Well, I think things have moved forward enough that I can reveal the news…

We’re buying a 1911 two-story Craftsman-style bungalow, in fantastic condition, in Oxnard.

How cool is that?

The main thing keeping us in Orange County had been Ken’s job (as well as his family, but we still wanted to stay in southern California, so we wouldn't be too far); we've missed Ventura County and our friends there. But, moving wasn’t financially prudent. We’d said that we’d do it for the right house… Morgana and Brian (who themselves live in a 1910, very similar house, within sight of what-soon-will-be-ours) kept an eye out for places, but most were too small and too expensive.

When we were up there a month or so ago, we saw this house on sale. It was listed by the Realtor who sold M&B their house, so they called for info. It was way out of our price range, alas.

But then they went to the invitation-only open house, and learned that the lady selling it would significantly drop the price “for the right people”. Essentially, she didn’t want somebody who would cut it up into apartments or something awful like that.

Last weekend (was it only last weekend?!) we did the walk-through and met the owner, who obviously liked us. (I think Ken commenting how he’d fixed an antique dining table like hers, and my commenting about how well my grandmother’s china would look in the built-in hutch, didn’t hurt. ) The question then was, could we get enough for our house? Properties nearby were going for a fair amount, sooo… The next day, we got a Realtor in to see ours, and confirmed our hopes.

Since then, we’ve made the offer on the new house and had it accepted, we’re pre-approved for a loan, and we’re working loan people to make sure we can actually swing this. (Our monthly payment will be more, but rent on the apartment over the detached garage will help tremendously.)

Things could still fall through money-wise, but we’re extremely optimistic at this point. We’ll probably be moving in early October (yes, just about the time of Great Western War). Yoiks. I’ve said we’ll have to set aside money for a therapist to get me through this!

As I said, the house is in fantastic condition, and the owner has been doing a lot of work as well. It has almost all the original light fixtures and door hardware, four-paneled doors throughout, gorgeous glass French doors from the foyer to the living room… The list goes on. The only downside is that downstairs, at some point, somebody painting the entire thing white. All that gorgeous exposed wood… We will eventually strip it, but the plan at first is to paint it in period Craftsman colours—we’re looking at a reddish-brown for the accents (what would normally be the bare, dark wood) and a dark green for the rest. The living room and dining room (which are, for all intents and purposes, one huge room) have tons of windows and are incredibly sunny and light, so they can handle the darker colours.

Well, I could ramble on about correct paint hues and period furniture and all that, but I won’t. I’ll leave you with a few pictures of the house:

http://www.coastalproperties4sale.com/f-properties.html

Click on “Featured Homes”, then on the middle house on the top row (“Oxnard Historic Home”). Ignore the listed price.