Friday, September 20, 2013

Small House Love

People thought we were crazy when we downsized to a little cottage, but I have always had a thing for little, unique houses.

The other day, Steve was headed to the grocery store and I said I would join him if we could drive down one of my favorite streets so I could take pictures.


Brent Street is the street I take when I am going to the doctor and I always marvel at the "cuteness" of nearly every house on the street.


I am in love with all the arched windows of this little cottage.


The roof line of this sweet little yellow cottage has some similarities to our house and might well have been built by the same builder.


The fencing, the color combination and the stone path are all wonderful.


Spanish style houses are prominent in our area and I love the arched window and interesting door of this cottage.


I have never lived in a house with a tile roof despite my love of the look.


Red tile roof, white house, green door - how can you go wrong?


I love the queen palm in the front yard and the golden yellow color of this Spanish style.


I love the scalloped edging around the window of this house.


You can tell by the power lines that this is an older neighborhood and the lines have not been moved underground yet.


My friend who lives on the street tells me my timing was off and I should have taken the photos when the gardens were in full bloom.


I love the little arched floral stained glass windows on either side of the door.


Our friend Natalie lives in this lovely blue and white cottage.


I love the brick paths and porch.


All the primary colors are out in force in this picture with the yellow house against the blue sky.


A guardian angel looks over the garden.


A red door - perfect.


What a difference a little paint and gardening can do for curb appeal.


Each of these cottages which are 2 or 3 bedroom and less than 1500 square feet would sell for about $600,000.

What are house prices like in your area?

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You can find me at

French Country Cottage - Feathered Nest Friday

Lavender Garden Cottage - Cottage Style Link Party

My Romantic Home - Show and Tell Friday

The Dedicated House - Anything Blue Friday

68 comments:

  1. what a great street. i love the house with the blue picket fence - it makes me think of Dr. Seuss ... what a creative person ... love it!! ( :

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  2. So much charm! The last time we passed through your neighborhood it was obvious how much folks love living there and what a strong community it is. Teeny cute houses!

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  3. I love the yellow houses, the last one with the red door is beautiful.

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  4. What a wonderful neighborhood to live in. I do like your friends house. The property values here are horrible. They go from one extreme to another. On my block you can find a house for 350,000 and than on the other end one for 35,000. I do think houses in WV are too high since we have lower paying jobs and losing jobs all the time.

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  5. I would love to take a peek in these CHARMING cottages!!
    Mary Alice

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  6. These are darling! So cute! In Winston, they would run you about 250k. My neighborhood, where the homes are charming and older, but larger, they would be about 400k.

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  7. Such adorable homes. It all depends around here. If you live in the village it costs more than in the country. But your prices are really high. But considering the weather and being close to the ocean....it may well be worth it. Have the prices gone up or down since the recession. Do you see them bouncing back. `

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  8. I really like all of them, we have a smaller house at about 1050 square feet but it is NOOOO way as cute as these homes....love them. :-) Not the price sticker....I could get 5 of my house for that amount...LOL

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  9. We have a lot of cute houses here in Florida! We were surprised at how perfect they are for this climate and area. Our prices are WAY WAY less! I don't even want to say how much less! I know you have wonderful weather there and and it's a fabulous place to live....that's why so many people want to live there! We downsized a lot to move here, too....the best way to retire...less to have to take care of! Sweet hugs my friend!

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  10. There all so cute, it is hard to pick a favorite. Charming!

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  11. I love the one in the second picture. Roofs in Italy are all made of terracotta tiles, and they really are beautiful and functional.

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  12. Super cute homes! I love little houses too :)

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  13. Yikes!! All of those cottages are absolutely charming and I could see myself living in any one of them. If I could afford it! A home like those, and there are a few in our older neighborhood, would sell for around $80-150,000. But then again, we live in a small town where all the local businesses are struggling to stay afloat and not in sunny California! Our oldest daughter lives in the historic bungalow district in Minneapolis and most of the small bungalows sell for around $200-300,000. Thanks for the tour!

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  14. I think they are all charming. Our first home was a 1400 square ft. cottage. We sold it in the mid 90s for over $200,000. It recently sold again for $600,000. Crazy real estate prices in this town. We laugh that it's all the people from CA moving here with cash to put into real estate.
    Fun to see all these cute cottages and how they each have their own unique touch. Thanks for taking the time photograph each of these to share.

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  15. Love them all! My house is little bitty too, as you can tell by my name! My friends said the same when I downsized 4 years ago. I simply LOVE coming home!

