I don't think I could do it, move that is. Not after 25 years of turning a nothing yard into flowers and beautiful shrubs. what I would suggest is collecting seeds from all of your annuals that you possibly can. Take cuttings of all perennials that you can and start rooting them now. If you wait any longer to start rooting them or taking root divisions, it will be too late to try and plant them in your new home. Maybe you should wait till next year and start the plans to sell in the spring. That way you will have all your annual seeds and divisions and root cuttings to start in your new home. Of course, you could do what a neighbor of mine just did. She'd lived in her home for over 40 years and moved into an in-law apartment with her son. This elderly woman dug up just about all of her perennials and annuals then end of july and moved them with her to her new home. She had to have had at least 200 plants with her. She did ask the new owners what, if any, plans they had for her gardens. They where kind enough to tell her they where going to demolish 5 of her garden beds to add on to the house and throw out all of the plants.!!!!! That's all she needed to hear, she started digging 3 weeks before they closed on the house. Yes she gave quite a few seeds and plants. No way where they going into the garbage heap.

So... today I trespassed a bit. I was just too curious, I had to go peek in the windows for myself. Unfortunately my phone was dead so I couldn't take pictures, but here are my updates! The curb appeal is much better in real life than in the picture. The roof was much steeper than I was expecting - it reminded me a lot of Allison Ramsey's Holiday House (but a derelict version, of course!). I was right - it was absolutely a dogtrot. The center hall is beautifully proportioned, better than I had hoped. Wide, with a lovely view straight out the back. The baseboards and trim were plain and wide, very nice. Re the siding: the paint was peeling everywhere and a number of clapboards were damaged, but I tried to push my nail in on a few spots and they weren't soft. There were a few spots where the eaves board (?) was broken/dangling, and the metal roof was faded in a few places. Structurally, I don't have enough knowledge to even venture a guess, but other than some sloped porch steps everything seemed plumb. EXCEPT: the old stone chimney was missing some stones, and there was a crack running through a portion of it. Honestly, the chimney did not look safe whatsoever, and I think it would have to go. I was also right re. dating the additions, etc., because I caught a glimpse of a pink bathroom through a back window :) The oddest thing about the house that I saw were the floors. Except the one room I posted previously with the wood paneling (which was in an addition), it seemed as if the floors have been covered in concrete. Of course, I couldn't go inside, but the front porch definitely was concrete and it looked like the same material was continued inside. It was almost as if the house had been built on a slab - but it is definitely on piers. The view off the front porch was lovely (though overgrown) - I saw at least two very old live oaks in the front yard. Attached is my rough floor plan. The outline/dimensions are from the property appraiser's site, the porches are in blue, and the greyed areas are the ones I couldn't see through windows b/c I was too short. The back screen porch was inaccessible b/c the door was locked. Yes, that front room is really really big.

The house has a lot going for it, but those awful HDR composite photos don't show it well. They're so computer-generated looking that it's hard to see the true house. The muntin windows are wrong, the shutters are wrong, the sparkly door is wrong, the French Country styling is off kilter for this house. Not terrible, all this stuff, just not right. Still, nice architecture, nice layout, nice landscaping, & killer location.

I spent quite a big chunk of my childhood living in Argentina, with a similar culture and lifestyle to Paraguay. We also had a live in housekeeper with her own bedroom and bathroom, but years ago people did not entertain in their kitchens, so there was only one kitchen, which was a separate room with doors. It seems the open concept house, with most of the action taking place in the kitchen, has also become a concept for those in some areas of South America, hence the need for 2 kitchens. Did you know that many of the mainland Chinese immigrants with larger homes also have 2 kitchens. The second kitchen is quite small and called a Wok kitchen. All the greasy/smoky cooking is done there. You will see these quite often in CA. Since the parilla is going in an "indoor" room you will need to use a vent hood above it to remove smoke and grease. I miss a good asado de tira and mollejas! Any plans for a basement? We had one under part of the house in Buenos Aires and it was a great space for storage and my father had a small workshop set up for himself. The floor in the entry was glass block which let light into the basement area. It was a very modern house at that time. You could do much better with closet placement in the bedrooms and storage (pantry, linen closet, utility closet). The maids room needs a closet. What are you storing in room "deposito"? I know that in many area of South America closets are done as furniture pieces that buyers will add after they buy a house, but since you are building it would make sense to build them into the plan.