Location, Location, Location

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Location. Location. Location. It's the answer to the million dollar question: what are the three most important things in Real Estate? We've heard it and it is true. But like most things in this world, there isn't a consensus about the ideal location, location, location. One man's heaven is another man's hell.

I asked my husband David, "If you could live anywhere on the planet, where would you live?" He answered in his typically pragmatic and annoyingly self-actualized way, "Here. In Lexington. Isn't that the point - you should be living where you want to live."

No, in fact, the point was that I wanted him to ask me the same question so I could give a really long answer, pointing out the merits of each place, talk about myself for a while, choose a new city, then eventually decide that Lexington really is the best place for us. But he sort of stopped me in my tracks so I said, "yeah, me too."

I guess I should extrapolate from that conversation that I should live in a perfectly located (for me, of course) house. But I don't. I love my house but I am too far from a grocery store. My house sits in a grocery-store-free zone. Which means that if you drive exactly 12 minutes north, south, east or west you will come to a grocery store, but there are none closer than a 12-minute drive. Which is a 45-minute walk. I know because I have done it; it's not worth it.

I am also too far from Woodland Park and gourmet supplies, at least on foot. When I first moved to this house from Park Avenue (which sits smack dab in the middle of the triangle created by Kroger, various delis, and Woodland Park), I drove from my new house to purchase standard grocery stuff and some specialty item, fresh mozzarella or something. They didn't have the cheese at Kroger so I had to load my two-year old into her car seat and drive the block from Kroger to another place, unload her (which was quite difficult because I was about 14 months pregnant at the time), get her out, purchase the cheese, then re-load her. By the time it was all over we were both crying (remember, I was pregnant). She because she'd had enough manhandling and me because I just wanted to WALK to buy mozzarella.

From that impressive personal moment I realized the perfect location for me is one within spitting distance of a grocery store. Ira Cooper and Tina Trent's cheery yellow house at 472 Ashland Terrace is exactly three minutes from Kroger on Euclid. When the bagger asks if you need help out to your car, Ira and Tina might be able to convince him to bring their groceries right into their kitchen. The house sits on the street that runs behind the grocery store, so while you can't see the store it is only a three-minute walk. I know; I have walked it.

The large wrap-around front porch with its green floors and white railing offers the perfect perch for watching the world go by (on its way to Kroger). Sidelights surrounding the front door create a light-filled entrance into the living room.

The volume of the rooms and the large openings between the rooms in this cottage creates an elegant environment usually seen in larger houses. Jackie-O was the first to make the library/dining room popular, but Ira and Tina have produced a lovely example. From the front door, the richness created by the colors of the covers of hundreds of books beckons visitors into the cozy space of the dining room. The large, newly remodeled kitchen with its oak floors provides plenty of room for additional dining. French doors lead to a deck.

Conventional wisdom says location, location, location is all that matters in real estate (personally I'd say hardwood floors, hardwood floors, hardwood floors), but that doesn't mean that every person wants or needs the same location. Just as taste in houses varies, so does taste in location. But come on - who wouldn't want to live three minutes from a grocery, really?