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09 June 2011
If you HAD to pick one of these three houses (NYT slide show), which would you pick and why?
Me, I love Old Town Alexandria, so that is the house I would pick. I can't believe the Metro ride to Union Station in DC is "under an hour", I would've figured it would be shorter.
The house in Old Town fits my personal style best, and it's near my sister, as much as I would prefer never to leave in NoVa/WashMetro ever again.
Some of the worst moments of my life were in Charlotte, NC and that house doesn't suit my style, so it's a no. The house in New Mexico is nice and airy, but it's hot there and I am a nasty mean hateful unhappy person when I am hot.
Oh man, they ALL have built-in bookshelves and good natural light (the only things I care about besides a good-sized kitchen). Um, Charlotte I guess, that wood stuff is pretty cool and I love NC.
TPS: Union Station is on a different line than Alexandria, so it's kind of a roundabout trip to get there.
If we are going by just the houses themselves, and not the location, I think I'd go with the Charlotte one, probably because I already live in a [much smaller] midcentury house and like it.
The first one looks so much like the homes where I live that immediately fell in love with it.
(It however does not look like my house, but the setting is damn near identical).
While I like the style of the Virginia house the best I would have to go with the North Carolina one. I love NC and would like to live there over NM or VA. VA probably has better schools, though. I'm torn.
The one in NC because it is the most Pacific Northwest-like. I love the Doug Fir ceilings, and the layout and the light. I'd have to think about the tiles in the family room though - maybe I'd like them better in person.
But having finally made it home to the PNW four years ago, it is pretty unlikely I'm leaving, at least not for long.
The first one looks dark and kind of gloomy to me. The second one looks cramped, like I'd feel claustrophobic all the time inside it. The third one looks open and airy and light.
I'm really torn between Alexandria and Santa Fe. I really like the traditional style of the Alexandria house, but it is small. I'd have to redecorate the Santa Fe house (I'd go rustic/western), I like mid-century styles, but I don't want to live with it. I also like that it's 1.5 acres.
If it were just about the houses, I'd choose the North Carolina one. But I wouldn't want to live there. New Mexico is similarly a milieu in which I would be uncomfortable raising children. Old Town Alexandria is nice, and I'd love to live somewhere I could take my future family to the Smithsonian whenever we liked, and it's an easy drive to go visit grandpa and the cousins.
The first one. I saw woods and areas to plant things in...
I am not a big city fella, so the second house looks like a fate worse than death. As for the last option, frankly it gets hot enough here.
Now of course you probably meant the houses themselves. I liked the first house the best too, the others I did not like at all. But if I were in a position to buy a house for 700k, I would be buying somewhere that I could get a hell of a lot more house for that much money so none of them would do.
If every house was in the same city, I'd pick the Charlotte house. It's a lot like my current house but with much better light. I like the surrounding greenery, it feels very quiet, private and lush. The Alexandria house is way too small (it's a bad sign when they have to put the camera up near the ceiling to make the room look bigger than a closet) and the NM feels too generic plus landscaping with rocks is not my thing at all. I'll bet no one uses that hotel-like front pathway either, they all go in through a door nearest the driveway. If I was picking by city, I'd go for Alexandria but not in that townhouse.
Coincidentally, when I got home last night I had a phone message from a realtor wanting to know if I'd like to sell my house. I don't think I'd get enough for one of these 3, though.
Definitely the Charlotte, N.C. home. It just hits me in all the right places. Very relaxed and cozy.
My second choice would be the Santa Fe home, though I still wouldn't take it. It smacks me as one of the places all around there that was built by some wealthy Californian transplant, plopped at the crest of a hill, spoiling the view for everyone else. The locals have a very keen hate for these homes (and their owners). Never piss the locals off.
The Charlotte one, but I'd need to do some re-decorating to brighten it up a bit. I have no idea of the cities, so I'm only basing this on the house and surrounds.
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
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