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  16. You can certainly buy more house for the dollar around here but not with the charm of these houses and not with the ocean you have there. All of them are nice but I especially love the roofline of the one that you said might have been designed by the same architect as yours. The tall gables with the slightly sloping inward roof line is not like anything I've seen in this country. Sweet street!

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  17. I am a fan of smaller too! There is just something so wonderful and interesting about them! Those homes by your house are just awesome!!! The colors and front yard gardens just rock! We have homes like that here....bungalows and cape cods but then there are the BIG houses that don't even interest me. I find the character of a small home goes so much further than square footage! Great post lady...happy Saturday to you!!!

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  18. They're all so cute! I would love to downsize to a much smaller house someday. But, one in that neighborhood would sure be an upsize in mortgage. Whew!

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  19. Oh those are just gorgeous - absolutely gorgeous -
    And you know what housing prices are like here in Montreal ( my neighborhood at least ) just ridiculous !!!
    I love small spaces too especially when they're loaded with detail like those - looks like a scene from a fairy tale :)
    XOXO

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  20. I love small houses as well. The blue and white one is my favorite. I enjoy the coziness and intimacy of a smaller home. I definitely don't like the prices though. I'm not sure what cottages near the beach in our region would be. We live in just under 1800 square feet and I've discovered it's not the square footage that's the most important, but the layout. I know those vintage cottages generally have a nice floor plan. Newer homes like ours lack personality, so I have to add it with accessories! We're only a couple of hours from the beach up here, so we try to visit a few times a year. Enjoyed the tour!

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  21. What a charming street! I do miss living near the beach in a cute little house! Oh, and the great Mexican restaurants! :)
    Thanks for sharing.
    Pam

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  22. I love the style of all these homes. So charming.
    It would be wonderful to live there.
    adorable. The houses go about that size in our area...in town, about 50,000 to 90,000 near the lake about twice that and upwards.

    thanks for sharing. Pat

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  23. I would want to drive down this street too Pat!

    Gorgeous houses - my favorite is the white one with the tile roof - it just appeals!

    Those prices don't though - especially as they are only two bedrooms.

    Hard for me to compare as I live in New Zealand!

    Wishing you a fun weekend
    Shane

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  24. What charming houses!! We live in an older neighborhood with homes of different sizes...very small homes to large homes. We live in one of the larger homes...ours is 2100 square feet. We do have a few new homes in the neighborhood too...a builder purchased the empty lots and build new homes. We also have several foreclosures around here too...so not sure if that is hurting our home values.

    ~Cindy

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  25. Carol,
    What charming little cottages. I loved them all and would be happy living in anyone of them. I know the real estate in California has always been high. It is the beautiful weather and great ocean you have!!!!! Houses in the Chicago area are high too but not as high as your homes go for. Thanks for sharing those adorable little homes with us.
    Kris

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  26. so many cute cottages.. i love the entry of your friend's house.
    houses in my area are well over a million dollars, close to the city and the beach.
    x

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  27. Red doors, rich ochre exteriors, patinas on picket fences, storybook houses and ALL by the sea! Small houses, BIG love! Thanks for the tour!

    Poppy

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  28. In France a 1500 square feet house is considered as a large house. But even so, it would be a little cheaper around here. Now I don't live in a very expensive part of France, that's how I was able to buy my cottage, which is a lot smaller than 1500 square feet. All the houses you showed are so cute, I think yur friend's one is my favourite.

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  29. Cost you than in Sydney, house prices have gone crazy over here.
    Merle..........

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  30. I know why you wanted to stop and take photos, so cute. Sydney housing market is out of this world.

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  31. Oh darling Carol,

    What can I say, or where can I begin really....you know now that I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I GREW UP in a fantastic and small Spanish colonial with a tile roof, arched French doors and a super-duper thick front door with hinges. I moved out of that house when I was 12, and since then (I'm not 50+) I still dream of this house. I wrote a piece in a memoirs class about this house, and I was shocked when I read the piece out loud to the class and my instructor shouted out, "YOU MUST PUBLISH THAT PIECE!"

    But when love and fond memories guide your art, how can you lose? Every single house here along with the special powers of the California sunlight, are bringing back so many memories. My half sister lived in a home very similar to the sloped roof homes, and all of our houses were small, but to us, they were little mansions. I too have a very special place in my heart for small homes, and in our area, these homes go for about half the cost.

    I would so love to show you my home some time. Minneapolis is chock full of these types of homes, and that is why that unlike beautiful New England (where Ruben and I lived for 11 years, I have a special connection with Minneapolis. The homes are so similar to those found in Southern California.

    A lovely post today my friend. MORE MORE MORE!!!! Anita

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  32. I would love to live on that street!

