We bought a house!

I’d like to say we thought long and hard before we purchased this house but the truth is, it was the third house we visited and it took about 2 minutes for us to decide we wanted to live here. Stepping out the back door and seeing the screened-in porch only sealed the deal.

We hadn’t spoken specifically about what we wanted in a home but I’ve always wanted to live in a Craftsman bungalow. I collect Arts and Crafts furniture and accessories and I grew up admiring the restored bungalow neighborhoods in my home town of Orange, California. And we were both used to living small—I was in a studio apartment downtown and Jonathan, by comparison, was living in luxury. He had an actual bedroom.

The house had been on the market a while, likely because it had only two bedrooms. But it was enough for us. We had a bedroom set aside for a guest and a separate office, vital for Jonathan who works from home much of the time. The screened-in porch would expand our living space and we were already thinking parties. A bonus was the location. Close enough to work and downtown that we’d be able to hop on a bike and be almost anywhere in no time. And our street—Aldeah is a street full of bungalows, many rehabbed and all loved, featuring an eclectic mix of flower gardens, vegetable patches, compost bins and chicken coops. Our neighbors ranged from college students to new parents to retirees.

Both our realtor and our inspector said it was in the best condition they’d ever seen for a house this age–and we certainly weren’t looking for a fixer-upper. With time, we’d discover a million little projects of our own to work on—and quite a few larger ones—but for the time being, we were just happy to be home.