Right Sizing - Part 4 - The Tree Hugger in Me

Letting the contract expire on the Copperton house was a hard thing for me to do. I had a lot of time invested in the renovation design and the logistics of making everything work out. My dad (our real-estate agent) had dedicated countless hours to dealing with the crazies on the other end of the deal. I really wanted it to work out. It felt like the right move for our family, It just wasn't happening.

We started looking again. This time we had different goals, purpose and vision. We wanted a place that would better suit the needs and evolving lifestyle of our family. Copperton is definitely a beautiful place, but it has recently become more of a subdivision than a true neighborhood community. It does have an amazing park, a post office, a fire station and churches but the schools, markets and other businesses had been either torn down or closed up shop. We wanted a more sustainable community. We wanted to be closer to things we needed. We wanted to be in an area with good schools for our kids. We wanted for a large garden and a chicken run.

We quickly realized that the homes meeting this criteria in the Salt Lake valley did not allow us to meet our other goal of reducing our monthly mortgage responsibility. So we expanded our search to Utah and Davis Counties and even looked a little in Weber County.

We were planning a trip down to look at some homes in American Fork and Springville when a house in Heber City came up on the radar. I almost ignored the listing but decided to check it out. It had potential and was priced right so we added it to the list.

After driving down to check out the homes in Utah County we made the trip up Provo Canyon. As we rounded the south side of Deer Creek Reservoir we hit a horrible bumper to bumper traffic jam. Kids don't like being stuck in a car and neither do I. We almost turned back a few times but stuck with it and eventually pulled up to the house.

My first impression was WOW! This is it! If you know me well you know that I LOVE TREES. And this house had them. Moving from a brand new neighborhood with about 2 trees I felt like I was in a forest. The house was classic, plain, and simple. No frills but tons of charm and character.

As soon as we walked through the front door we noticed something strange. The floor in the front room had a very noticeable slope from one end to the other. Probably 3 inches overall. It was like one of those old V8 Juice commercials where everyone is walking sideways. 

We had seen the listing pictures so we knew that the Kitchen, flooring and paint would all need to be re-done so we were prepared for that. But the structure didn't make sense.  There were areas with 18" thick walls and small steps between rooms.

I climbed up the steep stairway to the attic. This low ceiling room with creaky floors was the coolest space in the house. There was a hole in the wall so I went through to investigate. I discovered that the house was actually more than 1 house. The original structure was a beautiful hewn log cabin. At some point a farmhouse had been moved from another location and set up close to but not touching the cabin. Later on a kitchen wing was added at the rear of the home. We learned that the cabin portion had a good stone foundation but the other areas were supported by on grade footings.

It was time to check out the back yard. WOW AGAIN! I thought there were a lot of trees in the front yard but this place was amazing. Tons of beautiful trees and large open spaces. My mind instantly went to work on ideas of how to make it our own. Outdoor living spaces, play areas for the kids, Our big garden and chicken run. there was space for everything.

But the house was  a wreck. It was sinking into the ground! How much would this cost to fix? What other problems would we find along the way. It was a nightmare.

We stopped at the local favorite Dairy Keen but I couldn't eat my burger. Everything about this house felt perfect except for the house. Kind of a big deal.


To be continued... (sorry, 1 more episode)