A house we could rent

We actually did see a house today! Not at 8am, of course. We were there at 8, but the watchman had gone to get something to eat, and he had the keys. We drove around and saw (the exteriors of) several other houses, but around 9 we got a call that we could come back and see the inside of the first house.

It was a pretty nice house, although odd. The building is currently being used for offices, so of course that adds to the odd feeling. But, the layout of the house is such that it feels more like an office that could possibly be used for a house, rather than like a house being used as an office.

Inside the front door is a front room which is sort of like an enclosed porch. It has some interesting framing on the doorway and window opening into the next room. I suppose we would use this room as a place for Allen to meet with Pastors and other visitors.

Front room of house, looking into main part of house

Moving into the next room, you come upon a very formal set of stairs up into the main part of the house. The paint colors are . . . typically Honduran.

These steps lead to what is either a narrow room, or a wide hallway. The three bedrooms and the kitchen are off this room. The photo below is taken from the back of the house, looking toward the steps at the front of the house. In this photo, two bedrooms (each with full baths - with tubs) are on the left, and the kitchen and master bedroom are on the right. The bedrooms on the left have windows to the outside, and windows to the hallway room. The kitchen and master bedroom only have windows to the hall, no exterior light at all, because that side of the house is built right up against the house next door.



Below is the kitchen. It is quite large, and (as is typical for Honduran kitchens) it has very little storage space. But, there is room to put our work table in the middle of the room, as an island, and there is a lot of space at the other end of the room (not pictured) where we could put up some kind of storage, or we could put our dining table there.




There is also a large bodega inside the house, which we would likely use as another bedroom. There is a full bath in the master bedroom (actually in the bedroom - there's no dividing wall. I can't believe we didn't get a picture of that), and another full bath off the main rooms, for a total of four full baths (three with tubs, one with a shower).

One downside to this house is that it doesn't have a yard. There is a strip of garden across the front, and a few planting boxes along the driveway, but no yard at all. This will be an issue with the dogs and the chickens, but probably something we can figure out.

Driveway, with steps to the roof.

Only part of the roof is flat cement . . . much of it is clay tile, which is cooler and easier to repair, if there are leaks (we're sort of experts on this topic now).

The biggest downside to this particular house is that it won't be available for rent until October 1st. This, of course, is a month away, and the timing is not good for Allen. Basically, if we rent this house, the kids and I will have to move without Allen's help.

The house is a good price, okay location, easily adaptable to our needs, and large enough to be comfortable. I think if it were available immediately we would jump on it. With the wait of a month . . . we'll have to talk with our current landlord, and see if this is doable.

Soooo, what do you think?