. There was no gourmet kitchen, where you could have had a ball, but a small crammed thing with a sitting area, and a fireplace. Large dining area though, with a painting like view to the garden through a window that led your eyes to another window, with the garden mentioned behind it. In the foyer over the stairs the owner had hung several Chinese sunbrellas. Very cute sunbrellas that looked like they were not a mere decoration, but actually a part of the house. Upstairs you could find two smallish bedrooms, the only window in the second bedroom was through the bathroom, thus no door but merely a setting like in some smaller boutique hotels, with a bed and a sink, and then tucked away, around the corner a potty with a small shower. This was definitely not a family home in my eyes.

My second home is in Seattle. A cute craftsman built in the early 1900’s. Completely, and tastefully remodeled though. At first, you think you walked into the kitchen, but there were no appliances there, just a table with chairs, a counter top with a sink, and a way to the garden behind the home. There was a front yard too. A front yard that made you feel like you were somewhere in southern Europe. Upstairs was the view over Seattle. A large open kitchen and an area filled with light, inviting you to throw yourself on the couch. I’m not a Seattle gal, but this home made me understand why those homes are so desirable. This home could most absolutely fit a family, but it didn’t really have the family feel to it either.

Then there’s the third home. It was located in an area that is definitely not my favorite due to the dark and woodsy feel to the place. It is a very well, no extremely well, respected place with homes that are sought after though. When we were driving there, before we even got close, I said I knew, I wasn’t going to like it. Too much trees, too damp, too dank, too dark. How little did I know. This is the one home that I could have moved into, in a heartbeat. Everything in that home was perfect. The style of the home was something you don’t see on the West Coast too often, a 1900’s Victorian style home with shingled gambrel roof, a style that I’m definitely going soft on. The kitchen, the living areas, the office located behind the kitchen, the fireplaces, and even the formal dining that I’m not too big of a fan of, as most of use it about twice a year. No, we’re not moving. We love our neighborhood, we are excited to get two new school for our children, and most of all, neither one of us is willing to pay for a mortgage that big. The only downside I could see, was the fact that there was a likelihood of a golf ball landing in your coffee or through your living room window. It was by no means a new home, not even close. It had seen quite a few families grow in it, and every single floor plank seemed to be inviting in a new family.

Did you figure it out? What is the thing in common with these three homes. Yes, they all sold within a week and they are all in nice neighborhoods, but most importantly they all have loads of personality. Definitely, too much for many, but I have always loved a home that has character. Having character doesn’t mean there is something wrong with the floor plan, it just means that there is something about it that makes it stand out, makes it different from the others. No one needs to ask where my powder room is. As much as I like my own home, it really doesn’t differ from all the other homes in my neighborhood, and I’m pretty sure most people would be able to find their way around with their eyes closed. There are no cute surprises. There is nothing unexpected, and in many ways, it is quite boring. Most homes are. More or less well maintained, on more or less nice lots in neighborhoods that are more or less sought for. My most favorite homes are the ones that I still remember in a good way, months and months after seeing them for the first time.

I rarely see new construction that I really, really like. Saturday was one of those days though. I stumbled upon a beautiful contemporary style new construction, a home with personality and character in the same package.