All about My Fifth House in Downtown Las Vegas
Moving to Las Vegas was somewhat of a shock to me after living in Southern California for most of my adult life. I was amazed by the sheer volume of tract homes!
Even though I worked for a national homebuilder and spent years staging and selling model homes, my attraction to older homes and buildings has stayed intact. Whenever we visit any other city, both Marc and I love to walk the neighborhoods to see all of the older homes with their own personalities and quirks. The older they are the more mysterious they are – which is both good and bad. Sometimes I find myself asking questions like: Who has lived here before? Who decided that pink tile in the master bath was a good idea?
Recently, Marc and I were exploring the older homes in Las Vegas on a Saturday afternoon when we happened upon a cute little Spanish-style home with a large corner lot in downtown Las Vegas just north (even though it sounds like downtown should be south). Lots of mature landscaping and, lo and behold, a sign that said “FOR SALE BY OWNER.” We called immediately as we drove around the block to get a second look.
The gentleman who answered said, “Come on over now if you like, I’m just doing a little bit of work on the property for the owner.” We really weren’t out “shopping,” just being a little nosey, but Marc, me, our two young daughters, and “Bunya,” my mother-in-law from San Diego, were all eager to explore.
Our girls started complaining the second we stepped into the house: “We’re not going to MOVE HERE ARE WE??? IT’s too SMALL!!” UNTIL we stepped into the backyard. They immediately starting jumping up and down and screaming, PLEASE CAN WE LIVE HERE??? The pool had their name all over it! It’s hard to believe after 13 years of miserable Vegas summers we still don’t have a pool. I really don’t want one and this has been a BIG topic of discussion at our house.
The actual house had potential but needed A LOT of work! Of course, this scares most people! But as an Interior Designer with a great team of subcontractors at my beck and call, it excites me! The uglier, the better! Give me a total wreck and let me transform it!
Fate was with us. The owner and Marc had a great phone conversation the next day and more over the next week. We decided to take it on with the intention to rent it out and possibly live in it someday. Of course, this would have taken A LOT more remodeling to meet our requirements, but we decided that it was worth the wait .
This will be the fifth home I have purchased in my lifetime, yet for me it is the most exciting!!! It’s an investment property and it is DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS! Our office is downtown and we think it is the most exciting, relevant place to live as artists and passionate, involved residents of Las Vegas. The downtown transformation is taking place at a rapid rate and we are so excited to be a part of it and just a tad bit ahead of the curve.
Stay posted, and of course, hit the subscribe button to watch as we unveil the details in this hacienda, or head over to our next post for 21… interesting design ideas!
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