Cindy in FL. Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 The size and layout. Large fenced in back yard. That my four younger kids have gotten to grow up in one house (my childhood was less than stable). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 I love our home. Love it. The light, the layout, the privacy in the back, the pond, the wildlife, the yard full of surprise areas and paths, the materials used in building, the pavilion in the back that gives us a summer room, the neighbors, the great kids who live near by, the living room full of windows that looks like a treehouse... the cork floors upstairs, the beaver lodge visible from the guest room, the kitchen that's just the right size. I could go on and on... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender's green Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 I love the high ceilings and amount of natural light. The house has such an airy feel without an open floor plan. The trees in the backyard keep the lower level slightly shaded in the summer and sunny in the winter (this is so not the case for the upper level, but I'll keep this post positive). We could have gotten a slightly nicer house with the same floor plan around the corner, but decided not to because the trees were very close to the house and blocked most of the sunlight after mid-morning. I love having a dining room. I love having a fireplace. As someone who grew up with slightly cramped bathroom conditions, I love the 2.5 baths. I love the main level laundry in a pleasant, central location. My parent's house had laundry all the way in the back of the basement, and it was my chore. I still have to haul laundry up and down the stairs, but it's nice to not have to trek through unfinished, cold, unpleasant places. I love the walk-in crawlspace. It's made certain projects and repairs so much easier because we don't have to literally crawl. I love being close to town, but still on the outskirts, so I don't feel cramped. There's a cute little community to the north of us and I'm always jealous when I hear that someone's moved there, until they mention how long it takes to get to basic places. I love below-ground power lines! And city water and sewage! Sometimes I wish we had more storage space and a basement. But recently we've had a lot of relatives who had to clean out their home to move, or clean out someone else's due to death or entering a nursing home. It's stunning what can happen when you have a large area where you can passively hoard junk, decade after decade. We simply don't have the space for a lot that, unless we became active hoarders, which we won't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMJ Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 We have a large backyard and a wide driveway, good for kids playing and for visitors parking off of the street. We have a great neighborhood, and some really good neighbors. We are just a few blocks from our very attentive and quick-to-respond police department. We have only had to call them 3 times in 14 years, and only once was the event something I'd call major (to us). Our cul-de-sac is big enough for Flight For Life to land in and take off from. Yes, it was actually needed once, by some neighbors. We have had a few hurricanes come through, but no major structural damage or costly repairs to the house or garage. We are high enough we didn't flood at all during Hurricane Harvey. The entire neighborhood stayed high and dry. My crepe myrtles flanking the front door have grown tall enough to frame the view from the giant window over the front entry. I hate that window a bit less now (it lets in too much heat in the summer). Have I mentioned our neighbors? They really are tops! No homeowner's association, yet still a quiet, cared-for, nice residential area. We are in a maze of dead-ends, so we don't get any through traffic. Flexible floor plan downstairs. We have pairs of rooms that are open to each other, letting light flow through and making the spaces highly versatile and adaptable. The breezeway creates a sheltered spot great for the grill -- shaded in the summer heat, and even covered when it is raining. Only when it blows while raining do we have to forego using the grill. Our house is 10 minutes away from DH's workplace, and his commute is nearly entirely residential. He doesn't have to go anywhere near the highway and rush hour traffic. Best of all -- proximity to DH's parents, and REALLY GREAT NEIGHBORS! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 That anything we do to it can be counted as an improvement. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddlemomma Posted October 6, 2017 Share Posted October 6, 2017 Our house has a southern exposure, but the back of the house is enclosed in birch and maple trees. This keeps our house 15-20 degrees cooler in the summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted October 8, 2017 Share Posted October 8, 2017 I love that we have a huge backyard. I love that we have tons of shade. I love that the house itself is very bright and airy because of all the windows and that the 2nd story is open to the 1st story. I HATE that I don't have a back porch. I have missed having a back porch since the day we moved in here 14 years ago. We looked at over 30 houses and this one was the best by far, but I really really covet all the back porches that I see. I just have a concrete patio and no overhang at all. And once we move, I will never again live in a 2-story house. My knees just aren't going to be able to handle it always. And my 19yo has to be super careful, especially on really low blood pressure days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted October 9, 2017 Share Posted October 9, 2017 I love that we have a huge backyard. I love that we have tons of shade. I love that the house itself is very bright and airy because of all the windows and that the 2nd story is open to the 1st story. I HATE that I don't have a back porch. I have missed having a back porch since the day we moved in here 14 years ago. We looked at over 30 houses and this one was the best by far, but I really really covet all the back porches that I see. I just have a concrete patio and no overhang at all. And once we move, I will never again live in a 2-story house. My knees just aren't going to be able to handle it always. And my 19yo has to be super careful, especially on really low blood pressure days. A porch seems like a simple thing to add. I agree, no 2 story at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted October 9, 2017 Share Posted October 9, 2017 I love that it's tucked into the woods. We mostly can't see our side neighbors when the leaves are on the trees unless we're both working close to the property lines. We can see lights from our rear neighbors' properties, but that's it. We only have a clear view of the neighbors across the street from driveway to driveway. My kids have grown up playing outside in their underwear until about age 6/7. (Youngest is almost 7, and we're at the point where I call him back in to put on pants!) I'm frequently outside in my pajamas, lol. I love the architecture of my house... as a vacation home. Which is what it was built for. The fact that we aren't vacationing makes it less positive, but I sometimes sit and remind myself about its charm in an alternate universe. The his and hers master closets are FANTASTIC! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted October 9, 2017 Share Posted October 9, 2017 LOCATION! I love the school system and the location. I can be in Baltimore in 15 minutes or DC in 30. I equally love that I don't HAVE to leave my suburb to get most of what I want or need. I love my quiet, woodsy street and paved bike paths through the woods. They've served us well from strollers to wheelchairs. Inside the house, I like that the rooms are neither tiny nor cavernous. I also love that they are all separate rooms. We love quiet and open concept is just too echoey for us. I like the efficiency of my kitchen. It's not a galley kitchen, but the work triangle has a galley-like layout so I'm super fast in there. I LOVE my empty room. We never needed seating in the LR AND FR, so now the FR has a wall of mirrors. It has served as: XL holiday dining room Guest suite Children's dorm Dance Studio Sewing Room Temporary LR and Kitchen during projects I appreciate the basement during the occasional sketchy storm. I also like that even the smallest bedroom isn't tiny. My house is NOT awesome. It has weirdly giant 4x6 windows and it's got this odd, boxy 70s architecture, but it has served us well and we never outgrew it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeachyDoodle Posted October 9, 2017 Share Posted October 9, 2017 The ginormous yard with huge pine trees and enough room for ds to roam without ever getting bored. The cathedral ceilings in the living room with the floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace and windows. The loft over our dining room that makes a perfect playroom/reading nook and comes with a spiral staircase. The new color scheme that we picked out when we (finally) went from renting to buying in July. The fact that all of the most special touches were picked out by my mom and crafted by my dad during the 30 years the house was theirs. The many, many happy memories... and the new ones my family is making now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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