Home thoughts

I have been a hobby-level househunter for going on 15 years now. It’s taken me from the outskirts of Ft. Bend county where a very early boggy version of Sienna Plantation was under development in the mid-1990s, to now around and in the Heights area of Houston (where we currently rent).

Along the way, marriage and baby (and now two dogs) have entered the picture, so my “ideal” house has shifted a bit. Thankfully, Joey and I are on the same page about two important aspects of a house: we want to stay in the area and we both like bungalows.

The time isn’t quite right for us right now, however. Even though it’s certainly an excellent time to be buying, what with the $8K credit for first-time owners, the good market in Houston, the low interest rates, etc., something in my gut (and Joey’s) isn’t quite ready yet.

In the meantime, though, I’m content to look and read and learn and daydream. We both like the idea of building our own place, starting with an empty lot, and I’m a fan of the Owner Builder Book methods. My current favorite source of inspiration, though, is a restoration project being tracked online at 1912Bungalow.com — wow, finding a gem like that buried under neglect and layers and layers of paint would be just wonderful. That’s the kind of project I could gladly undertake, and put up with hard work for awhile — seeing the personality and nature of the house shine through, while guiding it through our own tastes and style… man.

So, in the meantime, I’ll continue to try things out in my head and on paper. Hopefully the planning will spill over onto this blog (maybe as a dedicated section), to document the birth of our first home.