what is it you like so much about the house? It looks beautiful on the outside but according to what I saw on your realtors website the inside is pretty common for houses in that price range. Did you ever think about finding a house with a beautiful interior, a yard you like and change the outside to the craftsman style you appear to like? Think about how much the potential house costs, how much you will spend altering the yard (while taking care of a small child and newborn) and then what is the return on the house if you decide to sell. The market is slowing down quite a bit and that has to be taken into consideration. While it is true houses are meant to live in they are also investments. I do not know anything about the area you are looking in but read up on functional obsolesence. If there is nothing in the area to compare it to there is no value in it. If you over develop your house it will only price so high meaning you spend $$$$ on a house put $$ inside and $$$ outside, you might only be able to get a very small percentage of that back on a resale (if you are lucky). Youe could lose quite a bit unless of course the market goes back up which I do not see happening. Think beyond the emotion on this one. Good luck in whatever you decide to do. It can be a heart wrenching thing to fall in love with a house and then have to deal with the big BUT. It happens to me all the time. I found the perfect outfit but it does not fit (but I can always go on a diet but the reality is that a year later it is still hanging in the closet with tags on it and now going to Goodwill), found the perfect TV but it does not look right in the room I wanted it for (but I can always put it in a different room and then i still have to buy a tv), found the perfect car but hate the way the seats feel (but I can always replace the seats but I will be uncomfortable for now)...no matter how much I love it the "buts" come into play. With patience you will find what you want with a smaller sacrifice. You probably did not get the answer you wanted here but you asked for advise and I assume you wanted honest opinions. I hope we made you think of a few things before making such a large commitment. You are talking about a half million investment so invest wisely!! I am done preaching cause I do want to beat a dead horse. Let us know what you decide and keep us posted. If you decide to do it anyway (and judging by your responses I think you will) start another topic to let us in on your project so we can all know what all is involved and how much it costs. Regards Ms Jay

That's what I've been leaning towards, but the other thing I forgot to mention is that there's a big pecan tree about 10-15 feet diagonally from the corner of the house. The deck/patio would get within 5-10 feet of it, and I'd like to avoid disturbing its root system as much as possible. (No, removing the pecan tree is not an option!!!)

Thanks oaktown. These are all great considerations. We sat down with the landscape architect originally to discuss all of these things (well most of them at least, but some things you bring up are new). He was suppose to take them all into account in planning this but to me, the plan just doesn't seem that thought out. This is the plan without the trees and plants shown on. He adds that after we confirm the hardscape (which I guess is the cement areas, decks, retaining walls etc.) Right now the land is clear so there is nothing to work around (attaching a picture taking from the back left). The basement is a walkout so anyone can access the house from the lower patio through there. The deck is on the first level of the house an the stairs would lead to the elevated area of the yard (so basically it is only 3 steps to reach land) which is level with the first floor. To get to the under-deck area from there you would take the steps through the retaining wall (which he forgot to add....I will sketch and attach below). That area is at the level of the basement. I actually wanted to adda slide from the deck to the patio area for fun but we weren't planning a large staircase. The retaining walls die into the land and beyond them, the yard will be sloped for lawn mower access/rolling/winter sledding. We just moved from an apartment in a very urban area so we have never had a yard and aren't really sure how we would use it! We have young kids so we want it to grow with them. The driveway goes straight to the road, it't not too long. I will attach the main floor plan as well. The sliding door in the kitchen and the mudroom door both connect to the deck. Sorry if this is still unclear. In the picture below, the wooden board across the back of the house shows where the deck will go. The land still has to be graded so that it will be flat below that, then there will be 2, 4ft retaining walls.

Yeah, my little guy and our full time jobs have obv pretty much consumed all the hours since he was born not quite 2 years ago. lol...But, the pots I had started pre-him are actually all my gorgeous hostas that are just sprouting and now need homes ;_; The big pots are my hydrangeas that are coming out as well. I didn't want to put any into the ground since I wasn't sure of the plan for our yard. I would like to keep them potted and in our hopefully semi shaded new patio wherever that may be. The weeds on that upper part have been a struggle since day 1. The tree roots sprout new shoots constantly, so weed killer becomes difficult. Not to mention, the roses we had inherited with the property became diseased so we are in the midst of pulling them out as well. Believe it or not, we had a full vegetable garden year before last which is why I was hanging on to the empty pots as we do not have great soil. Long story short, I am looking to have more livilable space that doesn't include more weeding, watering, and gardening in our outrageously hot summers. If I put a patio in the corner between the windows and the retaining wall, what would be the best surface? raised wood type? Gravel ? would gravel hinder drainage and made the ground underneath even more soggy? same issues with brick? Even if I had concrete poured and connected it to the existing patio what kind of drainage solution would we need under and around? These are my beauties from last spring.