I'm moving over here :) Castle looking house
Hi all!
I recently posted pics over on the landscaping design forum. I am attempting to replace dead/dying grass with native/drought tolerant plants that the deer won't eat. So far I have removed an area along the front walkway and planted santolina, salvia greggii, and rosemary.
It's a challenging project as the house needs a uniform structure to keep it from looking any more odd ...if that's possible.
I'd love feedback on plants, color, layout and local sources (Austin area) for gray gravel.
Here are some pics of the house and what I've done so far. I am not opposed to total lawn replacement, especially on the left side as the grass has completely died. The right is doing well with the oak shading it.
Thanks for any feedback!
-Joanna
Comments (25)
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Comments (9)Hi there, Royce! I'm very glad you found this forum. The very first thing I would suggest is that you take the time to read the posts on this forum. Yep, all of them. I did just that last October when I agreed to buy a fixer-upper MH (manufactured home) from a friend of mine. It was like taking a course in Manufactured Homes 101. I've now read very extensively on most aspects of MHs, but that's because I'm a researcher by profession and a book nerd, haha! But even today, I consider this forum to be the best education I got on MHs, because the information comes from the best source--actual, real people who have bought and live in MHs. Just take whatever spare time you have and start reading. Most, if not all, of your questions have been discussed extensively on various threads. Second, let me congratulate you! It is really nice to see a young person planning for his future and being mature enough to save up some money. You are doing things the right way, and it will come back to reward you down the road! I'll attempt to answer your questions, and hopefully some of the other long-timers on this forum will jump in too. But don't let that dissuade you from reading the other threads on the forum! I'm sure things will come up that I haven't answered, and that you haven't even thought to ask. What are some of the best brands to deal with? (I really liked the look of the Patriot from Clayton, also the Malibu from Palm Harbor.) The best advice given on this forum is that it isn't the manufacturer, i.e. the company, rather it's the dealer, meaning the person who sells you the home. (I will say, however, that Clayton is a perennial thumbs down--folks on this forum, for the most part, don't have good things to say about them. I'd steer clear if I were you.) The dealer is so important because she or he is the person you are trusting to get your home set up correctly and to take care of any problems you may encounter during the warranty period. The dealer will make your life either easy or unbearable. You want someone with a good track record and a reputation for being honest and fair. Check with your local BBB, look on social media, etc., and ideally try to find someone to talk with who has purchased a home from him or her. And listen to your gut. If you hear any alarm bells going off, your gut is probably right! How affordable are these homes? A manufactured home can start with a base price of $25,999 and go up over $300,000. This is before you buy land. Price depends upon the size of the home and on what kind of upgrades you want, amongst other factors. Another option to consider is buying a used MH, or even a repo. There are some awesome deals to be had out there! You can sometimes find a home that isn't more than a few years old and is in very good condition being sold for pennies on the dollar. If you go that route, educate yourself so you know what to look for. See my thread on this forum, "I found a great resource!" Is it recommended to find your own lot or have them provide you with one? I'm not sure whom you mean by "them," but nobody is going to "provide you" with a lot. When considering the purchase of a manufactured home, there are several options for land to put it on. First, there is the mobile home park. While there are still plenty of the old "trailer parks" around that give a bad name to MHs, today's MHP (manufactured home park) is completely different. Many parks have lovely amenities like a clubhouse, swimming pool, sports courts, community gardens, and so forth. The clubhouse may sponsor various clubs and other community activities. Senior (55+) parks are very popular now, although I realize that wouldn't be for you. Naturally, the more amenities, the higher the lot rent. The park location may also help determine the rental price. In most parks, the owners of the MH pay lot rent that may include some utilities such as WSG (water, sewer, garbage). I pay $300 a month for lot rent, but our park has no amenities and is way out in the country. Some people pay $700 per month and more. A good park will have restrictions as to what kind of MH you may have, i.e. must not be more than 10 years old, must be a certain size and type (i.e. no 5th wheels, park models, etc.), and will be strict about renters keeping their yard nice and not having junk on the property. Increasingly, there are MHPs where the homeowners purchase their lot. My parents bought an MH in a park where everyone owned their own lots way back in 1973, when I was 13. Owning your own lot back then was unheard of, but more and more parks are going that way, at least here out west. I don't know anything about the situation in Florida. So you can find an MHP that you like and either rent the space or buy it. Or you can buy an MH that's already in a park you want to live in. That's often a good bet. If I were you, I would not find the cheapest thing available. Cheap rarely = a good deal. You want to be in a good neighborhood with nicely kept homes and yards. If you don't want to live in an MHP, you can find and buy your own piece of property, buy it, and set your MH on it. Make sure the land you are buying is zoned for MHs. You may have the added cost of bringing in sewer and water lines (or septic and well), but you have the advantage of owning land that may appreciate in years to come. You could possibly rent a piece of property for your MH, but I haven't heard much about that. Here in Washington, if an acre has three or more MHs on it, it is considered