There are so many things to be thankful for, as I sit here in this cozy (8-bedroom) cabin with my cute little nieces and nephews, and all of my husbands family. This is a tradition now- all of us together on Thanksgiving in a Tahoe cabin, making memories, relishing the kids all spending time together and of course, stuffing ourselves silly with food and drink. This year, I also relish having a real oven (actually two), a bed that doesn’t rock your house with every movement, and plenty of room to spread out. These are things I might normally take for granted, but when your “tiny house living” in your fifth wheel, you definitely learn to appreciate the little things (or actually, the bigger things… you get it).
Many people ask why we chose to take on this house project. What were the benefits that made it worth the expense, stress, and time that will go into making it our home. Well- here are a few of the “pros” that swayed us:
• The view and location, unbeatable
• The size of the house- even though it all came down, the square footage was already permitted, and that meant that we didn’t have to pay for the permit cost of adding more square footage, or the upgrade to the septic system that would have been required for more bedrooms or baths. We actually took away a bathroom and turned one of the bedrooms into an office.
• Position of the property- south and west-facing, perfect light
• Friendly neighbors
• The position of the house, which at first I did not like, but now I think is ideal. The house is placed in the farthest northeast corner of the lot, which actually allows for maximum benefit of developing the entire property. When I say “farthest”, I mean our house is literally about two feet away from the neighbors property line and also within at about 10 feet from the street. Clearly, there were no setback restrictions back in the 50’s.
• The well and septic were in good working order.We have spent some money on inspections and repairs, but overall, having those things in place has saved a lot.
• Believe it or not, we have solar! The previous owners had installed solar panels and they still have at least 10 years of life left in them, which will really help save on our energy bill.
• Did I mention the view?
• The house has a garage, a front porch, a fireplace, and the beam and board ceiling
• We are just barely outside of city limits- this is both a plus and a minus. I can’t vote for my friends running for city council, but on the plus side, I can also never run for city council 😉
This week was short, but the crew made great progress on the roof.
And finally, my husband was busy with the burn piles, and got to play with his chainsaw. He got rid of those pesky digger pines- some of which were pretty large! We have plans to plant many more trees; evergreens, maples, birch and dogwood on the north and east side, fruit and citrus trees on the bottom of the west side. We’ll keep the huge native oaks, and hope to build a nice treehouse for the kids in one of them.
On that note- I wish everyone a very blissful Thanksgiving!
Thank you for keeping up on our progress- it’s always great to hear from people that they are reading the blog!
Also, a couple of plugs:
Happy Birthday to the love of my life!
and How ’bout them Cowboys!!
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