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  33. Aww, I'm in love Carol. Every house speaks to me, I could live in any of them. What a pleasant tour of your favourite street.

    Thank you for sharing. Hope you have a good weekend.

    Aida

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  34. You always know how to seek charm and share. Homes like this would range from 200k to 400k depending on the location, in the Pacific Northwest. I have always wished to live under a tile roof or in an English Tudor.
    Have a wonderful weekend, Carol!
    w/L

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  35. This is exactly what I am looking for in a home!! Can you ship one to NY? : ))
    Great post!

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  36. I enjoyed the tour of the "Hood" : ) So many pretty and colorful homes !

    Oh my goodness, a smaller older home in our area on a nice plot of land would be in the range of 120,000 to 175.000 For $600,000 you could live in a mansion here :) ( Western PA south of Pittsburgh :)

    For fun I just went onto a local real estate site : here is 597,000 http://www.northwood.com/property/528-Hahn-Drive-Cecil-PA-15317/Westpenn/954222/

    If I put any more links in the comment I'll go to spam so I stopped at this one : )

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  37. What a cute dream street to live on! Prices here aren't that high but little cottages in a great neighborhood can be $300,000

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  38. I wish I lived on that street, it's just constantly pretty:) Beautiful houses with pretty trim and doors!
    Love the yellow bench in your other post it looks great in your pastel bedroom.

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  39. First, I LOVE this post and that you shared it. Second, I am about to keel over in a dead faint at the prices! I am amazed that regular people can even buy a house in Cali. $600,000 would get you into the about the top 90% of really great huge houses in Birmingham.

    Third, I adore that Spanish Colonial, white stucco with red tile roof because I lived the first 18 years of my life in one like that in Anniston, Alabama. There were three such houses in my little town. Ours was built in 1912. Daddy sold it because it was just too small the year I went to college, and would you believe, that the old crow who bought it REMOVED the roofing tiles and had a BLACK composite roof put on? It went from a charmer to looking like a shack with a tarpaper top! Nowadays, at least in this part of the country, you couldn't put a roof like that back on for love nor money. The area has become very undesirable, anyway, and it does make me sad. Sometimes when I go to sleep and dream of home, I dream that I am back in that house.
    ETS

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  40. Funny how I am really charmed by each one of those houses but wouldn't trade them for my home deep in the piney woods of east Texas. I have a 4 bedroom on 3 acres of dogwoods and pines that we bought for $225,000. Location, location, location. . . .

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  41. Those homes are simply adorable!! I am amazed how there can be such a variety of styles in such close proximity to each other. Was it planned that way intentionally?
    The price for a house that size in Portland is totally dependent on the location. In my neighborhood it would be under 200,000 right now. That could go as high as 500,000 in a good neighborhood. Location, location, location... My youngest son is actually thinking about moving away because they are thinking of starting a family and have no hope of affording a house in a neighborhood where they want to raise their children. Big sigh.

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  42. How adorable are all of these sweet cottages!!!! Ooh-if you like tiny houses, take a look here: http://tinyhouseblog.com There are some adorable teeny tiny homes that people actually DO live in!! Thanks for the tour of a really cute neighborhood!!! (The stuff of childhood dreams!)

    XO

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  43. Love these sweet cottage homes.And I don't think you are crazy at all.I will be downsizing someday too! I can't imagine living in this large home forever with just the two of us.
    xx
    Anne

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  44. What a charming street, I'd happily live in any of the houses because I just can't get over the blue sky without a cloud in sight. Unfortunately I would have to have my house almost twice over to buy one of those (oh and a Green Card of course !).

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  45. I loved looking at all the unique properties around your neighbourhood. They are all so different. prices for houses would be similar here too.
    Sarah x

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  46. YIKES! You must live in California!!! Those houses in a good and safe neighbourhood like mine would cost about $200,000.00 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Maybe $50,000 more if it had a full finished basement. Those houses are all sweet and adorable, but oh my, how do people afford to purchase one of them. It's difficult enough for us here.
    Have a wonderful day!

