How to Magically Change the Location of Your House

Most people don't want to live on a busy street. This posed a problem for us in selling the Yale House, which often had cars and busses whizzing by.

Because the one thing you can't change about a home is the location. Unless you have a magic wand. Or a house on wheels.

Or unless you live on a corner.

Before we stepped in, the entire front yard was a rock driveway. Why bother with a front yard when you're on such a busy street?

Here is a view of the side of the house which is on a quiet, pleasant street.

 

Here you can see the original front door on the right. You can also see the side of the house that made a much better front than the real front.We simply added the front door where the entryway window was.

This also meant adding a porch, walkway, and pergola. The pergola was a big hit with the neighbors. One woman asked if she could hire Jordan to build one at her house.

A sleek, new mailbox and a modern porch light finished the look with the help of some greenery. 

The brick space between the windows felt bare, so we added a clematis and a trellis it could climb.

Can you see the original front door peaking out above the fence? Instead of removing it, we kept it as an entrance to the side yard. Jordan added a double-thick fence along the busy street to keep traffic noise to a minimum. Part of the old driveway still left plenty of room to park cars next to the new front yard. And the leftover rock driveway in the new side yard was the perfect size for a corn hole court.

The backyard needed some spiffing up, too.

Remember the garage door from the before picture?

It became those french doors leading to the kitchen, and off of it, Jordan build a deck. 

Around the corner he added a patio and fire pit. And grass. That always helps.

And since we turned the garage into the kitchen, we had another garage built.

You may not be able to magically change the location of your house...

...but you can change the location of the front door...

...and the result sometimes ends up being pretty magical.

Sources

Front door/mailbox/light fixture/trellis/wood: Home Depot

Front door paint color: Naval by Sherwin Williams