Airpark Home for the New Year

My life continues to go thru some crazy changes. This time an airpark home.

I previously mentioned (here) the possibility of buying a home. It is now a done deal.

Having an airpark home means I’m back to airpark living!!  Which, of course, means my airplane is very close!!

That is a great, great thing in terms of the fantastic friends I have there, the wonderful community, having a ‘base of operations’ for all my silliness, and a hangar attached to the house for the RV-4.

The hangar – the pièce de ré·sis·tance – is wonderful!! It is not massive but it is sufficient. It needs some work and the door needs some tuning but overall, a rather nice space.  Once it is cleaned up and organized it will be swell!

The airpark home that is attached to the hangar is another matter. It needs some work – as in a complete remodel. Or, maybe a wrecking ball…  The photos DO NOT tell the real story.

There has been talk of tearing out the wall between the hangar and house and turning the house into a giant heated workshop.  I like the idea but apparently this conflicts with the airpark rules. 🙁

I know… lots of questions.

Is my meandering RV/motorhome life over?

What will happen to Missy?

Am I going to remodel the house?

Will the yard (weeds??) be replaced with green concrete so I don’t have to deal with a lawn?

Do the neighbors know that it is ME coming to live next to them? Are they ok with that??

Am I going to change the byline of my blog??

I don’t really have any answers yet.

I worked really hard to stop my brain from doing any planning until this purchase was complete. These deals do not always work out and I really dislike the mental exercises and frustration that this causes. So, I just didn’t let it happen this time.

In fact, there were problems with this purchase throughout the entire process including at the closing. In the end, it worked out ok but I got another less in patience.

That all means that I have no game plan.

Well… nearly no game plan. I have taken possession of the property, parked Missy in the backyard, and moved the RV-4 into the hangar. I am now considering all my options. My inclination is to walk into the house with a sledge hammer and start demolishing but I’m fighting that as it may not be the right approach.

Having sat in the airpark home for a few hours and let my imagination work, I can see that removing the wall that separates the front entry door from the living room would open that area up nicely. Removing the wall between the living room and kitchen would be a fantastic change. Of course, that wall is weight bearing so not a simple change. Installing those big beams up inside the ceiling so they are invisible is a fairly expensive project that I’m not sure is worth it for this house. So, that wall may just be opened up and a column stub walls or posts remain. I put green tape on the wall to help imagine this (visible in the photos).

I am also not a fan of the bathrooms. They are very old, unsightly, and frankly; kind of disgusting. Again, a sledgehammer comes to mind.

The problem with all that sledgehammer work is that big stacks of money follow close behind. Moderation is required!!

The previous owner will be picking up the last of their belongings by the middle of January. I am trying not to do anything significant until after that.

Oh – wait!!

There is more!

I bought the property knowing that a new septic system was necessary as well as some water supply system work. That was part of the reason for the complexity of the purchase. Both are going to be done early in January. An entirely new “Advanced Treatment System” (ATS) septic is required by the state of New Mexico. The water supply work isn’t terribly significant but involves re-plumbing the water line where it comes into the house and connects to the pressure tank and water softener.

After those two items are complete, the house could be lived in.

As odd as it sounds, I’ve actually used a couple of the online interior style “calculators” in an attempt to figure out what “style” I like.

How can I not know what style I like??

I know, pretty crazy. I like lots of styles – it’s a bit like asking if I prefer blondes or brunette’s?? They are both pretty great in my opinion!! 🙂

It would seem that ‘modern rustic’ and ‘southwestern’ are kind of my thing. However; bits of other styles seems to sneak in pretty easily (such as Mediterranean, coastal, and tropical). I bet I could take those same quizzes tomorrow and get an entirely different answer!!

Why does that matter??

Well… being the analytical type, I need to have a plan. Not being the ‘stylish’ type means I could do some really dumb things with interior design without a plan.