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  47. Wow! What a quaint neighborhood!! Let's just say that home prices here in Ohio are QUITE a bit less. ;)
    Such an interesting post!
    Susan

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  48. Carol, these are just so adorable - we lived in a small cottage similar to your peaked roof cottage before we moved to the beach... Now, with us all together we have had to upsize after downsizing.... I love every one of these - they remind so of a fairy tale... great post...loved it... Cathy

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  49. What charming homes...:) I love small homes too, but often wish I had a big home so I could fit more stuff in it...lol! Around here, you can buy a huge house on several acres for that price! Homes on the Suwannee River or the coast are higher priced though! I had a friend who recently sold her 5,000 square foot Victorian style house with an in ground pool, detached carport, pole barn, on a little over an acre for under $400,000! That's a high priced home in my area. Thanks for sharing this quaint little neighborhood...:)

    Blessings, Vicky
    Life On Willie Mae Lane

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  50. So sweet. My spouse and daughter are native Californians, and I lived there almost half my life. When we moved to the Bay Area from So Cal we owned a really small home and then moved inland when we had my daughter. But we disliked the valley after living outside The City. On a trip to visit my family, we moved to a large house here, but then downsized. A couple a years ago the prices were under 100,000 dollars for a home that age and size. The housing market in some parts, even with some recovery, is still at half of what it was, even though it has risen the most for any metro area. It's just that it fell so deep; it was an over correction here.

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  51. I like this neighborhood and how you showcased so many charming homes. I like the idea of smaller and sometimes consider downsizing. House prices are the same here as in your neighborhood.

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  52. How delightful....I love every cottage you shared! I think my favorite one is the one with the floral stained glass windows. There is an area close to where we live with vintage cottages from the nineteen twenties. The neighborhood is called HOllywood, and the homes were built around the old Hollywood golf course. Similar homes start in the low $500k's and can be as high as $800K.

    LOVELY tour!

    xo,
    RJ

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  53. In the Tulsa, OK area you would pay anywhere from $70,000 for a regular neighborhood to $150,000 if it were in a neighborhood near the center of town with eating and bars close by. We live in the suburbs in a 2800 sg. ft. home with 1 1/2 acres with neighborhood horse riding trails and stables. We recently bought our house for %285,000. Of course we don't have the ocean or as many high paying jobs here either and we can have some crazy weather. But we love it here. :)

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  54. Love your blog. So colorful. I really like your header too!

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  55. What a beautiful neighborhood! We live in the same home we bought as newlyweds 33 years ago - unfortunately they're all tract homes around here - exactly the same except for color - BORING! Some day I hope to find the house of my dreams.

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  56. Yes to promoting and appreciating living in a small house, well done! Love the stucco Mediterranean homes, they will NEVER go out of style.

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  57. These cottages are just exploding with charm, they just don't make them like this anymore. I'll take small and cozy any day. Thanks for sharing these beauties.

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  58. So many cute houses! Well for that price you could get a nice big McMansion or some great rural property with lots of acreas in Georgia. A 3/4 bedroom 3 bath house on 2/3 an acre would go for about $250,000 in my neighborhood (and that's with newer updates). My daughter will most likely be moving to California when she graduates and I dread finding housing for her and for us!

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  59. I love every single one of those beautiful homes! I think small homes have so much personality and character. $600K would buy you a ginormous house here in the far northwest suburbs of Chicago, or a decent-sized house with a little bit a land, too. Housing prices have really fallen here.

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  60. What wonderful timing to visit your blog!! First, I would like to say "thank you" for the sweet comments on Kris' blog (meet the person behind the blog). I am soon downsizing to a cedar shake cottage. We will be renovating for several months. I LOVE all the pics of the cottages by you...it gives me great inspiration! I must go back and find yours! My cottage needs to be surrounded by a lake but it isn't....just pretty trees and woods. I see you have several followers that are cottage lovers and I will be checking them out!! I am your newest follower! Have a wonderful and blessed week~~~Roxie

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  61. What a darling bunch of quaint homes! Your Blog is looking fantastic. I love your photography. Keep Creating!

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  62. Hi Carol, I love each one of these charming and quaint cottages. What great inspiration. I could live in anyone of them. 600 thousand would buy you 3 houses here in Texas or a mansion for that price tag!
    Your blog is always a joy to visit!
    Hugs

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  63. You live in an enchanted storybook land! And near the ocean, too? Wow! Thanks so much for visiting my closet purge today! ha ha. Good luck with your attic purge :)
    Donna @ An Enchanted Cottage

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  64. I have always loved unique little homes, too! Similar homes around here (and there aren't an abundance of those) would probably start in the low $300,000, but could vary wildly depending on what city you're in. LOVED seeing all these darling homes!

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  65. Lovely homes. I can't pick a favorite. They all have something special about them.
    Housing prices in our area vary so much. There are condos in Chattanooga (downtown) that are millions. Location is the key. There are mountains and rivers so anything in those locations is more expensive. We have lived in our home for 34 years, we built it in the 70s. We have remodeled some rooms.

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  66. Wow, the real estate prices there are HIGH, but you DO live in paradise. Love this post as I love little houses, too. I love a house to feel "cozy" and you just don't get that with huge square footages. My home in Austin was 1,600 square feet and was the perfect size for two people.

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