Santa Barbara House Hunting Trip

Hi Everyone,

So some may still be learning of our recent news - if they missed it on Facebook. But WE'RE MOVING TO SANTA BARBARA!!! I've been offered a transfer, after one of the most grueling interviews ever, and we've accepted. The plan is pretty quick and wrought with risk since it includes transition over the holidays, but it seems like it's got really good potential for success as well. I'm currently on a house hunting trip for the weekend. In two weeks I return for my first, official day as an employee in SB. Then I'll return to Orlando a couple more times to spend time with my family (extended period over the holidays so we share the holidays with our family in northern FL) and pack up the house. Finally, Tam, Tommy, Tilden and the pets all move out the first week of January.

And we can't wait to visit family and friends in CA!!!!!!!!!!!! Sounds like some good family reunion times are in the works too!!!!!!!!!

It's been a long week since I accept the offer already. And recently a very long couple of days for me. After having set up a dozen or so appointments to view houses for rent, I think I'm already done after only one day of searching. I've seen what needs to be seen and Tam is so wonderful... She's going to trust me with making the decision. (Actually, I'm not nervous about this one. Not even a bit. I'm nothing but excited for her to see it first-hand!) ...I've only been at it for a day and I just put an end to pursuing anything else. ...Is that crazy, or what? But when you find the perfect fit, you just know it. And I found it - or maybe it found me... Must be the good Karma I picked up on the way here when I volunteered after the flight attendant asked for someone to sit in the back of the plane (next to the ca-mode) from Salt Lake City to Santa Barbara. =]

Well, after only one day I'm certain it's the right choice. And if any of you have the chance to come visit us (open-arms welcome to All) I'm sure you'll agree too!

I only really cared for three places, of which only two could best fit us. I'll share.

The first was no surprise - the estate on Pueblo Rd. It's a beautify two level house that is located up the hill a ways from upper State St. It has 5 beds & 4 baths in the main house, with another studio under the garage, and another three houses elsewhere on the property as well. It's really a compound designed to be rental property mania. And it's a beautiful compound! While the house is not as clean as I'd have expected, the walls have some real wear and tear, most of the add-on rooms you can tell were built by a carpenter that's got a crooked eye (the floors all seem to slope, dip in places, and have serious creeks, ...and the carpet is... well someone tried to clean it, but there's only so much you can do with the lowest grade carpet on the market.... So the house interior has some character... and did I mention it's big. It's so big the owner has had several special doors built to section off portions of the house so that he can lease just portions at a time - and every single room in the house has it's own door to the house exterior.

And there can be no question about why... The yard is nothing short of awesome. It's huge and gorgeous!!! Down the two levels of backyard and up the other side to walk the 10 or 12 stretched paths, consisting of pea gravel, railroad ties, large stone steps, and riverbed pebbles, set into the hillside. Exotic and natural vegetation galore. It's nothing short of having your own hillside botanical garden. And the house lends itself to enjoying that amazing garden with several very large decks, of which one has a 9 ft wooden hot-tub... Ahhhhhhhh...... It was so easy to dream of myself and family sitting in that spa during late evenings and enjoying the sounds of crickets.

Check out the pictures I took:


One afterthought... A problem with a big house and a big yard is it often means big messes requiring considerable effort to keep clean... Argh! The other realization I came across after having left is that, while the owner is rather charming in his own way, he's a bit... shall we say "creative" in his style of thinking about how to get money from people... Something to think on...

Next, was a great house worth mentioning. While it was too small for our needs, it was so charming that I have to share it. I was built in 1915 and has all dark hardwood flooring, trim, and built-in shelving. It's appropriately titled a "Craftsman" house. Take a look:



While the backyard is so small it would be criminal in my mind for us to make that any dog's backyard, and the basement with the old-fashioned storm door entrance has real character and potential for more craft building down there, the real deal-breaker is that the 3 bedroom house only has one very small bathroom that also serves as the laundry room (w/d are over/under combo). Maybe when it's just Tam and I - after the kids have gone on to have their own families, we might consider something of that construction again... Who knows?

