Sunday, August 23, 2009

T for Tempe

When we got married at the end of 2000, we bought this tiny 848 sq. ft. house in Tempe, Arizona. This was our first house. We paid $69,000 for this 1959 bungalow. It had 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a tiny kitchen and a tiny living room. It had never been remodeled. The floors were painted concrete. The whole (848 sq. ft.) house had only four fuses! In the picture is the new sidewalk (it didn't have one when we bought it). Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport replaced the windows, doors, insulation, swamp cooler, (did I mention ... it didn't have air conditioning), the heater and the roof two years after we bought the house. We had to sign an agreement not to sue the airport for the noise.

The washer and dryer and the water heater were outside in the back yard. To help with the spiders, dust, ..... in my "laundry room," hubby built a little wooden room for me. It cut down on some of the dust, but I had to take a broom to sweep away all the spiders.



Our dining room was in the back yard too. Hubby built a "deck" out of old pallet wood. We put the table and chairs under our tangerine tree.



He also built himself a wood shop out the old pallet wood. We lived in that house until 2004 when the market went sky high. All these little houses by Tempe Town Lake and ASU were going for $300,000 and up. We had many offers for this tiny little house within minutes of the listing. We sold it, of course, and with lots of cash in our wallet, we bought our current house. So T for Tempe and lots of memories (and cash). Check out the other T's at http://unglazed.blogspot.com/




12 comments:

Rev. Paul said...

It's cute, but ... really small. I'm amazed you lasted 4 years in it!

Anonymous said...

Another great alphabet post. It's fun to see the projects that made your house a home. Sounds like you made a wise investment. Hope you have a very good week.

Diane AZ said...

Yikes, no air conditioning, hard to imagine, but wow that worked out very well for you!

Dawn said...

Sure it was small but what personality it had, after all your hubby's handiwork that is. I'm glad you came out ahead when you sold it. It's gonna be a long time before we're back to those days in the housing market!
Dawn

Busy Bee Suz said...

What a cute home...I am so happy you made some money off of this house. I hate to even think what it may be worth today. Our property values have dropped soooo much, it is sad.

Unknown said...

What great memories that first homes ingrain in our hearts. I wonder what that little bungalow is selling for today.

Jen said...

Happy Monday DeeDee!
Cute little Love shack.
Did you have a lot of company come visiting when you lived there, like you do today? ha

Minerva said...

My first house was small too. But the memories are big. You should get a medal for no air conditioning in Arizona.

Susie said...

what a cute little house Deedee. I can't imagine living with out air conditioning but it looked really cozy!

Ben said...

Nice memory. I enjoyed my one visit to Tempe - climbed up a little "mountain" and watched the planes flying into Phoenix.

Dawn said...

Ooohhh I love the new background. Great rich colors.

Yes, hubby is a Broncos fan and has been as long as I've known him. Go figure, huh? Tuscon born but Californian since he was a baby. I don't think he's ever even been to Colorado. He was a big Elway fan. I think he just wants to get attention 'cause being so close to the bay area everyone here is a 49er's or Raiders' fan!

Tanna said...

I love the outside dining room!! Very cute. Newlyweds can survive tight quarters! Looks like it was a great investment,too!