Sweet Home Alabama Part Two (lots of pictures)

In my last post, I jumped right to Tuesday so that I could answer some questions.  But now, let me back up and start from the beginning of the trip.

Bill and I figured that it would be a good idea, since Alabama was now on our radar and we were going to be spending a week in a place that we've never been to,  that we may want to check out the housing market there and connect with a realtor.  Monday, we did just that!  Prior to our trip we found a realtor and had a great conversation with her about our situation, what we were looking to get out of our trip and made sure that she knew that time spent with us was not a guarantee of sale.  We are not in the position to buy or sell and this was merely research.

She graciously accepted our request and gave us her entire day!!  She had quite a list of homes for us to look at and they covered quite a range of housing specifics.  Here is some of what I shared with her on the phone about our interests:

1. we would love to downsize
2. but we're not opposed to a larger home (since the pricing there is beyond reasonable)
3. we are ready for more of a neighborhood environment (living in the middle of nowhere is taking it's toll)
4. but we're not opposed to some space
5. The perfect condition, the feel of country life but close to people and places
6.  of course she had to know that three of our five children would be moving with us, in addition to two large dogs and two cats
7.  currently we have goats and chickens.  We are okay with not having space for that
8. but are not opposed to having space for that

Yes, she had her hands full with us!!  God bless her, she pulled together exactly what we needed to see and it gave us a great opportunity to really think about what we would want "if" we were to ever move.

So here are some shots of a few of the houses that we looked at.  It was Tough to only pic a few pictures to share because we absolutely LOVED each of these homes.  So if you want to see more of them, just let me know ;)

First up was a smaller, completely updated home, in a neighborhood, with a very small yard.

It was beautifully decorated (I can't help but notice those things).  It was small, but a good small.  Four bedroom, two bath, fireplace, eat in kitchen, laundry room and it had a great outdoor space with a water feature.  We loved it!  The yard size and outside storage space concerned Bill and rightfully so. We would have a lot to get rid of and the small yard would take some getting used to.

Next up was a magical sort of dream home.  We fell in love with this place before we ever even reached Alabama!!

I didn't get a great shot of the front of this beauty, but trust me.  It's a stunner!  The back yard had all of these great little sitting areas and it had such a magical, whimsical feel about it.  Even though the greenery and flowers were not there to put on a show, their sleep state allowed my mind to wander around the possibilities of a warm day, with everything in full bloom and I ate it up!!  The inside did not disappoint either!

From the moment we peeked through the glass paneled front door and saw the marble floor, grand staircase and gorgeous cat with blue eyes looking back at us, I knew.  It would be a tough one to walk away from if need be.  Classical music wafted through the air and pictures of us dwelling there came to mind as we went from room to room soaking in all of the beauty that this home offered.  Big windows with light flooding in, spacious rooms for entertaining or relaxing, not one, but two gorgeous sun rooms filled my mind with thoughts of lazy afternoons reading in the warm sunlight.  That kitchen!  Oh.my.word.  It was sublime.  Not a large space but a beautifully functional space with gigantic windows looking out to the magical back yard.  Built in old sconces, a gorgeous island and perfect details.  Yep, I'm still smitten with this beauty!!

Sadly, the location is just a teeny bit questionable.  So very sad.  So I tucked this one into my heart and dreams and moved on.  We headed out to a more rural area and a sweet three bedroom cottage on ten acres!

This home takes the sweetest cake!  It was adorable!  Sweet screened front porch, beautifully decorated, great space, on the smaller side.  Actually smaller than the first small home that we looked at.  This is a three bedroom, one and a half bath.  The ten acres are beautiful with space for plenty of animals.  Currently a gentleman is keeping his horses in the back six (I like saying that) and is willing to leave one of the horses with the property for it's new owners.  If that were to be us, we would offer to let him continue to keep all of his horses on the property thus giving us a perfect way into the community and history of this place.  We could picture long picnic tables under the many pecan trees filled with food and friends and family!  There is a pad for another dwelling in the back yard and would be a great spot for a small (ahem) cookie business, in-law suite or anything else that you could think up!  The covered area off of the detached garage is the perfect place for an outdoor entertaining area and the resident chickens would have a place to stay!  Plus a home with a great scripture on the chalkboard warmed my heart to bits!!!  I even joked that the owner had written Richies instead of riches :)  lol

The kitchen was small but warm and inviting, with wood counter tops and open shelving.  We could totally see ourselves in this space.  My one concern with this home was the size of the living room.  It's the first room that you walk into, it has two windows and four doorways, so there's not a lot of wall space for furniture.  It opens into the dining room with french doors, has a doorway to a very wide hallway and a door into one of the bedrooms, plus the front door.  It would be an adjustment.  But we really loved this house as well.

There is one more home that I want to share with ya'll, but I'll save that for the next post!!!  Thanks for coming by!  I hope you enjoyed looking at these houses as much as we did!!

God bless,

Lorraine