Finally, the big surprise. I hadn't really thought much of the last listing of the day as much more than some remote potential. It's the furthest from my work location of the three here - but I'll explain why that's not a bad thing in a sec. Also, it's only 3 bedrooms and I was really hoping for 4... And, oh yeah, I was just convinced that nothing could distract me from the first house I visited. But I am so happy I took a chance and took a look anyway! When I first saw the house I almost passed it by because I just thought there's just no way that could be it... But then Joyce, the owner came running out and waving at me, indicating that I'd, indeed, found the right place. So up the driveway I went. Not as impressively long of a driveway as my original pick, but long enough and covered by trees (and everyone knows how much I love that, right?). After having parked, I quickly realized that I was in for a treat. The garage door is made with real wood slats and beautifully done. The home entrance is framed with an attached trellis/pergola and tons of vegetation. And there are windows everywhere on the house. And as I looked beyond the house I realized why. I wasn't able to tell earlier because during the drive out to the house the car was covered by all the beautiful trees (you all know how much I love that, right?). But what an amazing sight! The SB mountains right there as a God-given background that just makes you smile all the way from your lips, down deep, into your warm heart. ...I thought I was in for a tough decision then. While the original house had an amazing garden (gardener make $600/mo keeping it up), this place had an even bigger and more grand view (meet the gardener... God). And the view includes the neighbor's distant stables (500 yrds away???). And did I mention the mountains? WOW! I mean, WOW!!!

So I meet Joyce and she asks me into the house. WOW, it's beautiful! Absolutely stunning! And she is this fantastic lady with fantastic design skills... and did I mention that the house comes furnished? She'll even work with us and our furniture to meld them together for the best overall result! She's this amazingly honest, and upfront landlady. (Later on, she even shares some concern of hers that the neighbors have some construction she occasionally can just barely make out, might bother us... Talk about disclosure!) She shows me around from room to room and I'm just more and more stunned. Large closet spaces (something the original house didn't have but I was willing to overlook). Extremely clean - she even asked if I thought it was clean enough? IT WAS SPOTLESS!!! Except for a couple of crumbs on the cutting board... I kinda dig that though... Can't have a clean freak for a landlady. And very new stainless appliances. Wooden beams exposed in the vaulted ceiling (one of my favorites).

So the bad news here is that I was so stunned that I didn't take nearly enough pictures. I was just so awestruck that I forgot what I was doing...



Sorry. I'll just have to return and take more pictures for everyone I suppose.

As I'm driving away it dawns on me that there are no more street lights. I was on a somewhat windy road and I was so much more at peace with that sense of being away from the city. ...Still a stone's throw away, but... far enough away that it's just easier to let the worries melt away.

Do others out there feel like there's just too much concrete in our world these days? Does concrete and the whole industrialized building after building after... just sort of tense up your shoulders...? Yhep, I do and so after having spoken with Tam, the answer is clear. The remote house in Montecito (loosely translated, "little mountain") will be the Guttenberger (loosely translated, "good mountain" - so I'm told) home.

Joyce was told that I'd be in touch in the morning and that the answer was 99.9% yes already, but nothing was certain until my wife and I made the final decision together. But I think Joyce liked me, so I don't think she'll have any trouble waiting until the morning...

Tonight I'll sleep well, I'm pretty sure. ...Well, maybe not until I get home and am with my family again... But it's good to know that time is coming soon.

Love to All,
-ty

P.S. So, yeah, it's spooky ironic, for those of you that don't know this. The feeling I got from this last house is similar to the feeling I get when I go see my mom's house (or my dad's house, or any of my family's house) - you just know when you walk up to the front door, that you just belong there. And, YEAH, my mom's name is Joyce too. :) ...Even if she goes by "Joy" now.