A Pisces Finds The Water - A New Homeowner's Journey
Adapted from the new owner’s blog post Safari So Good.
This is the model home from across the water (a different angle from ours above). Ours will hopefully look like this when finished.
In early 2018, I was looking for ways to invest some money in such a way as to reduce our tax rate. I found a cute little cabin in Incline Village, Tahoe, Nevada that would have provided us a great tax write off and it was only about 15 minutes from Lake Tahoe. As someone who has always wanted to live on/near the water, this seemed like a good option. In spite of the fact that it snows half the year (I HATE the snow), in order to actually benefit tax-wise, we would have to reside there at least 50 percent of the time and change our legal residency to Nevada. After a few weeks, Michael decided he did not want to go forward for several reasons, one being that he did not want to live in Nevada, even half the year. I was quite disappointed, but realized that for something this important we both needed to be on board, so I agreed to take a step back.
It is at this point that I need to acknowledge the fact that I am exceptionally grateful for Michael’s decision about the Tahoe cabin. Finding this perfect community with houses directly on the water is a dream come true! Here is it in black and white…”Michael, you were right and I was wrong.”
I was still intent on looking at options for our future, which for me included a house near the water. Late Spring I googled “houses on the water” and came upon a brand new community that was in the early stages of development called Delta Coves. The more I read, the more enthused I became. Actual construction had not yet started. There was a description of the planned community, which included every house directly on the water with its very own boat dock as well as a community “Island Camp” that would include a fitness center, separate yoga building, a large community pool, and a huge area available for events. It seemed like a perfect retirement home for Michael and me.
It was located on Bethel Island, not far from Antioch, in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta about 75 minutes south of our current home in Elk Grove. Michael and I talked about it for a few weeks and he seemed genuinely interested and open to considering this new idea. Although it would not provide any tax benefit per se, it would be a good investment and a perfect place for us to spend our active retirement years. We envisioned kayaking right from our own back yard, biking the 3 1/2 miles of road around the community, attending community dances, and having karaoke parties at our Delta house. On the Delta Coves website, there was an invitation to sign up as a future resident, so I did. In spite of the fact that no decisions had been made, it seemed like a good way to get regular updates and be the first to see the development in process. Late May 2019, we decided to drive to the area just to get a sense of what it looked like. We had only been to a couple of River towns, like Locke and Isleton, so wanted to get a look at the community that might be our new home. We wanted to have lunch on the Island and through Yelp, found a place called Delta Sports Bar and Grill that had 4 stars and sounded really good. It turned out to be a little dive on Main Street, but you can’t judge a book by it’s cover…or can you? When we walked in, there were about 4 pretty scruffy patrons at the bar who looked like they had been there for several years. Hmmmm…not easily discouraged, we walked through the bar and toward what appeared to be the dining room when the female bartender (who also looked a bit rough around the edges) said, “You can sit in there if you want, but if you sit out here, I can handle the bar and wait on you better. It’s just me in the front today”! Okay, now we were a little concerned, but again, Michael and I are quite adaptable when it comes to adventures and we sat at one of the small tables in the bar area. We ordered BBQ, which turned out to be pretty good (3 stars???) and the Waitress was attentive, so all in all, not a bad experience. But the atmosphere was questionable and we were a little concerned that the patrons here would be our best options for our new neighbors. Yes, I’m being a little judgmental, but come on!
Not to be discouraged, we continued to follow progress on development. Finally in late August, the models were open for review. We fell in love immediately! All the houses were 2 story, but we would only consider one that had a master bedroom downstairs. That eliminated half the options. After several trips and much discussion, we decided to choose “The Lodge” — A gorgeous 4 bedroom, 4 1/2 bathroom home with a huge great room with a U shaped island in the kitchen. Why do only two people need such a big house? We are hoping that friends and family will come stay and play with us. There will be plenty of room for guests to stay the weekend, go kayaking, BBQ/hang out on the deck, karaoke with us in our bonus room with a wet bar, and enjoy coffee in the mornings on the Delta. If you want to see more, check out the website http://www.Deltacoves.com. For floor plans, click on Find a Home, then Browse Builders, then Davidson Communities. Scroll down to the Lodge and click on View More Details.
A shot of Delta Coves from google earth. You can see the large square area (center left) is where Island Camp is located. Our house is at the tip of the third street (the straight one), counter clockwise from the Island Camp
August 31st – Michael had the brilliant idea that we should kayak near the Delta Coves site before making a decision about buying there, since one of the main reasons to be on the water was access for kayaking. So our dear friends and kayak buddies, Mary and Peter, agreed to haul kayaks to Sunset Harbor and spend the morning kayaking on the Delta to see what it was like. We had a great time and found the area interesting with many tributaries to explore and birds to see. We passed lots of houses on the route with families playing in the water and kids paddle boarding. Everyone was friendly and greeted us as we rowed by. The consensus was that kayaking here would be good!
December 6th – Made another visit to Delta Coves. We have visited several times, mostly to measure rooms, make plans for structural changes and just to see if this is all really gonna happen. It seems so surreal at this point.
This trip, I asked my sister Karlene and cousin Dorothy if they would come with me. We toured the models (and, once again I have to pinch myself to make sure this is real). The model seems more beautiful every time I see it.
I was told they had broken ground, but was so excited to actually see the workers framing the lot to ready it for the foundation. As I was taking pictures, the Foreman came up and asked if this was my house and I said yes! He introduced himself (Troy) and seemed genuinely happy to be working on this project. I told him that my house needed to be his first priority and he laughed, saying all of these houses are my priority. He was very friendly and I liked him instantly. I was glad to meet him, because we want some specialized work done later and I’m hoping to use these same workers, hiring them for some weekend work.
OMG! They are framing the lot for the foundation! So Exciting!
February 8th – We’ve made many trips to the house in progress. Lots of decisions have been made like what kind of cabinets, flooring choices, number and kind of can lights and hanging lights, counters, roll-out shelves, etc. etc. etc.
Move-in is supposed to be sometime in June – keep your fingers crossed!
A view of the front of the house. You can see the plan number 6-A and address – 90 Edgewater Court!
The view from the living room. The large opening is where the sliding glass door and floor to ceiling windows will be.
Second floor bonus room. You can see the wraparound covered deck framing in place.
Closer up from the opening where the sliding glass door will be. On a clear day, you can see Mount Diablo.
The view from the top of the stairs of the front door and entryway.
From the end of the 2nd floor hallway. It’s open to the entryway below with just a railing along the hall.
A view of the back of the house from the street across the water. The boat ramp/dock is the white thing to the right.
P.S. As Michael was reviewing the draft (he’s proofreader of all blog posts), his first comment was “You need to bold the ‘Michael you were right and I was wrong’ statement and maybe have that embroidered on a pillow”.