I have rambled for much of my life, living and trekking around different countries, but ironically ended up with a bungalow back in my home town where Thor joined me to spiff it up. And now Thor and I are moving again. It’s been an interesting evolution….
People have been asking for updates on our move, so here’s a start: I was always restless and eager for adventures and exploration of the world, from teaching scuba in the Caribbean and Honduran islands to backpacking around South America, Greece, and New Zealand, and stops in between. With my former husband, I bought an abandoned farm on an island in Southern Chile, where despite many obstacles, we hand-built a charming casita with beautiful native hardwoods. But that project to live off the grid ended up crashing spectacularly. (Once I get those photo slides digitized, I’m planning a blog series on that “colorful” misadventure.) Returning home to my native Pacific Northwest town and getting a much-needed divorce, I somehow ended up with a sweet if rundown 1924 bungalow and a job teaching creative writing at Western Washington University as an adjunct, which meant barely scraping by but determined to hang onto my very own home.
Definitely a Plain Jane bungalow, but my own space!
Once big Thor moved in with his big golden retriever Worf, we realized we needed more space. In 2009, we got married and enlisted builder Meshak to remodel and add an addition with an upstairs master suite. The two original small bedrooms became our offices for teaching and writing (we were both teaching at WWU at the time). Here, Meshak watches as Big Machine tears off the back porch.
Construction!
The finished addition, Ta-Dah!
The back of the original house (minus porch) had ended at the edge of the new sink counter.
New master bedroom, with vintage Waterfall furniture that Thor loves to refinish. His Norwegian father carved the three pieces over the bed. (And, yes, that ruby red bedspread was a mistake that soon went out the door.)
Over the years, we made many improvements, including the swim spa during the pandemic when we couldn’t use the university pool. Thor built the new fence and deck.
He also built a new creek-ravine deck and stairs, as well as a cute bridge and bench by Squalicum Creek that forms the lot border. We had earlier turned a decrepit garden shed into a lovely wood-fired sauna next to our hot tub in the back yard.
So everyone asks, “How can you leave your beautiful home?” Many factors went into the decision, but we had always longed for a sunset view over the sea (how we chose all our vacation rooms), and the opportunity popped up to buy a high-bank oceanfront lot nearby. (More posts will follow that project.) So we decided to take advantage of the seller’s market and hot demand in our neighborhood to list our house this spring. First, we moved into a temporary rental and then hired some spiffing-up of our house: refinishing wood floors and painting in the old portion of the house. Our realtor strongly advised painting white, which I hate, but it was time to let go and follow the current trends. Here’s the new front yard, with swim spa moved into storage and privacy hedge torn out for the realtor’s “styling.”
The newly-styled living room with the stager’s furniture: (What’s with the weird painted wooden ladder?? I have to laugh at some of the style, but I guess this is what sells.) The white does give more light.
No repainting of the newer part of the house, so color still exists. The Master does look lovely, I think:
The open houses drew in a lot of people, and we had some nice offers to consider. We have now accepted an offer, well above list price, from a woman who’s very active in the outdoors and gushed over our house and yard.
Stay tuned for progress on our new place. Here’s one of those sunsets over the Salish Sea from our high bank:
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You will find The Rambling Writer’s blog posts here every Saturday. Sara’s latest novel from Book View Café is Pause, a First Place winner of the Chanticleer Somerset Award and a Pulpwood Queens International Book Club selection. “A must-read novel about friendship, love, and killer hot flashes.” (Mindy Klasky). Sign up for her quarterly email newsletter at www.sarastamey.com