900,000 short

Yesterday afternoon started off innocently enough. With the kids, it always seems to be a struggle between what can we do to keep the two year-old busy for an afternoon--without the help of Dora or Diego--and how can we get the baby to take a nap while she's teething. The answer: a leisurely drive in the car. Although I hate the act of driving--whether it's to work, to the grocery store on a simple errand or a six-hour road trip to visit family--I like riding in the car (especially through winding roads or uncharted territory). Because I spend most of my time in Charlotte on the same six or eight streets, I consider most of the city uncharted territory; thus, I find myself exploring untouched neighborhoods when it's time to waste time on a weekend afternoon.

So back to yesterday. Before the Packer playoff game and after the morning trip to Target, I convinced Alex to go on a drive so I could show him some of the "cute" neighborhoods I've targeted for our future home. Alex was at the helm, so when I said "right" he went left and we somehow ended up here: here being an amazing mid-century gem (pictured above and below). We turned off of a busy Charlotte thoroughfare because Alex liked the name of the street, and we soon found ourselves winding up the private drive belonging to this home. At first we thought it was abandoned and we had stumbled upon the city's best kept secret, but the Cadillac in the carport told us otherwise. I freaked out and slumped down in the passenger seat as we got closer and closer to the house while Alex pleaded his case "I had to turn around somewhere." Five minutes later I wanted to see the house again and made Alex retrace our trespassing steps. The second time around I took pictures with the iPhone and memorized the address so I could look it up on Zillow when we got home.

The estimated value of the house is $1.173 million, which puts it about $900,000 out of our price range. On top of that, it's nearly 5,000 square feet with six bedrooms/four baths and sits on 6.72 acres. That's just too much house for us (ha! ha!), and who would rake all those leaves?