House Hunting

There's a really good chance this CASTLE, complete with a moat, could be our new home.

For real.

Actually, just 1/4th of the castle would be our home, but still...it's pretty awesome to live in a castle with a moat!

The housing options in Belgium are...um...unique.  Mostly we have avoided the row/attached housing and seen stand-alone houses that have bathrooms from the 1960s.  Mold from the 60s, too.  We've been underwhelmed.  Many houses have great curb appeal, but the inside is lacking.  

The castle, too, is under repair and is...old. We'd be sacrificing modern and efficient to live on a property that is totally AMAZING.  It comes complete with a built-in community of neighbors, outdoor play structures for the kids, a fire pit, a moat and a lake with a rowboat and a swimming pool.

I know, the castle seems like a no-brainer.  However, the living area is small and there are going to be issues due to it's age, not to mention all the potential allergens.  We also would be sharing walls.  Then there's the very cool moat with swans...15 feet from our front door.  Pretty fabulous, but since we have little kids, that makes it a smidge harder to say, "Yes, we'll take it!"

The second house at the top of our list is awesome and huge and clean.  It has privacy and an amazing fenced yard for the kids.  It's also expensive and it's out in the suburbs, so we couldn't just walk to the store or a cute little cafe.  It's more ideal for our day-to-day living/schooling and having little children, but so not as cool.  It feels very American and we're not.in.America. 

We've seen more houses than I can count at this point and we're pretty much out of options. These two each have big pluses and minuses; they are two very different types of homes.  It's really, really hard to decide what is the best option for our family and we're on a deadline, so prayers are appreciated that we will be wise and content, whichever home we choose.

(Monday is our deadline.  We could risk losing both these to other families if we don't put in our option to lease, plus, Alan is ALREADY going to work every day. Transition hasn't been easy.  This needs to be off our checklist.)