Windows and light are important to me (wonder if I suffer from a mild case of SADD?). Where I live now is under a huge oak tree, the living room and kitchen windows face west, so that for other than very brief time in the late afternoon, the living area is dark, and I need to have the light on most of the day. I prefer to work with natural light. I loved the openness of living in an Eichler for 25 years.
Also, the exterior is kinda boring.
However, the visit was not a total waste. Elizabeth, who showed me around, had some great ideas, and I found that I do like the solar tubes for extra light and high, small clearstory windows for master bath and master bed room. Also, and a couple of others have suggest this as well; while I may not need this now, I should consider adding the accessibility package (grab bars in master bath, shower and a taller commode) while the home is being built. Cheaper to do it now, much better integrated when being built than added as an after thought, and a plus for re-sale, especially if the home is in a 55+ park.
So, I drove home, with some good smaller ideas, but pretty downhearted overall. Honest to God, I didn't think this would really be as hard as it's becoming.
After arguing with myself for a couple of hours driving I stopped off in Napa for a hair cut and a great visit with Carole. I got home at 5, and got a call from Char, wondering if dinner at San Rafael Joes would work. Would it ever! What good friends. Both Carole and Char, after listening to me whine explain the issues I was having, said the same thing. "If you aren't going to be happy, don't go through with it." Which is pretty much how I ended the argument with myself. Char also suggested getting a laser measuring tape, that might help me more accurately measure the space.
Next morning, wrote to Sterling, saying to hold off on removing the old house, that I really needed a better way to determine what size home I could get on the site. If I didn't like it, I would sell the place (tough choice, but heck, there were others interested, I could most likely sell it for more than I paid, at least enough to cover the extra costs, and real estate commission). So, maybe I wouldn't be able to move right away, but no sense in trying to make a square peg fit in a round hole.
But, there's this view...
Got the laser tape, drove up to the site, and, um, laser tapes work great inside; not so much outside. Well at least I didn't buy the really expensive one. But did have my old fashioned tape with me, and decidced to spend about an hour measuring the perimeter. Found out a bunch of stuff about the site; there's a manhole cover under one of the rhodis, and with that, the two huge scotch pines and the fire hydrant/light pole easment, a fair bit of my site is being used by the park, and yet the space rental is right up there with the rest of 'em. If I stay, seems like grounds for a discussion with park management for a reduction in rent.
Driving home, I called Dick (outside park manager, who deals with all the issues around the grounds), and told him I hadn't heard back from the folks who were going to pick up the old house (I had wanted to donate it to our homeless center, but while they were initially excited, I think the costs/logistics of moving a mobile home were overwhelming). Dick agreed with me that if I wasn't happy I should sell, yes it was a small site, no, he didn't know what the manhole cover was, but was looking into it, and no the owners really didn't want to cut the trees down ... they would trim them back and up, but not down. At the very end of the conversation, Dick says he had plotted out a placement for a 50-52' long house on the site but that 27' was just too much, it would have to be 24' wide. HUH??? I said...but you told me 44' long. He said that was only if you wanted the 27' wide. (ok, he might have said it, but not to me, or I didn't hear it...but...honestly, I would have remembered that).
I asked him to copy and mail his plot plan.
The current house on the site is 24' wide, and feels small, but then that might be because of the low ceilings (and it was always one of the extras I wanted ... higher ceilings).
I measured the width of my duplex when I got home (with my new, handy dandy laser) which I find roomy, and it's 23' wide. So, maybe this beaten horse isn't dead yet.
I'll know more after I get the plot plan, send it to Sterling, to see what we can come up with.
Next morning, wrote to Sterling, saying to hold off on removing the old house, that I really needed a better way to determine what size home I could get on the site. If I didn't like it, I would sell the place (tough choice, but heck, there were others interested, I could most likely sell it for more than I paid, at least enough to cover the extra costs, and real estate commission). So, maybe I wouldn't be able to move right away, but no sense in trying to make a square peg fit in a round hole.
But, there's this view...
Got the laser tape, drove up to the site, and, um, laser tapes work great inside; not so much outside. Well at least I didn't buy the really expensive one. But did have my old fashioned tape with me, and decidced to spend about an hour measuring the perimeter. Found out a bunch of stuff about the site; there's a manhole cover under one of the rhodis, and with that, the two huge scotch pines and the fire hydrant/light pole easment, a fair bit of my site is being used by the park, and yet the space rental is right up there with the rest of 'em. If I stay, seems like grounds for a discussion with park management for a reduction in rent.
Driving home, I called Dick (outside park manager, who deals with all the issues around the grounds), and told him I hadn't heard back from the folks who were going to pick up the old house (I had wanted to donate it to our homeless center, but while they were initially excited, I think the costs/logistics of moving a mobile home were overwhelming). Dick agreed with me that if I wasn't happy I should sell, yes it was a small site, no, he didn't know what the manhole cover was, but was looking into it, and no the owners really didn't want to cut the trees down ... they would trim them back and up, but not down. At the very end of the conversation, Dick says he had plotted out a placement for a 50-52' long house on the site but that 27' was just too much, it would have to be 24' wide. HUH??? I said...but you told me 44' long. He said that was only if you wanted the 27' wide. (ok, he might have said it, but not to me, or I didn't hear it...but...honestly, I would have remembered that).
I asked him to copy and mail his plot plan.
The current house on the site is 24' wide, and feels small, but then that might be because of the low ceilings (and it was always one of the extras I wanted ... higher ceilings).
I measured the width of my duplex when I got home (with my new, handy dandy laser) which I find roomy, and it's 23' wide. So, maybe this beaten horse isn't dead yet.
I'll know more after I get the plot plan, send it to Sterling, to see what we can come up with.
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