Shared Illusions

We have a bead on a house about 2 miles from downtown Staunton, one of the communities we like. BTW, it’s pronounced Stanton round these parts. I keep having to correct myself!

We have only seen it online so far. Viewing it tomorrow at 5. It’s a great property and seems a great price. Homes around here go fast! So many are listed as Pending. I’ve had to learn to filter that out of the search as it’s discouraging to see a potentially ideal property and not have it available.

We have seen some sweet but too small places. Some good size but need too much work places. Some asking too much for what you get places. Some too far from everything places. One I almost fell for on Lake Monticello. I mean right there, in the back yard, and with a dock. But too far from everything. Still, it was tempting. Still is. But! Must focus on other desires and balance them out.

Staunton has an Amtrak station, as does Charlottesville, and is just 45 minutes away, so that provides a wealth of access. Also is closer to the Blue Ridge Mountains and Appalachian Trail and trails in general.

Things I’ve noticed as we drive winding 2 Lane roads and by-ways: Brick is a popular construction material. There are a lot of wineries. This is horse country with grand estate homes and acres of property. This is hard scrabble country with less than modest homes. We are loving the rolling hills. There are also plenty of breweries.

It seems to be easy to swiftly get out of densely populated Cville into rural areas. Traffic has not been congested. The late 18th and early 19th century buildings in historic downtowns delight us.

Haven’t taken too many photos yet as we’ve been pretty busy getting from one place to another to tour homes, searching online for homes, and doing our own drive-bys so as not to alienate our realtor with “unlikely but still want to see for ourselves” possibilities.