BEFORE Photos

Every project starts somewhere.  These are the photos I took during the buying process.  A little rough in spots. A little vision down the road will bring this to a great, small home for me one day!

Day one project: line up painter. EVERYTHING gets painted white. Walls, Trim, Doors. Everything.

Laminate stays until I remodel kitchen to move in and will be replaced by hardwoods.

 Living/Dining area is about 17' x 24'

 From kitchen looking to backyard

 Vaulted ceiling

 Doors on the left are bath and utility

Master Bedoom 

 Kitchen, Bath, Utility

 Yep - this is going... a 24" white vanity and matching cabinet on order already.  Tile floors.

 And this too...

Thinking that the utility and bath will become one room later and reconfigured with a stacking W&D

 Sliders will become french doors

 Decks get power washed and stained with light gray semi-transparent stain.

 Gate and railings get white stain.

 Imagine grey and white.

 Large trees in backyard cut the sun in the afternoon

 Utility building and entrance from carport.

 Front deck - under eaves get painted WHITE.

 New shingles in the lightest grey available.  Thinking silver metal roof later.

Front deck from the driveway. Thinking a roof over the entry will be a "One Day Soon" project.

 Carport can be an easy conversion to a garage.

The Original Kitchen

Spartan and functional, the kitchen will be remodeled before I move in. It has been functional since it was built in 1975, right down to the 27" Coppertone Oven.  A little nostalgia.

The faux finished cabinets are done to resemble burl.  

They are fine for now, for the time it will be a rental, 

but they will be replaced by white shaker cabinets 

in a different configuration when I retire.

White HAWL Cottage Photos

These are photos from previous MLS listings when the house was sold twice since 1975 - Quite rectangular about 24' x 48' (including the carport) and sits on just over 1/3 acre lot. 

The large deck on the front wraps around the house and down the back. More deck pics coming!

White HAWL Cottage - A New Beginning to the End Game

I wanted to find a house I could buy without a mortgage to have for a day when I can retire. In the meantime, I plan to have a tenant and be a quasi-landlord.  This is my blog to document the journey.

I have friends who are world travelers. They've lived in beautiful homes all over the US, have traveled the world as tourists and business people.  When they decided where to retire, they found a great tiny town in East Texas called "Hideaway Lake", or as the locals call it, "HAWL".

I helped them when they were remodeling the house before they moved here and I fell in "like" with HAWL and the nearby town of Lindale. 

Hideaway Lake is a "Club" community where you belong to the Club which gives you access to the golf course, tennis courts and other amenities.  Before you think it's one of "THOSE" places, it isn't.  It is a former weekend "lake house" or "cabin" community that has evolved over the years into a place where sub-$100K homes exist side-by-side with $500K-$800K homes!

Guarded front and back with its own EMT service, it is a great retirement venue and still affordable.

Here is the "about" from the HAWL website:

Encompassing almost 10 square miles, the Hide-A-Way Lake community was launched in 1967 and features over 1,600 homes, over 3,000 members arranged around 235 acres of lakes. Its residents include families who regard Hide-A-Way as a very attractive suburban community, retirees, and folks who love it's small community atmosphere.

Hide-A-Way Lake's impressive array of features includes:

• Manned access control gates and roving security patrols, 24 hours a day.
• Three lakes, including boat ramps, dock facilities, fishing piers, a beach, and an active lake and fisheries management program.
• A 27-hole golf course and a Golf Shop and driving range headed by a PGA professional.
• Four parks, including such features as tennis courts, playgrounds, pavilions, picnic facilities, basketball courts, and ball fields.

• A junior Olympic swimming pool with lifeguards.
• On-site dining facilities which also offers catering for private functions.
• A variety of community buildings available to residents, without charge, for parties, family reunions, social activities, classes, and club activities.
• Dozens of community organizations serving individual interests ranging from bridge, mahjong, dancing, and gardening to computers, exercise, recreational vehicles, painting, and quilting - just to name a few.
• An on-site Emergency Medical Service base.

Hide-A-Way Lake is governed by a 12-member Board of Directors for its homeowners association, and services to its members are carried out by a professional management team.