We Bought A House

Last winter, on our annual trek to see my parents in Palm Springs, quite unexpectedly, we bought a house out here.  When my parents first moved out to the desert from Orange Country (1.5 hours from where I grew up) they moved to a golfing community called Mission Lakes in the town of Desert Hot Springs.

The view looking down our street.

The town itself is nothing special and has actually had some safety issues but the golfing community is a beautiful area that we have always loved.  The golf course is one of the best in the area and the best part for us is that it is totally affordable.

Hole No. 1

We loved coming out and staying with my folks and playing golf out here.  My parents moved off the course and down into Palm Springs about 13 years ago.  We would still venture up to DHS to enjoy the views and the golf.  Doug liked to look around the internet for properties just to see what was available and how the prices looked.  While browsing he came across this steal of a home and we decided that perhaps it would be a good time to look into making a retirement purchase!  One thing led to another and a couple days later we were homeowners!

The front of 8611 Warwick Dr.

This has been a big deal for us because we've never owned a home before.
We have always lived in church provided housing and this has been a bit of a concern for us.  One of the reasons that we were able to make this purchase at this time was because of a generous gift that Doug's sister Debbie left us after she died last summer.  Debbie was an incredibly generous person, always giving more to others than she ever wanted in return and it feels like it honors her legacy to have a home where we hope we can welcome others to enjoy our desert paradise.  We plan to make it available to friends and family at a reasonable rate so let us know if your travels take you to Southern California.  It's not fancy but it's fun.

The clubhouse at Mission Lakes

The house itself is a two bedroom, two bathroom place with an open plan layout for the living area.
You walk in the front door and the living room, dining area and kitchen area are all right there.

The open plan living area.

The living room

 The back bedroom used to be two rooms and the previous owners knocked out a wall and made a really nice master.

The master bedroom

Now there's this wonderful little nook off the bedroom.

The view into the bedroom from the backyard

The lovely sitting nook off the bedroom.  The french doors lead to the patio.

We installed french doors that lead right to the patio and sitting there in morning with the cool air coming in is just lovely.
The area is beautiful and the complex includes lit tennis courts, a swimming pool and jacuzzis, and of course the lovely golf course.

Gorgeous swimming complex

 When we were here in June we furnished the house, landscaped the front and put a covered patio on the back.  

The front yard.

The back patio

This time I installed an internet connection.  It's pretty much ready to be used so let us know if you'd like to give it a go!  It is located 15 miles north of downtown Palm Springs so you need a car when you are here.

The glorious view from the front of our house.

Just to be clear...we have no plans to move back to California right now!  Of course, we are trying to figure out how to spend as much time here as possible but we still have to work and still have a life and dog in Sweden that we need to tend to.

I love this little house!

But this has given us a bit of an anchor back in our native homeland and it has helped me to know that at least the hope and promise of returning to a warmer climate one day has come a bit closer to reality!