Global Wandering

Forgotten Bungalow

Here are photos of my two favorite bungalows this month. The first is in Teton Valley, Idaho. The house needs a facelift, but it certainly isn't anything a new coat of paint can't solve.
Kitchen We've passed this house numerous times on our way to and from Jackson. LaPriel wants to buy it and have it moved, but I like it just where it is. The kitchen sink looks like the sink unit we had in the house where I grew up, a 1930's mail-order bungalow from Sears.

Power Source in Living Room The livingroom has hardwood floors under several layers of asbestos. Plus it comes with its owns power source. This picture reminds me of the shantytowns outside Mexicali, Mexico. Families would sit outside their houses and watch television by hooking their TV sets up to car batteries.

Backyard

My second favorite bungalow is in the North Park area of San Diego. I love this part of town. The houses are beautiful and the people are as varied as the bungalows. It is also the thrift shop capital of San Diego. There's a thrift shop near here where everything is organized by color. This works well for clothes, but in this particular store, they have also color coded the books. Red books on one shelf. Blue on another.

North Park Bungalow

Posted by jd at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Monday we move into our new home. It’s probably the second bungalow built in Idaho in the last 50 years.
Our New Bungalow
The other was a house in Sun Valley we modeled our home after.
Sun Valley Bungalow
A year ago, LaPriel and I went to Ketchum for the weekend. I was biking on the trail that runs between Ketchum and Hailey when I spotted this forest green bungalow. It had such a welcoming feel to it. Later, I showed it to LaPriel, and the owners were kind enough to let us peak inside. We knew then we had to build a house like it. Based on the cell phone pictures we took of the house’s exterior, we designed our home. We made numerous modifications, but we think we have kept the same welcoming feel.

So what did we learn from having a house built.

1. It’s not as bad as everyone makes it sound. Of course, that because LaPriel obsessed over every detail.
2. The best part about having the house in the home show was we were certain it would be done on time.
3. Its better to reduce the square footage and put the money saved into windows and doors. Good windows connect the house to the outside.
4. Order everything way sooner than you think you will need it.
5. After telling a subcontractor what you want, write it down and send it to them. It saves the time of having the sub contractor redo things.

Now for the tour

Continue reading "Our New Bungalow" »

Posted by jd at 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)