Location, location, location

Upon hearing about our remodel/addition plans, some people are inspired to ask, either gently or incredulously: Why did you move into such a stupid house? Responding to the problems I whine about in this blog, they offer such inquiries as: Didn’t you have a house inspection before agreeing to buy this dump? And: Why didn’t you simply invest in a better house initially instead of going through all this hassle and expense now?

My long-winded response spells out our strategy to buy an affordable “view with a roof” and fix the structure later. Blah-blah-blah-modern-dream-house-blah-blah. While my goal is to be descriptive rather than defensive, it doesn’t always sound that way. Frankly, this all seemed pretty brilliant in 1998 when we started planning and in 1999 when we were house hunting. As we get gradually closer to bidding the job, I get increasingly nervous.

So, this morning, I took the photo above from our deck to remind myself that in real estate, three words matter most: location, location, location. Our view dates back more than a century. The lake was created in the 1890s for the exclusive 50-member White Meadow Fish and Game Club, which built the dam. The White Meadow Lake Property Owners Association was formed in 1948 and our population has grown from 25 families to more than 9,000 people.

The house as it stands today

Yesterday, our reward for a glorious morning of gardening was touring the lake in the pride of our fleet: Spacey P. The photo above shows the shore view of the house, which helps provide an orientation for the desired south elevation.

From here you can see the 20 leaky skylights over the great room, as well as the structure struggling to hold up our deck. The white house above is that of our across-the-street neighbor, whose view we won’t be blocking with our design because we are adding onto the back rather then building higher.

East elevation

Given that the front side of the house is below street level, the lake side is where we get curb, um, shore appeal.

As we swung the cleaver to cut off cool but costly features, we worried: would the end result look butchered? The initial look-and-feel was dwell Magazine worthy. Would the redesign be better suited for dull Monthly (Just imagine the headlines: “Debate resolved: square footage trumps taste and style every time,” “10 reasons why moving to a McMansion is worth the potential foreclosure,” “From trailer trash to gated community goddess: one woman’s story,” “Al Gore is a bore,” “Taupe is the ‘new’ beige”)?

Well, since we approved the drawing, we certainly hope not. Here’s what our architect, Anthony, came up with for us (click image above to enlarge):

1. Four-season porch (click image and see #6 for a side view), which will open up to expand the dining area of the great room.

2. Living area of the great room (click image to see #10 for the floor plans).

3. Deck, which sits two steps below the great room and one step below the master bedroom to enhance the lake view.

4. Master bedroom.

5. Privacy screening (click image and see #9 for a side view).

6. Exterior steps uniting the front and back of the property.

7. Hot tub room (click image for floor plan, see #9).

8. “Hanging out” steps that make the transition from hot tub room to yard.

9. Covered exit to the back yard.

10. Guest bedroom.

So, what do you think: dwell or dull? Other feedback or advice? Feel free to comment (just click the link below; you can post anonymously).