It recently occurred to me, that like it or not, we really are becoming real estate "experts" and with the new job, that experience will only broaden as we live in various homes, in differing climates and locations. Looking back, we've already made our debut as domestic nomads, living now in our 7th home in 7 years!
To break it down even more, we covered 4 different states in those 7 years - 1 home in California, 4 in Arizona, 1 in Colorado and now 1 in Virginia. The houses have varied in other ways - some located not far from the ocean, others in the dessert, the last at an altitude of 6,300 feet and now in what used to ultimately be swamp land. The houses have also varied in looks, styles and ages. We had 2 brand new homes (1 that we built and picked out every last item), 2 semi-new (5-10 years old), 1 from the 90s another from the 70s and now this one from the 60s. We’ve had 3 two story homes, 3 ranches and 1 tri-level along the way.
We’ve learned so much through all the homes and have learned to love each and every one of them, concluding all houses have their positives and negatives. For example, as much as I completely love the wide openness of our last home in Colorado (and the one we built in AZ), I have to admit that I have actually liked having closed in rooms again . . . to put it as simply as I can . . .it's kind of nice to not be a part of everyone else’s business (i.e. tv shows, video games, lunch, snack, etc.) all the time. By having the rooms more closed in and a little less openness, it actually allows (in my view) a little more privacy for us all. Also, somewhere along the line the building codes allowed for less and less water pressure in showers. Now we always "fixed" this in our newer homes after inspection, but there's just nothing like this old plumbing that barrels out water like no other and it very quickly gets hot (this was another thing that got pushed away in the recent years, most likely to save energy and make for a greener planet or something) . . . awwww makes for a nice and relaxing shower. . . the kind that I remember having as a kid (by the way I was not quite a kid yet in the 60s, but this was the plumbing I grew up with and it's been very much missed!).
So, with all this said, I had the idea that I'll post a little about each of our homes as we go through this journey of addresses unknown and maybe we can all learn a thing or two for future home purchases, as these addresses actually do become known. And maybe if you ever have a question about a thatched roof in the middle of Africa (or maybe you’d like one in middle America) one day or how a swamp cooler works on a patio in the hot desert, we would be more than happy to give our two cents worth because with all this moving and now taking our domestic nomadic nature global, we might pick up a thing or two that could be useful someday!
This is the lovely home we’re renting in Northern Virginia (OK I removed the pic for social media safety- sorry). We love it!
Besides the relaxing showers and privacy, the home is set back from the street, allowing our boys to play on the long driveway, riding on their bikes, scooters, etc. without us having to worry much about cars and traffic. Also, the house it set up under some amazingly beautiful, mature trees, not far (in Kentucky I think we would say a “stone’s throw away”) from a really nice nature trail. And speaking of nature, it’s rare to go even a day without seeing deer in our yard. Last Sunday we awoke to a family of 5 grazing in our next door neighbor’s front yard.