an MHP by state law. For a young person such as yourself, I think owning the land, whether in an MHP or somewhere else, is the way to go. That is just my personal opinion. The reason is appreciation. Both your home itself and the land will hopefully appreciate in value. It used to be the rule of thumb that MHs always go down in value, like driving a new car off the lot, but that isn't always the case anymore. christopher_h has written a lot about this topic on this forum. However, owning the land your MH is on is still much more likely to see good appreciation, even equal to site-built homes in your area. Remember that MH my parents bought in 1973? They sold it in 2007 for over $200,000. (Original purchase price in 73 was $69,000 for the home and the lot.) Of course, we can no longer say that real estate always appreciates no matter what, but if I were 25 instead of 56, I'd be looking for land. I've read the appliances they provide aren't really good quality appliances does anyone have any information on this? It depends. It depends upon the manufacturer, the dealer, what options/upgrades you want, and what you consider to be "good" or "not good" appliances. The house my parents bought way back in the day had Sears appliances. The only appliance they replaced was the dryer, and that was after 20+ years. They held up to two parents, four teenage kids, and the various refugees my parents took in on a regular basis. In many cases, you get what you get in the basic, standard package, but have the option to upgrade. Many people on this forum recommend not getting any appliances at all and then putting in what you really want once the home is set up. cathyyg, can you weigh in on this? Of course, if you buy used, you get what is already there. And how long any appliance lasts depends a lot upon how it is (or isn't) taken care of. As far as financing I know it depends on my overall financial situation but what are some of the best options available? Are these considered Mortgages or just standard high value loans? I hate to say this again, but...it depends. As far as financing, it is quite difficult, if not impossible, to get a standard bank mortgage loan if you do not own the land your MH will be on. This is because, in most states, an MH is not, in and of itself, considered to be "real estate," rather it is considered to be a "vehicle." My MH has a license plate on it and has a VIN number, haha! Yet, they seem to have no problem collecting property tax from me! Any loan they offered you would be a personal loan, like a really big car loan. But if you own the land your MH is on and meet certain other requirements (such as, it must be set on a foundation as opposed to on piers, etc.) then you can convert the title from a vehicle title to a real estate title. In that case, you can get a mortgage, assuming of course, that you meet the financial requirements such as credit score, income to debt ratio, and so forth. Although you didn't ask, I'd like to add that you will need homeowners insurance. The most popular company on this forum, from what I've read, is Foremost, because they are MH-friendly. And I'll end by saying that you get a lot more house for your money with an MH than for a site-built home. You can get more sq ft and nicer features for sometimes substantially less money. Again, I congratulate you for your wisdom in saving up to buy your first home. I actually bought my first (site built) home when I was 25, before you were born, haha! You are smart to be looking into MHs and finding a good deal. In this post-2008 economy there are no guarantees and the folks who saddle themselves with a huge mortgage they can barely pay might very well be sunk when the next real estate bubble bursts. Feel free to ask more questions! We are very happy to answer them and to give our two cent's worth. :-) And don't forget to read the forum! Have a wonderful day! Sincerely, Debbie...See More
User
9 years ago
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
9 years ago
annieinaustin
9 years agoUser
9 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoUser
9 years agoThanks roselee! I hadn't even thought to google that. Now I have castle envy. ;)
I am pretty much on the same page as you with regards to not going nuts with the gravel. The right side facing the house has healthy st. augustine that we have not watered in over a year. It receives afternoon shade from the large oak. My thoughts are that as long as it can manage on it's own, there is no sense in replacing it. The left side however has completely died and is basically dried thatch from the dead st. augustine runners. There are little sprigs of Bermuda popping up that I really don't want to take hold. It is a drought tolerant grass but insanely invasive. I'm sure in no time the garden beds will be infested with it.
All of that being said, I want to research low water non invasive grass or grass alternatives. I'd still like to incorporate some gravel as a walkway between the beds and whatever solution I end up with for the grassy area. Not totally married to it but kind of enjoy the contrast it provides.
Thanks again for sharing your ideas and advise!
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
9 years agomissymoo23_(z9a_Tx)
9 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoUser
6 years agoHello All!
I really meant to keep my progress on the garden updated here for anyone who might be curious. I'm a good lurker but not the best at posting. I enjoy checking in on the Texas forum and seeing all of the inspirational gardens and support. I'll try to update this thread more often than every three years!
Here are some pictures of the neverending story that is my front yard. With all of the nice cooler weather, I decided to expand on the work we did three years ago. Originally, I was going to add round stepping stones along the curb leading up to the sidewalk and a black gravel path along the entire perimeter of the mulched areas. After the sod was removed I decided to just expand the beds out and come back later and add the gravel path. Really, it's just an excuse to buy more plants. ;)My husband (who remembers how laborious the initial sod removal was) rented a backhoe. He said it was to save my hands from weeks of pulling grass, but I'm pretty sure he enjoyed getting to drive that thing around for the day.
