Houses, houses, and more houses (well, ok, just two)

So, Hilger House is pending. With someone ELSE. I'm actually OK with it. I knew THAT relationship would never have worked out. It would have been the kind that was good-looking, but a high-maintenance (not to mention EXPENSIVE). I would have felt obligated to keep it looking as perfect as it currently does, and I know, realistically, that I could not do that long-term.

We are still trying to decide whether to stay in this town or move to the one that is a little further south (which is where most of Leo's clients are). I've found a couple of houses here in our town that I'm interested in looking at, which could sway the balance a bit.

Here is one:



Here is the other:



The advantages of the first one? Lots of rooms. Five bedrooms, to be precise, PLUS a "bonus room" in the basement. I can't remember if I've written about this before, but I am determined to have a room of my own in this new house. I don't want to share Leo's office with him, or his computer, or his desk. I want my own space, with a desk and computer of my own, a place to work on my beading and knitting, and a little sofa to curl up and take naps on. My own little retreat. So. An office for Leo, plus an "office" for me, plus at least three other bedrooms (the master bedroom and two for the kids) adds up to five. And an extra bonus room would mean that at some point all the kids could have their own rooms if they ever insisted on it. Its main drawback is that it has a pool. I just don't want a swimming pool, don't want the liability, don't want the fear that one day I will walk out and find someone I love floating in it. What makes this redeemable is that it is an above-ground pool. We could remove it and sell it.

The second is just more appealing visually, at least from the front. I love the sweeping front porch, and the dormer windows on the second floor. It also has MORE space, even if it only has four bedrooms plus an office. The basement is unfinished, so we could certainly add another bedroom-type room if we wanted. But I am uncertain about the neighborhood. It's not the worst in town, but it does have a few of the type of house that I have previously referred to, the kind that look fine, if not wonderful, from the front, but the back looks like an afterthought. I have not yet seen the back of this house. If it looked reasonable, I might be convinced. We also have friends in that subdivision (BUT it is in a subdivision...another minus).

Leo will come home late tonight. I am taking the kids to McDonalds for dinner, and then I think I will drive by both houses (both are relatively near one another).

(OK, I see the formatting did not come out great on the text for each photo, but I'm still feeling lazy, so I'm not going to fix it! In any case, the pictures are in the right order, so you can figure it out!)