The Monstrosity

So we have begun moving a few things over to my Dad’s house where we will live temporarily while house shopping and/or building.  Because, really, who wants to get a call saying “Leave your House.  Clean it up.  And we’ll call you when you can come back.” No one.   Add a 7 month old baby to that equation and then you REALLY don’t want to hear that.  The chance of having to pay two mortgages is also no fun. So luckily we can avoid all that and save money all at once 🙂

We have begun house shopping, and our options are growing.   We have limited our search to the Gonzales/Prairieville area because this area is central to the jobs of both myself and my husband.  After a huge ordeal with our homeowner’s association over a shed situation (more info on that to come), Kent has decided a neighborhood (particularly one with an HOA) is out.  That leaves us looking at rural tracts, which I would prefer to be close to the interstate.  We haven’t decided yet whether to renovate or build.  So the search begins!

Purty

One of the first houses we visited is the one I have dubbed the monstrosity.  It is huge.  And by huge, I mean HUGE.  It has way more space than any normal person would ever need.  Ever.  It is also the ultimate DIY project and could easily take us our entire lives to complete – which is both enticing and terrifying all at once. It is located in a somewhat odd spot, which requires driving down the driveway of a fab shop to get to.  The shop is alongside the property, so it could potentially be noisy during business hours, but the property is large (3 acres), so it may not be noticeable.  We have only visited in the evening, so we aren’t sure how loud it may be.    BUT it is also in the perfect location on an amazing piece of property with a pond and fruit trees.  And did I mention it’s only $43 a square foot?  That is crazy cheap for this area – although the massive amount of square footage in this house adds up pretty quickly, putting the monstrosity on the top end of our budget.

Scary Stairs

The layout is somewhat odd, and if we bought the property we would want to add a staircase before moving in since the only way to get upstairs is a metal spiral staircase – thinking of trying to get a couch up there gives me heart palpitations.  Not to mention the fact that my child will be walking sometime in the near future, which is equally distressing when picturing that staircase.  It also has a very…ahem…interesting decor in place.

It has 4 (huge) bedrooms, a library, an office, a play room, and some other random bonus room (not to mention the fact that both the pantry and the two master bedroom closets are bigger than the master bedroom in my current house).

Now THAT is a closet

Woah…Psychedelic

I like the idea of having so much space, and the options are endless.  My husband and I are no stranger to DIY home projects – I renovated my current home with the help of family and friends, and he has done countless projects (including the most recent shed building that will be posted about later).  That being said, this house needs a lot of work.  It is livable, so the work could be done over time, but it would be a rather large time and money investment.  We also have a 7 month old, so our free time isn’t what it use to be.

We’ll be viewing many more houses this weekend, so I’ll give an update with the newest potentials!  What do ya’ll think of the monstrosity?  Would the end result be worth the effort?