The House That Mark Wants

The Ellingson Army has a favorite pastime...looking at houses on MLS.

This addiction may be a bit harmful because of dissatisfaction of our own home that occurs afterwards and the high hopes we have of owning homes out of our reach. It's not that they're too out of our reach, they're just not right for us right now, with ONE child. We did find one house that we loved...enough to look at. I know, I know, we shouldn't have done it, but now Mark is in LOVE. I was in love too, more like "in like", but the voice of reason was far too loud in my head to pursue anything more.

It was a charming little house originally built in 1949, but has recently been rebuilt from the studs. The builders kept a lot of the original fixtures and baseboards to keep the character of the original home. They even picked brand new tiling/laminate that looked aged and fit with the charm of the rest of the house. It had a claw footed tub, and a great upstairs play area for kids!

Mark's dream house

The kitchen with the coolest floor tiles,
yes, that design is tile!

The dining room featuring the original fireplace

The most charming stairwell
in the living room

So the voice of reason told me that the 6.5' ceiling in the basement would be a pain and the small fenced yard with no space for a garden would not be practical for a family. The kitchen was charming, but was lacking great counter space, and of course for an Ellingson, it lacked the necessary island with bar stools. Ok, ok, so it was basically a brand new house, but I guess I just wanted to keep our house and renovate it the way we want. We've got a huge yard and garden and we don't live on a corner (which in the winter would be a pain!). Of course, we live right close to the Ellingsons and just walk over for a cup of sugar or for babysitting.

I recently watched a House Hunters show where this young couple were on the search for their first home. I was appalled at how particular they were about what they wanted. How much space do you need for 2 people? They were most particular about the yard. They were upset with small sized deck (which I thought was huge!), and the yard with tons of grass, but the nice looking shed was in the middle of the yard...not the right spot for this young couple. When Mark and I were looking for our first home, we definitely didn't have many specifics. We looked past the ugly carpet and the creepy bathroom ceiling and saw what we could make of our first home!

So for you future young, first home buyers, keep your dream house in mind for buying your SECOND home