In 2005 this was my home in North Carolina called the “Retreat House” since I was going back and forth from work in Florida and Asheville, NC.
Downsizing started in early 2015 from this 3400 sq ft home to a 2800 sq ft condo in the same neighborhood. It was the month of February 2015- one of the coldest winters on record in North Carolina. The ice, snow, wind and low temperatures were relentless. I found myself moving to the condo I purchased in the most horrendous conditions.
My husband passed away unexpectedly five months prior. As empty nesters living in Florida for over 35 years, we purchased our mountain “retreat’ home which was larger than what we were looking for in square footage, but we loved the house, the views, the golf course, the community and immediately made the house our own. We were officially “half-backs” making a work-lifestyle transition to western North Carolina.
That September of 2014, now a widow maneuvering life as a single, it didn’t take long to realize I had to divest myself of the Airstream 22’ trailer we had purchased 6 months prior, the Chevy Tahoe and the retreat home. The Airstream and Tahoe sold within 24 hours of an online posting, and it took only two weeks to sell the house. Then I needed to find a place to live quickly. There were two attached condos built in the mid-90s that were available in the same development on the opposite side of the beautiful mountain view golf course. Running on intuition and not a lot of thoughtful planning I selected the one needing the least amount of work done to it. The condo was nestled in a cul-de-sac, bright and cheery- move in ready. Square footage was only 500 sq. ft. less than the retreat house and on three levels- built on the side of a hill, very similar to my previous house. This was not a good move with a downsizing goal but I loved the condo and made it my own.
In April 2017 I retired or what I called ‘taking a career break.’ Time to start thinking of less expenses, less space, less everything to better fit my retirement income of a single person. That summer I purchased a small 1970’s ranch style home in a neighborhood I liked that all of the elements I was looking for– but it was a ‘fixer upper.” I put the condo up for sale and dived head first into a summer remodeling project.