The St. Augustine on the one side is still going strong even thought we do not water it. The Bermuda is obviously loving life, but slowly being joined by Dichondra, yarrow, thistle and hundreds of Texas sage volunteers. The yarrow is so pretty that it will soon get a bed to surround it. I may seed for wildflowers in the fall to see what happens next spring. I'd love a field of bluebonnets out there. The fountain was converted to a planter with Woolly Stemodia at the bottom and foxtail fern and green Dichondra (from the yard) in the top. I'm hoping the Dichondra spills over the top.
I love playing in the dirt and looking back at the old pictures and seeing all of the progress and growth! The house sticks out like a sore thumb in a neighborhood of nice 1970/60's homes. Hopefully now people will also stop to enjoy the gardens as much as they do to gawk at the house! I've still got a lot to do to finish this up, but I thought I'd post pictures anyway.:) - Joanna
Picture taken from the roof:
Picture take from the roof to the right: Our neighbor has very nice lush St. Agustine, so we are adding a rosemary hedge and edging to hopefully keep our "grass gone wild" out of his yard.
Picture taken from the roof to the left: We ran out of time on the backhoe rental so I'll be spending some time digging the rest out by hand. Yay!
Round pavers along curb and leading to sidewalk. I need to level them but couldn't resist placing them and mulching a little to see how it will look.
User
6 years agoUser
6 years agoHello Xtal,
Thank you for your suggestions and feedback! And Roselee, thank you for sharing this. :)
I wholeheartedly agree that the facade looks too new (I call it cartoonish). I'm not a fan of the stone that was selected and agree that if it had an older look it might blend in a little more.
The original owner later added an enclosed courtyard to the side. I'm assuming he was unable to source the original stone because he used a completely different one. I prefer the look of that stone over the main house. He also added an arrow slit. :)
Our "moat" is functional as it has french drains. I love the idea of planting Cypress trees between the windows but I'm afraid of the roots impeding drainage later on. I did plant a Brakelights Red Yucca in the center as well as three evenly spaced Pride of Barbados seedlings I grew on each side. The walls are so boring and I'm hoping the contrast of the reds and oranges give it some interest. I have thought about planting creeping fig under the turrets to help age it but I'm a bit gun shy after reading horror stories of ivy gone bad. I do love the look of it.
Turret where I would plant the creeping fig (please ignore the impulse buy plants hiding along the wall, they are in pots):
It's funny you mention using ponyfoot in the fountain. I had originally planted that but the deer kept it chewed down to stubs or would uproot the entire plant. I finally caved and planted Woolly Stemodia which they ignore. The Silver Ponyfoot is now coming back! I'd prefer the Ponyfoot but I'm afraid if I take out the Stemodia, the deer will return. I would love to see the green and silver Dichondra blowing in the wind.If you look closely, you'll see the ponyfoot mixed in with the Woolly Stemodia:
Here's a closer up distorted pano of the house that shows the moat area a little better:
I may seriously consider the creeping fig up the walls/turrets to help age it a bit. I have also considered repainting the window trim and the parapet walls (I think that's what you call the top?).
Here's an overly adjusted realtor picture from when we bought the house. I kind of like the darker top...
Ok, enough distraction and daydreaming! I need to gear up and get back out there while the weather is so nice. Thanks again for your observations! It really helps to hear honest feedback, opinions and ideas that could help me achieve the look I'm desiring.
Take care - Joanna
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
6 years agoXtal in Central TX, zone 8b
6 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoXtal in Central TX, zone 8b
6 years agoUser
6 years agoPKponder, the plants in front of the moat (mulched area) are foxtail/asparagus fern, Henry Duleburg Salvia, Jerusalem Sage, and Kaleidoscope Abelia. They are new and spaced apart pretty far. I'm struggling with finding plants that will perform in a similar way with different light conditions. I'm really married to the symmetry and need to get over that. :)
Roselee, thanks for the sobriety check on the creeping fig! I have considered it for a while and whenever I research it I come across stories just like yours which has sent me away yelping with my tail between my legs. ;) There is a neighbor down the road who has it covering their mailbox. They frost protect it every winter and it doesn't appear to be anywhere else on the property...I wonder if it's considered invasive up here? I need to stop tempting fate and listen!
Xtal, I'll talk to hubby and see what he thinks on painting options down the road. He might want a break and a drink after all of the work we've been doing to fix up the house. We just finished the backyard for the most part and he barely got a minute to breath before I started playing landscape designer out front. He's the best and is taking a real interest in gardening after getting his hands dirty and seeing the before/after out back. Good times.
-Joanna
Some pictures of the back. We've got the gargoyles covered:
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
4 years ago
PKponder TX Z7B
4 years ago
Xtal in Central TX, zone 8b