The parents' new house...(my free vacation destination :-)

[Pete M]

They aren't moving down to Georgia (from Michigan) for another 2-3 years, but a house popped up on the market that they just couldn't pass up. It has 2k square feet, a pole barn, about 1.5 acres, and is only a half mile from my sister's place. :D

 

We've got a couple hundred pictures so I'll try to hit just the highlights.

 

Front of the house. It's a cute place, but that awful green has got to go. It just doesn't look right in a woodsy setting. (this shot was an older one from back when the previous owners were still moving out).

 

Back of the house. Nothing special here, but I drew in where dad wants his garden, and the chimney will eventually be getting a stone facade on it.

 

 

Poll barn. 200 amp service to it and lots of parking next to it.

 

 

The inside has plenty of room for a project car and the upstairs has lots of room for storage. As you can see, my sister has already taken advantage of the free closet space down the street. :D

 

 

Some highlights of the interior:

 

That fake butcherblock and those ugly handles are first to go. My parents are not into the "country" decor.

 

The living room:

 

Closeup of the fireplace.

 

The glass wall of the sunroom:

 

just outside the sunroom is the treefort

 

The sunroom exits to the deck. In the foreground you can see the current fire pit. Dad has plans to build that up with stonework.

 

Looking out off the deck into the backyard:

 

Walk back far enough and you eventually reach my favorite part of the property, the creek:

 

Right next to the water is a clearing. Probably the previous owners leaf burning area. This is part of the flood zone, so we're not sure what we can do with it with regards to landscaping.

 

 

Dad saw some little fish one day and I caught a glimpse of this guy. There are deer tracks all over, and there are gray squirrels, lizards and chipmunks.

 

More wildlife. This time inside. In case mom needed any reminders that she bought a house in the woods.

 

 

Here's an overhead view that'll help show how truly awesome the property is. The yellow is their property. The blue is the river. The green areas north of it are fairly undeveloped, but I don't know which neighbors own them. The red area in the bottom left is a new subdivision. There are built roads all over that area of Georgia that are built but it takes a long long time to take the next step. Some never do. Regardless, that chunk of road is up on a steep hill and so the view from the back yard will never change, neighbor or no neighbor. The area to the bottom right is a huge radio antenna. The path coming off of it is a service road to one of the guywire anchors. Everything else in their area is just woods. The area directly to the right of my parent's place is all forest in a 100 year flood zone. It'll never be developed and is all mine to explore. :D

Essentially they are partially surrounded by wilderness that should stay wilderness for quite some time. Just too good to pass up with being so close to my sister.

[69CamaroSS]

thats one kick @$$ place you got there. i kinda like the green personally

[Geonovast]

 

How long before there's a half-ripped apart MJ in there? :cheers: :brows:

[Pete M]

If it were my place, there'd be one in there already. :D But it's their place (I have to keep reminding myself of that) and I certainly hope that 3 years from now I have a place of my own. I may even go down ahead of them if I can find a decent job. The economy here in Michigan sucks. :(

 

Likely in 3 years there will be a half disassembled TR-6 in there.

[HOrnbrod]

Pete, great looking place. I'm not too far away in N. AL and speak from experience. First thing to do is cut any tree down that can fall on any of the structures. Tornadoes are pretty frequent in this AO, and they seem to pick on vegitation close to the house. Rule of thumb is a 100' radius minimum around any structure. The homeowners insurance inspectors should also give a decent break on the annual premiums. Well worth the effort. Just my 2 cents.

[Pete M]

While it's sound advise, that'd be like 50 trees and that just can't happen. It's simply too costly.

[DirtyComanche]

While it's sound advise, that'd be like 50 trees and that just can't happen. It's simply too costly.

 

Not to mention it'd look like somebody butchered the property. We removed all the cottonwoods at our cabin - they were all at high risk of falling on the cabin or somebody mostly because they were cottonwoods - and accidently fell a couple of them on trees we wanted to keep. The place hasn't looked anywhere near as good since, and it's been maybe 5 years now.

[fatcat0491]

Hey pete i know you probably don't want to hear it but maine has a awesome realistate right now. Also jobs are popping up in a whole bunch of place ... Just food for thought

[Mitch]

very nice place, I want to move!

[jtdesigns]

Nice spot,, I'd live there...

