Seattle has buses. Use them! In which case you might as well find a place to live along a line. One line at a time. Here's the next one, selected at random for the fun of it.
It would be immensely tedious to ride and stop, ride and stop, at every possibility. Expresses happen, and dramatically shorten the ride. Metro's Route 301 winds through Richmond Beach, and Shoreline, stops at Aurora Village Transit Center - and takes the big hop down the highway with just a few stops before reaching downtown. Quicker than a car? Could be.
↑ There's land in Shoreline. A renovated 1914 house set on over 2 acres is for sale at $1,300,000. It must have been big for its time, or has grown since, because it has 3 bedrooms, 2.1 baths, and 3,690 square feet of living space. Like most renovations, the house is a mix of original features too previous to remove (like windows and roof lines), with upgrades and improvements (like appliances and insulation), all brought up to a modern style. It has an enormous deck, which is handy for those days when parties want to be outside, and a wet bar inside for the days when outdoors is too wet. Settle in and enjoy the views, and a bit of solitude buffered by lots of trees.
↑ If a house is going to have an open design, then don't hide things! And this house doesn't. The kitchen is broad, and open to the adjoining space. The staircase is a partial wall for one room, and an excellent benefit when maneuvering furniture up and down. The ceilings are tall and give the house volume, not just footage. They are asking $739,950 for this 4 bedroom, 3 bath house with 3,030 of those square feet. The design touches in the kitchen and baths are welcome after the functional monochrome of some other spaces. You may want to check the data on this one, though. It would be a marvelous deal if you got all that and 15.75 acres. Maybe it's a typo. Maybe it's a find. Go find out.
↑ Buy this house and step one is obvious. Fill the pool. This $695,995 house has 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, and 5,150 square feet, 1,800 of which are an indoor pool that has a wood stove (for the people, not the water), a wet bar (which is in the dry part of the room), and a ¾ bath (for those that want to be fastidious about showering before and after swimming. The rest of the house is clean and looks well-kept. The style, however, is just old enough to be noticeable, but not old enough to be retro - yet. Some of the rooms are enormous, and have a cathedral feel, not just a cathedral roof. The main draw, however, is probably going to be that pool - a chance to swim without having to worry about leaves and ducks.
↑ It starts with hardwood floors, tastefully painted walls, and nicely remodeled kitchen and baths. The fireplaces look original. Replacing brick indoors is messy, which may be why it's survived. The ceiling beams also look very 1958, which is appropriate for this house with 3 bedrooms and 1.5 baths. They're asking $498,950, for the 2,000 square foot house and the 8,959 square foot yard. It looks well made and maintained, and isn't pretentious, which may be a relaxing combination because a house is supposed to be a refuge, not an artistic statement; a sanctuary, not a exhibit piece - unless you want that sort of thing.
↑ Corner lots can be bigger, but also double the sides exposed to whatever's walking, riding, or driving by. Even so, 0.28 acres is a lot of room to grow a garden or mow a lot of lawn. This rambled in Edmonds is 1,450 square feet, which means it doesn't take up as much of the lot, and still has 3 bedrooms and 1.5 baths. They're asking $360,000. A few of the features are a bit dated, like the long, but high windows in some rooms. Stepping across the county line can make a difference - in more ways than one. Check that bus fee, though that may be small compared to everything else: taxes, insurance, following the Everett AquaSox instead of the Seattle Mariners...
· Everett AquaSox [EAS]
· Route 301 [Metro]
· All Bus Tours coverage [CS]
Written by Tom Trimbath