The transition to Texas started years ago when we thought 2015 was the escape target date. We researched communities in Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico.
In November of 2012 we visited San Antonio for the birthday of a dear friend from our former stint in San Antonio. On a whim, we made an appointment with a realtor and toured neighborhoods.
Three weeks later we were back for serious research. Before the end of the year we bought a lot in the gated (ugh!) community of The Dominion. We still have many friends and connections here. There is a golf club for Jon. Retail shopping has caught up with the population growth so products of all kinds are available. Downtown, non rush hour, is 25 minutes. (Rush hour is 28 minutes.) Cost of living is soooooo much lower than California - read taxes and everything else. All in all a good long term decision for us . . . as I fully intend to die here . . . as opposed to the "home."
We found our architect, Gustavo Arredondo. Yes, he is a swarthy Latino with slicked back hair and chest hair peaking from his open shirt with contrasting color and cuffs. And, yes, his competition was plain George Smith. (Kid you not.) However, objectively, his ideas and designs were much more interesting.
So then we found our builder, Jim Boles. Going against our prior experience we should have chosen Jim first. But we thought we might get an advantage in cost if we got competitive bids. Turns out we would have not missed a couple of errors and might have been able to cut costs better if we'd had Jim on board from the beginning.
Construction began mid-September. Nine months later we moved in . . . then promptly went on the amazing trip I just recounted.
Anyway, below are photographs our builder had a professional photographer take. They, and, more importantly, the house turned out great.
Will dredge up regular photos of Jon's office, the exercise room, laundry, and garage soon.
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