5.17.2010

House Hunting Report

This past weekend Ronell, Teya and I flew to Bentonville, AR to look for houses. First off, it's still crazy to me how cheap housing and general cost of living is out there. Second, it was BEAUTIFUL! It's green and lush and tree-laden and open. Our kids are going to love that there are wide open farms everywhere with cows, chickens, horses, ducks, etc. I might actually become a  runner simply to get a better view of the area.

After three long days of looking at new homes, half-completed homes (which are really hard to envision completed for me), and existing homes, we found a builder we love and have decided that we'll work with him to build a home. Now, don't think we're that special because it's a spec home....one that he would already be building anyway. However, because we can hopefully get in from the ground up, we'll get to put our own touches and pick our own finishes, which is awesome. If we can swing it, here's the house we love..... (we'd get to pick the exterior surfaces, too, so it would look a little different than this, but this is the floor plan we love).
I won't bore you with pictures of everything, but my two favorite things about this home are
the kitchen (duh)!
and the big, open family room (you can't really see the floors because the home is still under construction, but it's got beautiful hardwood floors). I also love this fireplace.
Ronell's favorite parts of this house are the porch with fans
the cool outdoor fireplace
and the study....minus the random red wall.

Like I said, it's not a done deal. We have a lot of things to work out still (Like selling our condo, please spread the word, the link's in the sidebar on the left) but it's kind of surreal that we'll have have a home we can all fit in that has enough storage for us and a backyard. It was a great trip and reminded me how lucky we are to have a job at all, but have a great job in a great community, too.

10 comments:

Chantalle said...

It's official. In a year or so I will want to come out to visit! :) How fun to build! My mom did it in Utah and had a love/hate relationship. Just lots of choices to make, but their builder wouldn't always come through and there was one guy on the team and every single thing he did went wrong and they won't fix it (finished the last few rows of tile in the shower with slightly different tile, glued the carpet down and it bunched up when furniture was put on it, fence post not put down very far so the fence falls over in thunderstorms...etc) Really everything else they loved, and liked picking things out but were careful to not get overwhelmed. On a side note, we will be there in two weeks!! Memorial Day weekend is when we will be coming for church, I hope not too many people will be gone!

Kricket said...

I"m excited for you guys! You deserve it after years of hard work.

Kimberlee said...

Ronell and Briawna,

You're moving to Bentonville??? Okay, so i'm not the best at keeping up on everyone's blogs, but congratulations on the new baby and graduating and the big move. I just wanted to let you know that Brock's brother moved out there about 2 1/2 years ago and the LOVE it. When you're going back out there I can give you their information. I know they'd be more than happy to help in any way!! Plus we're planning on going out to visit them in the fall sometime and it'd be fun to meet up!! Let me know how I can help! And again, congratulations!

Heather - said...

I'm so happy for you! Your house will be gorgeous!! And, we'll keep praying for you to sell your condo. Trying to sell your house against a deadline with two kids and a newborn is no fun - that was me two years ago :) Anyways, congratulations!!

Amy Eaton said...

Beautiful home...Building is fun but all the choices can be overwhelming (especially when your husband doesn't have an opinion until after you have made a choice)My advice if you do wood floor which I definitely would do. But do not do a really dark wood!! It is soooo hard to keep clean. Do something with a mixed grain. Anyway, Good Luck. We got your announcement of little Teya. We hope to make it to the blessing. We will let you know.

Tracey Minaker said...

I really was impressed with how beautiful Bentonville was. My kids and I were always exploring new lakes, hiking trails and the surrounding areas. My kids loved the Precious Moments Chapel in southern Missouri and the drive through safari in Gentry. The safari was well worth the drive and we picked blackberries in the area the day we went. Make sure you talk to members about the schools because I know there is definitely an opinion about what area of schools is better than others. I just can't remember right now. One of the things I was impressed with was that it is a religious area and there are no school activities on certain nights so that youth can attend their various church activities, no matter which church you attend. Good luck with selling your place. It will all work out.

Fowler family said...

Holy Cow! That's a gorgeous home! We're totally coming over to your house to sit on your back porch under the fans and roast marshmallows in your outdoor fireplace :)

What night can we have you guys over for dinner this week to pick your brains...?

The Perkinsons said...

WOW!! so fun! Looks like an incredible place to live! Just wanted to say congrats on the new baby and all the other exciting things you have going on right now. We got your DARLING birth announcement of Teya. She is beautiful. We miss you guys and love getting updates. Make sure to send us your new address when you move!!

Miss Candy Anderson said...

Bri, uhh.. your house is amazingly beautiful!! I bet your so excited!!!

Hugh Family said...

So beautiful! We'll spread the word about the condo!