The Sweet Life

I guess I'm putting a toe back into the housing pool. Sig took me out to see our friend's property that is being short-sold. It's a nice size, with several usable flat areas. It's not a remarkable property, although our friend and his wife are very fond of it and obviously devastated that they have had to leave it. It frankly needs a lot of work. There are a couple cosmetic projects that need to be done to the inside of the house, and that we're probably capable of completing although they are a little more complicated than painting a wall. There are about half a dozen outdoor projects that are in very beginning stages of execution, the most ambitious of which is the construction of a small medieval stone building with attached small tower.
On the plus side, the house has several areas that would be ideal for our use. It's hard to describe this place, which looks like a typical ranch house on the outside.
The house is really built into the side of a hill, rather like our rental but even more pronounced. So, there is a main floor, then a short flight up to the bedrooms and guest bath. The main living area has a low, flat ceiling with dark wood beams crossing it. Kind of Tudor style. There is a wood burning stove in the corner, which is raised and completely encased in some kind of shale stone to absorb and radiate the heat. The bedrooms are unremarkable, other than some personal touches of creativity that our friends have designed and which are entirely cosmetic. Guest bath is very nice. Down a half-flight of stairs is a laundry room with a full bathroom and more storage, and a masonry block room that is at this point entirely under the house and surrounded by the hill, so it's like a bomb shelter. They were using it for food storage and a wine cellar, which actually works quite well, as the temperature is a constant 50 - 60 degrees. There is also a room in which the water heater lives, which is large enough that they had a chest freezer in there as well. Go down another half flight of stairs, which are painted but not carpeted like the upper stairs are, and you are in the lowest level which has an unfinished but totally usable bedroom, and two other rooms -- again, masonry block rooms. From this level you can enter the 2-car garage or you can walk out a door that leads directly off the main parking area in front of the house. There is actually a little screened off entry way, so you have an outer door, then the screened in area, then the door into the lower level. To get to the main level from the parking area, you have to walk up a half flight of steps onto a wrap-around porch. When you're standing to the rear of the house, you only see one story; this is the part built into the hill. When you're standing in the front, you see two stories.
There is a very large, circular vegetated area in front of the house which our friend referred to as the herb garden. All I could see was rosemary, growing like crazy. To the right as you face the house is a very lovely wooden archway with gate, and about 20 feet of poured concrete "stone" walkway. Our friend states this area, due to elevation and the natural fencing of manzanita which surrounds the rear property line for several feet thick, is largely deer-protected. He had intended to put flowers and perhaps container plants in this area. Across the parking area from the house is a very large outbuilding, which has it's own masonry block "cellar" under it. Again, built into the side of the hill, so that you can walk directly out from the cellar onto the hill, but the main entrance is on top of the hill. This little building has electricity and an air-conditioner that may or may not work. There is obviously an upper storage area above this building, which is built like a small barn, but our friend says he never opened it and advises throwing a few bug bombs up there if we decide to open it. The outer roof of this building is mossy and worn, but the interior is fine.
The Pros to this property: It's close to most of our friends. It is just about the perfect size of acreage. It has a large area towards the front that is free of trees and could be used for a large garden. From what we understand, there is a creek or small stream that cuts across the very front of the property between our access road and the main road, and running water is usually a good thing -- especially since it is highly unlikely this small creek would ever reach a high enough point to come close to flooding the house or outbuilding, since they are built up the hillside. There is ample room for me to make and age cheese, in the room that is very like a cave and totally under the hill. There is plenty of room for both Sig and I to set up a brewery on the lower level of the house off the garage, and I'm sure I could set up my outside propane burner/kettle rig outside nearby either in the garage or just outside the screened lower level porch. Alternately, we could also set this up in the cellar under the outbuilding, although I think that would be much better suited for use as a small livestock shelter. Sig would have plenty of room for an armory, fletching area in the outbuilding proper. We could use the lower level bedroom as a guest room area, and the other room could be an exercise room. The small upstairs bedroom could be garb and fabric storage and sewing room. The second large bedroom is already set up with DSL and outlets for computers and electronics, and was being used as a shared office space, which we would probably also do. There is also a soaking tub in the master bath, of Japanese design, which is very deep and intended to cover you up to the neck in a sitting position. I'm sure I'd love that. And the oddball space that others might find difficult to find a use for, we actually can use very well.

The Cons are that it snows, and about twice a year according to our friend, it is rather difficult to get out of the drive. He doesn't mind this, and just calls off work. It's a little more problematic for me, as if I call off work that means someone else has to pick up the slack and there is very little room for picking up the slack in my work. There are also many, many projects that should really be completed (like the retaining wall outside, and the sliding closet doors inside) and which will mean putting our hobby projects on hold or being incredibly disciplined to work on both hobbies AND house in our spare time. It is also an additional 42 miles of driving per day, and that is very worrisome. On the other hand, with as much time as we spend driving up to Placerville anyway to take part in Shire activities, it isn't as bad as one might think. Two other Shire members drive daily down into Sacramento, or even further, so it isn't out of the question but it does mean a much earlier start to my workday and additional fuel cost at a time when most sane people are trying to cut back on driving.

Then there are the mixed blessings: it will be much more labor intensive to take care of the property, but it will help us get into shape. We will need goats to keep the weeds down, but if we get dairy goats we can make cheese, and there is a darn near perfect shelter for them in the 7/8 enclosed area under the outbuilding -- cool in summer and pretty well insulated in winter, especially with a lot of straw and straw bales under there. With mucked straw, you've got a pretty good compost starter, which is handy for gardens. (Of course, you'd need to fence the garden from the goats, and deer....)
There are the intangibles, such as having the chance to try to live a more sustainable life, which was a long-ago dream. And perhaps of regaining a sense of adventure and youthfulness that I might have abandoned long before I should have. Of course, there's always the possibility that it will be too much, and that unexpected costs and emergencies will pile up, and arthritic knees and bad backs will be too much of an obstacle.
And then there are the bees, which Sig (who is allergic) is absolutely opposed to me keeping, and which I think would be a great addition to the family, as long as they are at one side of the 2 acres and he is at the other. Bees are great. I'd love to be able to add Honey to the list of foods we can provide ourselves, especially since we make Mead. I imagine there are enough bees around that a garden would be pollinated, but it would be nice to have our own, especially since bees are having problems now. We shall see, I suppose.
But for now, I guess this is the post where we start moving towards ownership. Whether this property, or some other place, it is not going to be easy. The interest rate and the fact that I have very little down payment money mean that property ownership costs for me will be higher than ideally they would have been. I may not be able to get a loan at all.
I'd like to own again, though. It may not be the very bottom of the market, and in fact I know it is not. But I want my own house, that I can do what I want with to a greater degree than I can the rental house. I'd also like to create a little world that I can pass down.