We bought our first house in San Jose knowing that it may or may not be our forever home. It took all our resources at the time (and we bought the dumpiest house in the neighborhood at the very lowest price point in the real estate slump). It was never intended to be a flip. It was just the only thing that we could afford in a California economy that has gone completely nuts.
I don't think anyone else was interested in the house. It was a mess inside and out, but we had been renting in the neighborhood for a couple of years in an almost identical house, only better maintained, and we knew exactly what the issues there were and weren't, and how to bring it back to life.
The Initial "Investment"
Even in the economic slump, this house was not even close to what most people would consider a reasonable price (That's the Bay Area for you). We didn't know if it would pay off financially or not, but it was our home and we put a lot of love into it.
Renovating our Cherrystone House was a mixed bag of fun, learning, re-work, mishaps, cans of worms, and reward. Of course all our projects moved along very slowly since...well, since we had jobs, and pets, and kids, and a life to live beyond painting the walls.
But we plugged away at things a little at a time.
{The photo above doesn't show it, but we had a narrow, one car driveway with 4 ft wide juniper hedge separating our property from the neighbors. That was all removed and replaced with the driveway and shrubs below.}
The Cherrystone House Finished
Five years, two kids, and many many projects later, we finally had little home of our visions...and we decided it was time to leave the Bay Area and our cherished little home for our dream of a true homestead. It was with mixed emotions that we departed our Cherrystone House and packed all of our belongings to head to Oregon.
The updated exterior, Front, included:
New windows, new paint, new light fixture, a double driveway with paved paths to the front door and back yard gate, new flower bed enclosures, lawn with planted landscaping in front and wrapping around the side. We also replaced the roof, gutters, and the fence, and added decorative facade and trim to the porch posts.
The updated exterior, Back, included:
A lawn, new covered patio, new fence, retaining wall, decorative planter boxes, and plants along the back fence.
Interior updates included:
Complete kitchen redo, boys room, eating nook, built in window seat in main room, family room addition.
