The first home that Jim and I bought together was located in the foothills of Mount Helix and had 3,984 square feet, 1.84 acres of land, a 35,000-gallon swimming pool, and a 5,000-gallon spa. I used to come home from work Friday at noon, start the pool/spa heater, and swim like a SeaWorld whale until Monday at noon.
When we moved in, the house was in my specialty area, i.e., pretty much a dump—1971 shag carpeting, worn and torn; a leaking roof; a pool and spa that looked like a Louisiana swamp; and 1.84 acres of non-landscaping.
I put in 1.84 acres of landscape lighting and irrigation, had the pool and spa replastered and retiled, and installed tile floors in the entry foyer and the 77-foot hallway. I never got around to doing the roof because by that time the gas & electric bill was more than my mortgage payment.
In fact, in June 2000, our gas & electric bill was a whopping $4,571! Jim and I decided to sell. We knew that we didn’t want to pay $4,500+ utility bills for the rest of our lives. And what good is a pool, spa, and landscape lighting if we couldn’t afford to use them? At one point I set the landscape lights to come on at 8:00 at night and go off at 8:05, just to make sure that they still worked!
Sadly, we didn’t find out until six months after we sold that the reason for the high utility bill was because Enron was manipulating the energy markets west of the Mississippi River. Once Enron was forced into bankruptcy, from which it never recovered, things returned to normal. However, we never bought a house that big again. It was simply too much for two guys, especially two gay guys who don’t fit the gay stereotypes of cleaners and interior designers…… LOL
Here is the house where we lived, 11141 Valley Lights Drive:
So while I don’t miss living in a house that big, I still enjoy visiting neighborhoods of the extraordinarily wealthy who enjoy putting on the show.
Here are four pictures of the 1% in a neighborhood surrounding a grade school where I teach chess in the after-school enrichment program:
Rumors abound here in San Diego that Mitt & Ann Romney’s $12,000,000 La Jolla home is on the market. It’s not in the MLS if it is but that has never squelched rumors before.
Nonetheless, I already have decided not to buy it….
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It is nice to visit the neighbourhood
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…but I wouldn’t want to live there……….LOL
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The houses don’t impress me. I can’t see how they could feel homey and cozy.
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From the outside, they are just houses. It’s what you do inside that makes it a home!
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Wise choice!
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I like my spaces small and compact as does Zoey the Cool Cat.
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Zoey the Cool Cat is adapting, though. In her 5-day rotation of places to sleep during the day, she’s now including the bed in the office and the floor by the back door!
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I could get used to that, too. Nothing too large or extravagant. Just a bit of stretching room.
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I’d have a heart attack at a $4500 electric bill. WOW! But I also can’t imagine living in that large a house either. I struggle to keep a 1950 sq.ft one clean!
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I totally understand. It was a mistake on our part, so karma (utility) helped us see the light (pun intended) and move before we destroyed ourselves.
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A utility bill like that would have sent me into hysterics. We all knew Enron got caught manipulating things, but that’s insane.
While beautiful, you guys have better things to do than manage a monster house ( and as you know the repairs and updates are endless and budget busting.)
Teaching chess? Now that’s a big contribution for the future – great for brain development and encouraging analysis and logical thinking – so little of that around these days.
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Some of the little rugrats actually are interested in chess, and some are pretty good, too! I have a kindergartener in one of the schools who absolutely awesome. He should be teaching me!
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Kids are often the best – if we could just keep them away from adults maybe kids could retain all the wonders of being “new” and unspoiled by interactions with the world and humans would make progress?
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I never knew there is a stereotype of gay guys being cleaners or designers. I am heteroromantic, grey asexual cougar, and don’t want sex, marriage or kids, and would only consider a serious and committed, monogamous, Living Apart Together relationship. I am not a housewifey type, but a full on career girl/woman. I pretty much break every stereotype there is. I don’t do normal, only quirky.
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I pretty much break all the gay stereotypes, so I’m right there with you!
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Yey! Russel that’s fantastic. Stereotypes are called such, because they are meant to be broken. Ha!
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