Our New Home

After months and months of telling everyone I know that they should take advantage of these great buying conditions and go buy a home, I decided that I had better practice what I preach. Well, actually, I was not really looking for a home at all, but this wonderful deal found me, and I could not resist. We were perfectly fine in our quaint little San Jose bungalow, loving our neighbors, running routes and proximity to San Marco and work. We had just spent almost a year shopping for the perfect slab of granite and installed it along with a much needed dishwasher, and we were about to start shopping for backsplash and tile, so we were convinced we were staying until we ran out of space. It’s amazing how you can get so comfortable in your home that you don’t realize how cramped, dirty and cluttered it has become, or how pervasive the dog smell has gotten.

Anyway, on my boss’ urging we decided to take a peek at a foreclosure in Springfield, which she thought was an amazing deal on a great block (next door to her). She was raving about what a great neighborhood it was, but I was skeptical. Of course, I had attended the home tour, and loved the style and ambience of the historic homes and tree-lined streets, but I also thought that it was just not quite gentrified enough for me. The house was amazing, and about 1000 square feet more space, and it was cheaper than dirt, so we went ahead and put in an offer and in 2 weeks we were the proud owner of our new home. How quickly things can change………..

We spent a few weeks doing the essentials to make it livable, which was not much really considering how cheap it was. We put in new condensers, repaired some wood rot, bought a fridge, carpet for one bedroom, some minor electrical work, fence for the dogs, and we were set. The move came and went and within a few days afterwards we were up and running as a functional home. I can’t believe how awesome this place is. The rooms are huge, plenty of space for furniture and I don’t even have to trip over it to get around. All of our bedroom furniture fits in the same room, and we have a walk-in closet that fits all of our clothes and shoes. Our clothing used to be split among all 4 bedrooms. There are drawers in the bathroom, and my husband has his own bathroom drawers….no more crowding together over one small pedestal sink. We have yet to fill all the closets and we have 2 empty rooms.

THE KITCHEN…….it deserves its whole own paragraph. Let’s just say that I really don’t cook much at all, but I think it will be a great party kitchen, and it is probably worth by itself what we paid for the house. There are too many cabinets to even begin filling them! Before we had things all over the counters, crammed into corners and closets and piled up to the ceiling. Now the bills can be in a separate drawer from the recipes, and a whole separate drawer for pens, scissors and batteries……….heck the pens could probably even have their own drawer. We might even have space for all the useless platters and fancy bowls that used to be in the attic. I have so many empty cabinets that I often have to try several times before I open the right cabinet with what I am looking for. I probably need a map of where things are. I get some exercise just fixing a bowl of cereal because it is a long walk from the bowl cabinet, to the fridge, to the cereal cabinet, to the silverware drawer, when I used to be able to reach it all from one position.

WE HAVE A PANTRY!!!......oh wait, it is a Butler’s pantry with a wet bar and storage not only for all of our food, but also all our paper goods, seasonal items, wine glasses, wine openers, wine accessories and anything else that doesn’t go in another room. Now we can really shop at BJ’s and not worry about buying 24 rolls of paper towels or 10 bottles of Gatorade. I can’t wait to hang shelves for all of our decorative wine and River Run glasses. WE HAVE A DINING ROOM……..large enough for a real table. We’ll have to wait to fill that room.

We love the house so much, that I think I’d be ok even if the neighborhood was too dangerous to leave the house, but it’s not. WE ACTUALLY LOVE THE NEIGHBORHOOD. Let’s start with the running routes…..tons of great places to run with lots to see. We can choose from bridge loops, the river walk, over the bridge into San Marco, around the stadium and through downtown, up and down the streets looking at the historic homes, or a combination thereof.

We are a short drive or bike ride to all the great dining and night spots in downtown, Riverside and San Marco. We are within walking distance of a great Mexican place, a falafel place, a great breakfast spot, a coffee shop/wine bar, a dance club, and that doesn’t even include downtown and the Landing. We are close to all the major thoroughfares to get anywhere in the city within minutes. No, there is no Publix here, but somehow we still manage to forage for supplies and not starve.

The people who live here and sense of community is amazing and hard to describe in words. I have never met a more diverse, interesting, well-educated, successful, socially conscious, and friendly group of people living in one area in my life. Everyone is friendly and seeks to look out for and get to know their neighbors. Our next door neighbor (not my boss the other one) brought us dinner and welcomed us to the neighborhood while we were moving in. The first Friday of every month there is a neighborhood block party where everyone brings food and drink and people of all ages hang out and enjoy old friends and new, kids run around playing tag, people with babies and pets in tow……kind of like when we were kids…..I remember those good times playing outside in the neighborhood. There are all sorts of groups that get together for different purposes: Wine group, mommies group, animal rescue group, women’s group, historic preservation group, and probably more that I don’t know of yet.

When we attended the First Friday party and told people we just moved in, they asked us where, and as soon as we gave our address they knew exactly where it was and exactly who we were. A few folks said, “I heard a couple of Watson Realtors bought those two houses,” or “Is that next door to the police officer?” When we walk the dogs people on their porches or in their yards wave and say hi, some even remembering our names. Everyone is excited to be part of this vibrant community, and has welcomed us with open arms. We are very excited to call Springfield our new home, and can’t wait to meet more of our neighbors.