[HOrnbrod]

While it's sound advise, that'd be like 50 trees and that just can't happen. It's simply too costly.

 

I'm not saying every tree, just the big ones close to the house. There are plenty of good ol' boys in GA that can fall the trees where they want, cut them up, haul them away then sell them for firewood (the hardwoods that is). Most of them have a stump grinder too so when done you never know a tree used to be there. I had 14 big oak and gum trees near my house done here for roughly $250 apeice.

[mjeff87]

you will soon learn what a gumball tree is.......

 

 

and come to loathe them......

 

If you cut any trees at all, those should be the first ones to go ;)

 

Jeff

[Pete M]

Come to know them? I've got one in the backyard here in Michigan! :mad: In fact it's the tree in the backyard. I didn't plant it though, so I take no responsibility. :D

 

The georgia place is free of sweetgums.

[HOrnbrod]

Amen to that. Messy ugly useless trees. They also blow down easily. For $250 a tree, it's worth it by not having one fall on my head when the tornadoes come through. :eek:

[mjeff87]

I've got a few of them and can't stand them. One's been hit by lightning, TWICE, and still won't die. They're waaaay too tall for me to try to mess with, and I don't have the $1000 each it would cost to have them cut down. I keep hoping (as long as they're still alive) that mother nature will "top" them for me during a good thunderstorm. If I can get them down to about 75 ft or so, I think I could take them out the rest of the way.

 

We didn't have gum trees in PA ;)

[Pete M]

I'd say 90% of the trees near the house are 75+ footers. They are gigantic towering (but skinny) maples and oaks. Twisters are an interesting dilemma though. The house doesn't have a basement so we'll have to figure something out for shelter. Maybe build up the laundry room as a strong room.

 

[pingpong]

Living in a community with water (be it a creek,marsh, river, or a Bay) means there might be restrictions on what you can do within so many feet of that creek. Here in the Cheasapeake Bay area the restrictions are getting really bad, to the point where on some parcels you need to do an enviromental study before you touch anything.

 

I just pulled a permit to build a deck.... for every tree I cut down over 12" in diameter I have to plant 2 more :nuts:

[HOrnbrod]

I'd say 90% of the trees near the house are 75+ footers. They are gigantic towering (but skinny) maples and oaks. Twisters are an interesting dilemma though. The house doesn't have a basement so we'll have to figure something out for shelter. Maybe build up the laundry room as a strong room.

 

One of the things they do here is get a large rectangular concrete septic tank (preferrably unused :D ), saw a door hatch in one end, and either bury it in a hillside or mound dirt over it like an ammo bunker. They have a steel door and are vented of course. You see them all over the place.

[BLHTAZ]

That's awesome Pete. What p[art of Georgia are they in? We are looking at property in the Blue Ridge area right now. Hope to have someting and be able to move up there within the next 2-3 years.

[Pete M]

They are in Loganville, about an hour east of Atlanta.

 

Make sure you learn about the specific rules in the counties you're looking at. Some are dry, some have sniffer checks on your cars. Lots of variation between counties.

[maddzz1]

They are in Loganville, about an hour east of Atlanta.

 

Make sure you learn about the specific rules in the counties you're looking at. Some are dry, some have sniffer checks on your cars. Lots of variation between counties.

 

Do you mean you can't drink? :eek: :cheers:

[HOrnbrod]

Do you mean you can't drink? :eek: :cheers:

 

In a dry county (I live in one), you can drink your head off (as I occasionally do) in your own house only. But you can't buy alcoholic beverages in the county, nor order a drink in a restaurant 'cause they can't sell it. A dry county has no legal :D bars either (but they're here). It's a Southern Baptist thing. But I'm on the county line, so a 2 mile speedrun is all that's necessary. :cheers:

[gixxerman600]

Nice place id live there.

[BLHTAZ]

OK...so that would be between 2-3 hours SE of where we are looking at.

 

Blue Ridge is not dry, but just up the road in the next county is. We have vacationed there 3 times in the last two years now and we are going back again in October. The last time we were there, we went to Tellico (only 40 minutes away :D ) and on the way back I tried to get beer at a gas station about 5 miles North of Blue Ridge, but no...dry county :roll: .

[Randy in Maine]

Georgia has some super nice interesting people and great BBQ.