I win! I win!
The little house in the country is mine! It's a 105 year old, cottage-style duplex near downtown Salida. It's in need of no immediate repairs (although the floor in the back of the house is going to need some help at some point because the locusts are managing to grow their way up through the floor boards).
It was built just after 1900 as housing for workers during the railroad boom. (Salida used to be a major link in the Denver and Rio Grande railways.) The two-bedroom side would have housed a family and the one-bedroom side would have been used by multiple, single men rotating through their shifts. It is two blocks from Colorado's largest historic district (beating out Leadville by about a block). It is 3 blocks from the Arkansas River and some of the best river rafting in Colorado. It is a 20 minute drive to Monarch, the only ski area in Colorado that doesn't need to make any of its snow. It is about 30 minutes from where Christo and Jean Claude's new art installation will be. It is within 45 minutes of 5 natural hot springs. (In fact, the local public pool is fed from a hot spring.) It has been rated in the top 100 art towns in the US for its many galleries and local artists. And it is nestled in a big valley that is ringed by some of the most beautiful and mountainous scenery you could ever hope to see.
I'll keep the duplex as a fully furnished vacation rental for a while and let it help pay for itself. And when it isn't occupied, it'll be my 2nd home.
It was built just after 1900 as housing for workers during the railroad boom. (Salida used to be a major link in the Denver and Rio Grande railways.) The two-bedroom side would have housed a family and the one-bedroom side would have been used by multiple, single men rotating through their shifts. It is two blocks from Colorado's largest historic district (beating out Leadville by about a block). It is 3 blocks from the Arkansas River and some of the best river rafting in Colorado. It is a 20 minute drive to Monarch, the only ski area in Colorado that doesn't need to make any of its snow. It is about 30 minutes from where Christo and Jean Claude's new art installation will be. It is within 45 minutes of 5 natural hot springs. (In fact, the local public pool is fed from a hot spring.) It has been rated in the top 100 art towns in the US for its many galleries and local artists. And it is nestled in a big valley that is ringed by some of the most beautiful and mountainous scenery you could ever hope to see.
I'll keep the duplex as a fully furnished vacation rental for a while and let it help pay for itself. And when it isn't occupied, it'll be my 2nd home.