S2 sold their house of 20 years in Sept. 2005 & in Jan. 2006 moved into The Braeburn
This all started over spring break, 2004, when we visited Tucson. We began thinking about having a place we could winter in. The theory was that we could get enough by selling our house to buy something smaller in Seattle AND something modest in the SW. After running the numbers we realized that to get anything on Capitol Hill worth giving up our lovely home for, we would not end up with money leftover for a winter home.
Even though we let go of that idea, once the door was opened to even CONSIDER leaving our home, a whole new world of options presented themselves. We both love our neighborhood and didn’t want to leave it. There’s a brand new condo that just broke ground near us called The Braeburn. When we visited their web site we both instantly became excited by their approach. They’re including a wealth of amenities such as a fitness facility, Zen garden, pea patch, yoga room, theater, workshop, etc. It’s a block from the co-op where we food shop and it’s still easy walking distance to Spencer’s school and our yoga studio. It’s kind of a cross between co-housing and condo living. We’re really excited about the prospect of down sizing and getting a fresh start. You can read all about it at: TheBraeburn.com.
So what does The Braeburn look like?
We bought one of the few 2 bedroom/2 bath units. It’s on the top floor, SW corner with a view! It’s small, only 1000 sq. ft (coming from 2200!). At top left is ‘the hole”. The red car is heading west down Pine. The top right image is a model of the entire complex including the east and west buildings. There’s a courtyard between them with a waterfall and the Zen Garden. The 2nd row, left photo is our corner of the model with 14th in the foreground and Pine on the right. Our unit is the top one on that corner. The photo to the right of it was taken August 21, 2005. We’re adding photos periodically so you can see the progress. The latest photo still shows tyvek on our corner.
NOTE: When we updated the website we added all the construction and move in photos to one slideshow at the bottom.
The left balcony is Sheila’s office, the rounded area is the living room. The next balcony on the right is off the kitchen and the last balcony is off our bedroom As of September the wallboard is up and siding is done except for our corner. January move-in is starting to look like a reality. We’ve just been told our orientation will be between 1/7-1/13, our closing will be 1/14-1/17, and our move in will be between 1/18-1/28. We’re getting VERY excited! LATER: As it turned out, we were one of 9 units fast-tracked to move in by end of January. The building won’t be fully occupied for more than a month. After 1 week here, we’re settled in. Still doing without any amenities.
We Sold Our House!
Since The Braeburn isn’t due to be occupied until January, 2006 we waited until fall to list the house. It sold in five days! We worked hard, especially Spencer, on de-cluttering, painting, repairing. We spent a lot on cosmetics such as new carpeting, wood floor top coating, painting the kitchen, emptying and painting the basement, etc. It all seems to have paid off though. We listed on September 6 and had an offer five days later. We closed on October 21 and moved that weekend into a nearby temporary apartment called The Hillcrest. At the October 29 walk-through we were assured of a mid-January move-in to the Braeburn. It’s starting to feel very real.
New photos & update as of April 22, 2006
We’ve been here almost 3 months now. They still haven’t completed the lobby, our storage area or any of the amenities. All are in due time. We have just had our first Home Owners’ Association meeting and guess who was elected to serve on the transition board? No surprise here, Sheila, of course. The east building is supposed to get their certificate of occupancy next week at which time we can access our storage unit. We’ve been assured all amenities will be competed by June 1. In the meantime we’re enjoying the skyview terrace.
Spencer’s sister-in-law Marcy does color consulting professionally. Recently she paid us a visit from Eugene. Spencer spent Spring break implementing her wonderful suggestions. The photos below show the results. The stained glass window is from the front door of our old house. We’re so glad we preserved it. And that’s our new reclining, leather love-seat. Very comfy. And notice the new stone counter top and sink.
A year later, March 2007, we’ve finally had our master bathroom remodeled as we’ve planned from the beginning. We’re very happy to have replaced the second sink/vanity and corner shower with a wonderful 2-person bathtub and fabulous piece of art glass for the wall. The glass is by a local artist name Eric Krag.
