Tuesday, December 09, 2003
The House Chapter 1
So last July, Lorna and I are wandering around the big Air show at Oshkosh, WI when she picks up an ad for "Airparks" around the country.
An airpark is an airport that has houses with hangars built on it. You can live with your airplane. Just taxi out of the drive and off you go. It has always been a dream of mine to live in one.
Anyway, there was an ad for Phoenix Regional Airport. It's a bit south of Phoenix and it is just starting out. We decided to check it out when we got home. It took us a little time to find because it is a bit hidden. We drove around the airport and saw where the "Studio Hangars" were going to go up. We made calls and looked at lots (approx. $40,000 for a small one). On the way home from the airport, we noticed a home for sale across the road from the airport. Lorna called to find the details. Three bedrooms, 3.16 acres with horse facilities listed at $134,000. The airport was selling land at the equivalent of $200K/acre. Hummm...We figured the structure we wanted to build on the airport would cost approx. $230K. 1/5 acre @ $40,000 or 3.16 acres at $100K+? The truth is, we came so close to getting a lot on the airport but then the imagination kicked in. A Horse Ranch! "The Lazy-H". "Yea, we got a little spread down south". Maybe I could pave some of it and make my own runway. Hawley International Airport and Horse Ranch! (This will sound even crazier when you see the photos) Ultimately, if we would have gone for the airport property, we would have had little, if any, yard and I just couldn't see our future kids-to-come riding their bikes on an active taxi-way. The dreams of the "Bar-H" won out and we made an offer on the house.
That's when the trouble really began!...More later.
So last July, Lorna and I are wandering around the big Air show at Oshkosh, WI when she picks up an ad for "Airparks" around the country.
An airpark is an airport that has houses with hangars built on it. You can live with your airplane. Just taxi out of the drive and off you go. It has always been a dream of mine to live in one.
Anyway, there was an ad for Phoenix Regional Airport. It's a bit south of Phoenix and it is just starting out. We decided to check it out when we got home. It took us a little time to find because it is a bit hidden. We drove around the airport and saw where the "Studio Hangars" were going to go up. We made calls and looked at lots (approx. $40,000 for a small one). On the way home from the airport, we noticed a home for sale across the road from the airport. Lorna called to find the details. Three bedrooms, 3.16 acres with horse facilities listed at $134,000. The airport was selling land at the equivalent of $200K/acre. Hummm...We figured the structure we wanted to build on the airport would cost approx. $230K. 1/5 acre @ $40,000 or 3.16 acres at $100K+? The truth is, we came so close to getting a lot on the airport but then the imagination kicked in. A Horse Ranch! "The Lazy-H". "Yea, we got a little spread down south". Maybe I could pave some of it and make my own runway. Hawley International Airport and Horse Ranch! (This will sound even crazier when you see the photos) Ultimately, if we would have gone for the airport property, we would have had little, if any, yard and I just couldn't see our future kids-to-come riding their bikes on an active taxi-way. The dreams of the "Bar-H" won out and we made an offer on the house.
That's when the trouble really began!...More later.
// posted by Chris @ Tuesday, December 09, 2003
Comments:
Post a Comment
