We're Building a House!

When Bob and I made the decision to move to the St. Louis area last year, we knew we didn't want to buy a house while we still owned one nor did we want to commit to an area we weren't sure about.  I went online to find apartments.  There are hundreds of apartment complexes in the area and when I got the job I wanted at Wright City and Bob found out he was to be stationed at the Saint Louis campus for Columbia College, we started focusing our search somewhere midway for both.  I found Mills Apartments in St. Charles and they had an apartment opening just at the right time. The apartment happened to be in New Town.  When we drove up to it, we were so excited by its charm.  The quaint buildings, the business area, the things to do...

It didn't take us long to fall in love with the New Urban viewpoint.  Bob loves walking all over New Town with the dogs, smoking his cigar.  I am pretty sure he is a familiar sight around NT.

We decided around October 2012 that when we sold our house, we would be buying/building in New Town, potentially with a VA construction loan lender.  Our house in JC took forever to sell, but in April 2013 we did close on our JC home and have been working with the McBride architects to design a house for us in New Town.

Today, June 18th, we close the deal!  We are meeting with the builders and contractors on June 18th, our wedding anniversary, putting a deposit down and hopefully soon they will break ground!


The house is called Pawtucket.  It is a craftsman style house, with a side wrap-around porch.  The dormer window above completes the craftsman style.  We have chosen James Hardie Boothbay Blue for the exterior (a medium gray) with Arctic White trim and a Woodland Cream front door. 

On the first floor there is a open concept living room/kitchen/dining room.  There's a fireplace in the living room, an island in the kitchen, with the stairs going up to the second level.  The master bedroom is on the main level, with a large walk in closet and private master bath with a main floor laundry room.  There is a powder room on the the main floor, too.

The upstairs has two bedrooms and a loft.  The loft will be our den.  One bedroom will be Ashley and Eric's.  It has a private bath and a large closet.  The guest room will serve as a study and craft room.  There is an hall bathroom and a washer/dryer closet located upstairs, too.

The basement will remain unfinished.  We will use it for storage mostly, but we may also set up some craft areas or exercise areas downstairs.

There is a three car garage, unattached, in the back of the house.  Yards in New Town are exceptionally small, more like courtyards.  We are having a plan made for our courtyard to utilize the space to the max.

We loved living by the water, so when we went to look for a lot, we found this one that will be a part of the Beach District.  It is not completed yet, but we thought it would be fun to sit on our front porch and watch it develop in front of us!

When we moved from JC one of the things Bob and I were certain of was that we wanted to downsize.  This house is about 1,000 square feet less and the yard is not even 1/4 of what we had in Jefferson City.  So even though we have a bigger garage, we did downsize!!

I am looking forward to recording the details of the house here on my blog!  I hope you will enjoy the ride as well!

I marked where we live now and where the new house will be!!