This is it!

Greetings from Florida where the weather is STINKING hot, but tropical is always OK with me. Maybe because I was born in Nairobi, I enjoy a steamy climate.  And I am so Over-the-Moon excited because we just heard that our offer on a house has been accepted.  As JACQUELINE said to me in her comment a week ago...The House Picks You.  And this one certainly did.  Since last August, when we decided to sell the cottage, I have been obsessively perusing Realtor.com for homes in the St. Petersburg area, close to The Raz Man's Clearwater Office.  Since this was to be a second home base, the budget wasn't huge, nor the requirements for square footage. We were also very fortunate that the house prices in Florida are SO good, due to the awful financial crisis. The sq footage of both our Ontario house and this one combined is less than 3000 sq feet, but the fact that many people are losing homes is not lost on me. No one should lose their home, that's just awful. St. Petersburg is full of historic homes, many reflection the Northern Colonial styles and Bungalows.  Beautiful houses.  I liked so many houses, and we even made an offer on one, which fell through.  2 weeks ago, unable to find the right home, I moved the search 3 blocks West.  To an equally nice area, just West of a busy street.  Better value, 1/2 the property taxes.  And I spotted this house.  For the first time since my search, this one REALLY spoke to me.  Instant LOVE.

Since our trip was a few weeks off, I checked the status of this house every day for nearly 3 weeks.  When the agent set up the appointments for yesterday,  I was sure it would be sold.  But it wasn't.  The minute I walked in, I told the agent we didn't need to see anything else.  But we did.  The entire time we viewed the next 4 houses, I crossed my fingers that they would show "like a dog with fleas" and the Raz Man wouldn't love any of them.  And he didn't.  And we made an offer.  And they accepted.

This house was built in 1936 in the Monterey Style.  It is built Adobe style with cement block and stucco with lovely large window sills, but typical of a Monterey Style home, it has a narrow covered porch upstairs and downstairs and on the side, designed to provide shade.  It is 1600 sq feet, so not a huge house, but lots of room.  Also typical of a Monterey house are the white walls, dark floors and door with glass knobs.  It is a bit quirky. For instance, at the rear, it has  parking pad and no back yard.  The side has a small rectangular garden off the side porch and the front yard has a few feet of grass and then a large fenced front yard set back from the street.  So the front door is hidden behind the fence.

The selling point for me, besides the gorgeous redone house, is the garden.  It has brick terraces and pathways of old brick, and lush tropical plantings. We do plan to add a very linear pool on the one side and create the entrance on the other side. 

Living room

To me, the beauty of this house is the fact that the furnishings will NOT make this house.  We plan only a white sectional sofa, table and some simple dining chairs.  Other than books and art, it needs nothing.  It needs to be simple. We do plan to rent it out also, so a simple fresh decor will be very suitable.

My dream kitchen (although no gas stove)

 This house had a complete hold over me from my first Internet viewing. It defintelt CHOSE ME.

Master bedroom.  Smaller than it looks. Doors to balcony and a fireplace.