Found Our Rental House!

We found our rental house! It's about five miles from Mike's work and is just what we were looking for. Here's the write-up that caught our eye: "This beautiful oasis offers over an acre of landlord-maintained landscaping and 148 feet of lake front. An escape within the city. Minutes to I-90 and downtown, yet a sanctuary where you can swim, fish, or watch the wildlife, cross the street to miles of running trails. You'll fall in love with the open concept captured in this understated 2010 remodel. Gorgeous hardwoods and open-beam ceilings. Grab your paddleboard, or pull up an Adirondack chair."

The front steps, porch, and door.

Merrit and Dad have a snowball fight in the circular,
gravel driveway.

Ollie explores the front porch.

While the front of the house is one story, the back half is two story.
Ollie walks toward the lake.

I am taking this picture about halfway between the house and the lake.

Mike walks down to the lake's edge, where there's a small
floating dock. The water is very shallow at the lake's edge.
Perfect for the boys to paddle about in come summer.

Phantom Lake. The water is very clear, nothing like most lakes I've seen
and/or swam in.

The house from it's prettiest angle, I think.

Seats six! Y'all come visit now,  y'hear?
(The upstairs balcony is off the dining room.)

Ollie in the side yard. Lots of mature evergreen pines
and large ferns and moss-covered rocks.
(And the landlord does the yard maintenance! Woo hoo.)

The upstairs is one big room: living room (seen here), kitchen, dining room,
and two other "spaces" that we can use for possibly Mike's studio/work space
and/or a little reading nook with bookshelves. Possibilities, possibilities.
Lots of windows...feels like a treehouse!

View from the kitchen sink, to the deck, and lake beyond.

The kitchen has a home-managers desk (I love those), gas stove, glass
tilework, big pantry. To the right: an island (see picture below).

Curved kitchen island, a full sink, smaller prep sink, and stainless steel fridge
and dishwasher.

View from the dining room across the rest of the open-floorplan upstairs.
Front door is to the left; stairs to downstairs in the center. Maybe Mike's
studio/office will go at left, behind the half-wall.

Gorgeous ceilings. Not crazy about the curtains. Already thinking of maybe
replacing with bamboo roller-shades? There's another deck off the other
side of the house; you can sort of see the railing through the windows.

 I didn't take any photos of the downstairs, but there is a full bath, a laundry room with washer/dryer, two small bedrooms, a master bedroom with sliding doors to a patio, and a common room with sliding doors to the other patio/hot tub. It's just our size...not too big, not too small.