Snatches-of-Bliss-and-Are-You-Freaking-Out-Yet?

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* Welcome *

Changed da house,
Changed da look.

BTW, my bathrobe's usually pink
and we don't have a fireplace.
Other than that,
it's pretty accurate...

Psst...click the words above to navigate.
Best viewed, unfortunately, in Internet Explorer.

Friday, January 07, 2005

~ Found it. ~

The real estate agent just called. We've got a new rental home.

I know we both should be utterly relieved and thrilled that we've got, by far, the best deal in the market by our books... but we're not, really. The decision to move is against our deep desire to just indulge ourselves and stay where we are. It's one thing to move out of a dump in a hurry to come board in a palace. It's quite another to move out of a mini-palace to come live in a nice house.

McKellar is wonderful, we have to say. I love living next to a reasonable Chinese takeaway, and a mini-mart. I love having a direct bus that takes me through the nearest mall, the City Centre, and then all the way down south. I love having a bedroom I can do cartwheels in, an ensuite guaranteeing the utmost privacy, and a garden I can trim with a nail clipper. I love having a built-in gas stove, a new modern kitchen replete with dishwasher, and a walk-in pantry. I love having ducted gas heating. Though the living area is small, it's so cosy. It's really a comfortable home.

However, the truth of the matter is that we aren't utilising the 3rd bedroom at all, Badenoch Belconnen (the real estate agency) is anal retentive, inflexible, obnoxious and unreasonable, the master bedroom traps heat like an oven in summer, and we really shouldn't splurge on rental when we're trying to pay off my student loan and save up for things like air tickets and a house of our own.

With the new rental home, we save about $3,000 a year on rent alone. Our only concern is whether we can pack everything we own into the house (it's a 2 bedroom unit) and the sacrifices involved include emotionally letting go of a higher standard of living (dishwasher, gas cooking) and the amount of hard work it takes to pack, move, and unpack. But it has heaps of potential. It really is a darling little place, and has every chance of turning out as cosy as McKellar.

You can bet I'll be taking pics of McKellar and doing up another photo shrine. I'm such a wimp. I can't let go of any nest, no matter how temporary...

Meanwhile, Desley got baptised yesterday in the Roberts's jacuzzi! It was my first foray into the most expensive suburb in Canberra and I was awestruck by just the majesty of some of these homes. Gorgeous facades, perfectly lacquered wooden roof panelling, not a grass blade out of place in their perfectly landscaped front lawns with the bird bath. The description of a typical home in this neighbourhood can be summarised in this rental ad that Tony forwarded me this morning:

IDEAL FOR AN EMBASSY
This house has been used as an embassy and is absolutely massive. New carpets and paint. This house boasts a 2000sqm block and has a fantastic entertaining area at rear with large fully enclosed pool which can be used as an additional area with its wooden cover should you not wish to use the pool. This house has two full size bathrooms with spas, a sauna, 6 ensuites and the main bedroom ensuite is full bathroom size with a spa bath.

Bedrooms: 8
Bathrooms: 3
Ensuites (attached bathrooms): 4
Garaging: 6 (1 for the functional Merc, 1 for the teengager's Porsche, 1 for the young adult's Ferrari, 1 for the Limo in case they have family over, 1 for the Rolls Royce to chauffeur the kids to school, 1 for the 4-wheel drive)

Includes family sitting room, central heating, a study, a separate dining area, a rumpus room (a playroom for kids), a pool, and ducted vacuuming (you attach a vacuum hose to the wall and set the machine to suck, basically. We have that at McKellar).

# posted by Velle | 11:12 am

1 Comments:

Congratulations you two, you're now housed and happy and your life is perfect! (damn you both)

Speaking of ridiculously huge houses, I came across one the other day which actually had servants quarters in a separate annex which could be reached via covered wlakway through the 'grounds'. I suppose they don't want the help to be muddying up their colonial sensitivites.

By Slinky, at 11:55 am