CHAPTER 3 - THE HOUSE

The House is Ours!

Front

If you go back to my post of 9/6/12, you will see the house I have been obsessed with for 10 months. A grand old dame built in the early 1900s, she has just about everything I had been searching for. Character, good bones, huge wrap-around porch, workable floorplan...found on craigslist and priced at $5,000 (to be moved).  It took 10 months of thinking, pondering, getting bids, crying, negotiating, and saving...but finally the house is ours! We started out getting bids from house movers, but not only were the bids out of our comfort zone, but on further reflection we decided that taking a different direction would work best for our situation. There are several factors that make moving the house impractical, primarily 1) the land is not accessible and not ready, and we don't have the funds to address that right now, and 2) we also don't have the funds to immediately make the house weather proof (it would lose the roof in the moving process). In addition, it's really unlevel and parts of it are too far gone to save. Mr. D.H. is not too keen on having a roofless, unlevel, partial house, cut into three parts and then "tied" back together. Sooo, he came up with the idea of having it dismantled/deconstructed, cataloged, and stored in the barn on our land until such time as we have both the time and money resources to rebuild it on a new infrastructure. (We plan to rebuild it as an almost exact replica; we may lengthen it by a few feet and slightly reconfigure some interior walls.) This led to a whole different set of bids, with complications along the way which I won't go into, and several months of saving. Ultimately we were pressured by the church that owned the house into pulling the trigger a couple of months earlier than preferred, but finally last week we signed contracts for both the house and dismantling. Now we just have fingers crossed that the process will go smoothly!

Here's a detailed look at what was known as the Chalmers House (I will address the history of the Chalmers family in another post.) Underneath all that 60s-70s paneling and carpet are solid wood shiplap walls, wood ceilings, and wood floors, along with 10-foot ceilings and 6-inch thick walls.

Edited, 11/18/13: I have been in touch with members of the Chalmers family and found out that this house was actually known at the Rector House (Mrs. Chalmers' parents). The Chalmers lived down the street.



Porch

Side Porch



Side Front



Side

Inside Front Door



Room Divider into Kitchen



Front Right Room



Front Right Room into Bath 1

Clawfoot Tub 1



Back of Divider Towards Front Door



"Utility" Room

Utility Room into Enclosed Back Porch



Enclosed Back Porch 1



Enclosed Back Porch 1 into Bedroom



Enclosed Back Porch 2



Bedroom



Bedroom

 

Clawfoot Tub 2

6/17/13

The Barn

Update on Improvements

I hadn't realized how long it has been since I've updated here. The biggest improvement we've made so far is having a metal barn constructed.  Here's the barn which was finished in March.

We can't afford any other major improvements right now, but we have been spending about a half a day a week doing whatever clearing we can do ourselves, having invested in a chainsaw and gas trimmer. Next up would be a riding mower if we had the funds.

Mr. Chainsaw

Wildflowers and Windmill

The spring brought out more wildflowers than I was expecting. I love this one with the windmill. Now that summer is here, the weeds are getting out of control and the heat is making the work very hard. Sometimes the scope of the project feels very overwhelming!

CHAPTER 2 - THE LAND

Starting the Improvements - Fence and Gate



Entering the property

Fencing



Leaving the property

Now that we are finally land owners, it's time to slowly start the process of improving the acreage and getting ready for the house. First up - finishing the fencing. The acreage was fenced on three sides, but open on the entry side. We had the fencing completed and a gate installed. Eventually we plan to build a "fancy" gated entry, but this will help secure the land for now.

LAND OWNERS AT LAST!

Last week we closed on the 14.22 acres near Burnet described in my last post! It's hard to believe we have accomplished Step 1 of the journey (and it's a baby step to be sure). There is so much work to be done we hardly know where to begin! Most of the initial work won't be anything we can do ourselves (land clearing, fence building, road building) but we need to get organized and start lining up contracts.

Here are a few more pictures.

From the bottom of the hill

On the hillside



From the top

This May Be "IT"



View from a high point

Well, the offer on the previous land was rejected; I was pretty sure it would be. They want way more than we can offer, so we let that one go. BUT, as fate would have it, we may have found a better one! It's in a great location, right outside of Burnet, and 55 minutes from our house. Off of a paved county road and, like the other one, not directly on the road, but this one already has a rough road to it. It's a little over 14 acres, a little long and narrow, and has more neighbors than the other one, but it's also across from a huge national wildlife refuge which will limit future growth. It has too many cedars and not enough oaks, but more oaks than the last one for sure. The best part(s) - fantastic views and a fantastic price! AND, a windmill (swoon)! For some reason I'm just really attracted to windmills and desperately want one. It's priced at a very reasonable $109,000, so we're ready to go for it. After only two "dates" (well, three if you count the initial "drive-by" but we couldn't see the land on that one, only the area), we're putting in an offer. Although we're starting low to have some negotiating room, I don't think we should have any trouble getting this one. Keep your fingers crossed!

Another view

A possible home site

The windmill

A lower area (windmill and hills in background)

Meanwhile...

If only I had money to spare...while constantly searching for land, I also couldn't stop myself from occasionally searching house listings as well. So what did I turn up, on craigslist no less? The perfect house, being sold to be moved, for only $5,000. That's right - three zeroes. And the owner (a church) is perfectly willing to negotiate the timeline...they're in no real hurry to use the lot, they just want the $5K. If it were totally up to me, I'd be writing a check so fast you wouldn't believe! But Mr. D.H., the pragmatic half, says no land, no house. No spreadsheet of all the total costs involved, no house. It's been about a month since we looked at it, and as far as I know it's still available (I asked to be notified if it sold, but of course that doesn't always happen), so I'll just have to hope it "waits for me" and that everything can come together. I've asked two movers to give me a ballpark estimate, but neither has come through (I think because we don't have land). It's about 100 miles from the land we're looking at, so I know it will be expensive. Meanwhile my heart is breaking a little bit each day at the thought of losing it.


Huge wrap-around porch

Ship-lap walls under wallpaper

One of TWO claw-foot tubs

Wood floors under carpet squares



Perfect trim and doors 

Fantastic Craftsman room dividers (2)

Offer In - Fingers Crossed

And the roller-coaster ride continues...



Looking out at the distant hills

Farther from home than we wanted (about an hour and a half), covered with cedars and very little else, rocky soil - but the views! Oh, the views! The pictures don't really do them justice, but with some clearing to open them up it would be like the top of the world. Over 21 acres, off a paved county road, and in a beautiful, historic area (near the LBJ Ranch), and with a wonderful rural feel, this land won us over.

Only half of it is listed for sale - 10.59 acres for $111,195 ($10,500/acre), and that lot is very long and narrow, unacceptably so. Even though we know it is priced for the views, there are many negatives - the lack of (real) trees, rocky soil, lower part is in a flood plain, only half is fenced, no well, no access from road (this land doesn't front the road and a fairly long private road is going to have to be built to access it), one side borders a bed & breakfast business...so we took a big gamble and made a "low-ball" offer for this tract and the adjoining 10.59 acre tract, for $157,000 total, WITH the stipulation that the seller put in a well and complete the fencing! I'm pretty sure they're going to laugh us right out of the county!



From the bottom looking up the hill

More distant hills



A few of the very-few oaks




Looking across the road