maple wood farms report

[vernacular_life]

We visited Maple Wood Farms this weekend....it was lovely, but
a) too $$$ and
b) I dont know how people with dogs live there, especially dogs who like to be outside without a leash!!

the prices are insane, but the neighborhood IS in one of the best school districts in the state, if not the country. 




We went into the model, 'The Hamilton' a offically "4 br, 3 1/2 ba", but had a finished attic and finished basement, thus giving the potential for a whopping 6 bedrooms WITH an office AND a sunroom (not available on the new houses)  Cute, no? 


Approx. 4,320 sq.ft. of Living Space, 2-Car Garage, Rear Covered Porch, Main Floor Study, Finished Rec Room:
(full floorplans and elevations here)


The model was BEAUTIFUL. granted, I realise that they loaded it up with the best finishes and all of the fancy toys, but OHO man was this house gorgeous.  I really liked the side stairwell (most colonials around these parts have the center stairwell, which I HATE as it's so much wasted space. Tara, this is not.

There are 10' ceilings, and the main floor is SO open.  I love the kitchen/family dining/family room area.  The butlers pantry is nice, but really unnecessary unless you have 3 sets of dishes.  I don't know what I'd use it for, other than as a bar area. 

I'm not a fan of the master bedroom sitting area....we'd def. keep that as a 4th bedroom. 

BUT....price tag on this puppy?

$950,000

and that's with almost no land. 
The 'cheaper' style, which doesn't offer the 3rd floor,  but has Approx. 2,891 sq.ft. of Living Space, seems to be equally fantastic, is a bargain at $847k. 

floorplan for those of you who care and for my reference


++++++++++++++++

so, ahem, with a leeetle  figuring of finances, and lots of "if we got this much for our house now", it aint gonna happen. To be honest, even with BRAC coming to the area and bringing  ~5,000 new jobs/families, I doubt one could really recoup that much on a sale, even in 8-10 years thus defeating the whole purpose in Buying The Big House.  AND even with the 'big' lot, poor Sam woudn't have much space to trot around....

so I'm sad to say that the current version of New Urbanism/Traditional Neighborhood design probably won't work for us.  I want a yard.  I want Ben to be able to set up a tent and camp in the backyard.  There ARE lots of open park areas around, but

Comments

[tinksdust.livejournal.com]

I love the idea of an open floor plan. But I also like land. We're spoiled where we are now with a huge fenced in yard. I don't know what I'll do if we have to move somewhere with a dinky lot.

[ee-chick.livejournal.com]

That's a gorgeous floorplan. I love the walk through butlers pantry and the upstairs laundry room. :swoon:

How big is the average lot for you guys? I remember thinking that your yard looked lovely and massive, but it's hard to put it into perspective. Lot size was a top motivating factor for us. They're normally between 7000 and 8500 square feet around here. Ours is 12,500 and it feels like I've got my own little park. That's relative, of course - I grew up on 3 acres and would never have imagined dealing with urban/suburban sized life.

[vernacular-life.livejournal.com]

we're currently on 1/5 acre.....(I can't convert that).....and the BIGGEST lots at the new devlopment were MAYBE 1800 ft2. but again, these were intentionally tiny.

I'd be happy with 1/3..enough to mow and plant and run, but not enough to need a riding mower

[monkeysmama.livejournal.com]

OUCH! $950k!? OUCH!

But it is really pretty.

[onelargecat.livejournal.com]

Are you guys going to buy and hope to sell within 8-10 years? Or are you just saying that if you WANTED to you probably wouldn't make much? Just curious.

We aren't in the house hunting stage yet (since we don't know where we're moving yet, obviously) but we both are hoping that wherever we end up we'll be able to buy a house that we want to stay in forever. Will we stay forever? Who knows. But we would like to buy a place that we *would* stay in for a very very long time, as opposed to buying a house and saying, "Ok, we'll sell and upgrade in 5-10 years."

[tray85.livejournal.com]

Ooh - prices in your area are ouchie. Sigh - I'd give an arm for a Butlers pantry and upstairs laundry room!

Very pretty house with a nice layout though. I've never heard of a finished attic as an option! Interesting.

I like a bit of elbow room too. Too bad there isn't a nice marriage of space and houses.