House in Altus

Tennis court! Can you believe it?

There's kind of a funny thing about this house as well as the house in KS that we bought (and sold) which is that we didn't like it at first. We didn't think much of the KS house at first either. After thinking about it though and looking at what few pictures we took, we started to take an interest in it again and the potential it has to be a really fun place to live.

The grill, hot tub, and standing heater on the patio are all staying with the house!

One side of the front of the house. We jokingly called this the "church" house when we first saw it because the entrance is huge and opens up to vaulted ceilings.
This is the house we have potentially bought in OK. It was built in 1971, but is rather a low-maintenance house in terms of the solid flooring in most areas and the patio in the back is new and garden is newly landscaped. The blue trim is ugly and they have let the surrounding area overgrow, but those things are fixable. Max and I love unique houses and this one has potential...potential to look really nice and play potential for the kids, especially on the outside of the house. Yes, there is a tennis court and we plan on having lots of fun with that, but keep in mind, this house is in Altus, OK, which we are excited about, but this much house with a tennis court and beautiful backyard would be out of our price range pretty much anywhere else. The house has not been occupied by the owners for about a year, so that is why it looks a bit neglected...we plan to change that, Lord willing.

Front entrance. Tile in entry way and flagstone in the living room. We like the stone fireplace too and are thinking about adding a stone or wood mantle.

Breakfast nook off of the kitchen.

It looks like the kitchen cabinets were recently painted white, which I like, and it looks like a new slide-in oven with flat-top but the old dishwasher and floors look original. We like the wood floors from the kitchen going into the dining room.

A little bar area looking out to the living area.

Dining room looking out onto our neighbors, the cows.

Bedrooms

There are only 3 bedrooms in a house that is 3500 square feet, but they are good size bedrooms. We are thinking about putting three kids in one bedroom and the baby (on the way) in the other bedroom so the other kids don't have to hear her cry and so that we can have privacy while nursing.
The Master Bedroom is huge and has a strange feature that we are hopefully going to change, which is the bathroom is part of the bedroom...no door just carpet from the bedroom leading into the bathroom. The mirror above the drawers is the vanity for the bathroom and that door next to it is a huge closet that spans the back wall.

MBR

Other bedroom. I like this one with all of the light from the windows.

Last bedroom, which is probably where we would stick three kids until the baby is old enough to share a room with Gloria.

Misc pictures

Max's future workshop.

Part of the enclosed patio area. We're not sure whether the pool table goes or stays or what condition it is in.

Enclosed porch (or corridor)...good tricycle riding area on a rainy or cool day.

Another view of the living room from the fireplace and window side. The bamboo bar hopefully does NOT stay.

Another view of living room. It'll be a challenge deciding how our furniture goes in here.

More misc pics

Side of house. The fenced area to the left is a patio off the bedroom that also has a storm shelter. There is also another basement area that is unfinished that holds the utilities and is underneath the kitchen area.

Hot tub. We're not sure how well it works, but it stays with the house.

Garage.

I can't remember if I already put this picture in. We love the patio and plan on making it even nicer in the garden areas with the help of Colorado parents (10 hour drive from Colorado Springs to Altus).

Strange, but nice bathroom in the bedroom. Not much privacy. The shower has something growing in it, which I'm sure is one of the things that turned us off from the house initially. That can be taken care of though....as well as the openness issue...we could tile the bathroom area and put doors there.

Bathrooms,etc...

Hallway with bathroom to your right and workshop to the left, breakfast nook and kitchen straight ahead.

laundry room

I'm thinking about painting the bathroom and laundry room cabinets white and changing the handles. If it was nice looking wood, I wouldn't change it...wood like we had in the KS house.

House Selling Time

Sadly, the time has come to leave the wonderful house we found just a couple of years ago. How things have changed! The kids have grown (in size and number), the trees are bigger and the gardens have been moved. These pictures are an interesting comparison.

Max just likes this picture. I think it appeals to his artistic side.

The stairs used to have an old brown shag carpet hiding beautiful solid oak steps. Used to...

View of our porch in the spring with our little American flower girl

Our dining room enjoys the afternoon sun.
And a new oak floor.
I've never understood the point of carpet in kitchens, bathrooms or dining rooms

Friends, relatives and neighbors all enjoy the swings and the 'lookout'.

The mighty hunters return. It appears they have bagged a target!

All the kids, from the furry to the fatherly, love fun in the water.

Before and after pictures of the kitchen.

Sun Dog. In North Dakota a sun dog was a bright spot on either side of the sun on really cold days. Our sun dog just soaks up the rays. This was shortly after we put in new carpet and painted the room.

Breakfast with the kids, or why we put in a tile floor.
This was just as we were finishing it up.

Blanketed in snow. We got a lot more snow this winter than the last couple of winters. The kids and Zephyr loved it!

A threatening winter storm

Fall in the back yard

House Bagged!

I warned you all that I would be posting pictures of the outside of the house from this trip! You can start from the top if you want to and work your way down because they are mostly in chronological order. You will probably get a good sense of the surroundings of the house and part of the neighborhood from these pictures.

Max, the kids, and I took our third trip to Derby, KS to close on the Partridge Cir house. We stayed at our friends', the Fishes, house, but spent a lot of time at our house after the closing on Friday morning, freshening it up and working on a few projects. I went back to the Fishes' home during naptimes while Max fixed some things in the house, like the fence where Zephyr could get out and the central vac (which works well now!), and he also freshened up the carpets with some good smelling chemicals and vacuumed them up. We also left windows open anytime we were in the house to let fresh fall breezes in.

The last thing we did before leaving the house to come back to Altus was to measure all of the windows so that I could brainstorm about blinds and curtains and possibly order some or even make some. I think the bedrooms and bathrooms will be first priority and then the rest of the house. I am looking forward to this challenge as it will be the first time I have had to think up blinds and curtains for any house!

We are looking forward to getting our household goods in mid-November and have been discussing where everything will go. Max will probably still be in training when the goods come so it will make it easier for me to tell the movers where to put the furniture when they bring it in. We are hoping that Max's mom, Michele, will be able to be there with me and the kids when the movers come.

Enjoy the many pictures of the outside of our new home in Kansas!

View from deck toward our neighbors to the west. Gloria was fascinated by the blown up pumpkin in the neighbors' front yard.

NE corner of backyard

Nice big trees line the outside of the fence.

View toward NW corner of backyard.

View toward SW corner of backyard.

View toward SE corner of backyard.