I love looking at homes for sale online and pretending that I could actually afford to buy one. Here are some that I found that I like. These are all in my area (The South Bay~San Francisco Bay Area...also referred to as Silicon Valley) This home above is my favorite and it is expensive because it's in Los Gatos (location, location, location). It's listed at $2,875,000. Oh...If I could just win the the lottery!
The Home above is so quaint, it just needs a little sprucing up. It is only $699,000 but who am I kidding...I can't even afford the "inexpensive" homes! 
This is a charmer. I love yellow homes with white picket fences. It's $899,000. 
I love this home (above). I would put some black iron window boxes on some of those windows and fill them with overflowing flowers. Maybe add one of those domed black awnings over the entry. It's $1,289,000.
This home is so charming but the inside is way too contemporary for me! It's $1.5 Million. I think it's sad when they rip out all the charm to modernize these old homes.
67 comments:
WOW! Now we know why SF it is so expensive to live there. They DO have a lot of charm. If I was going to spend that much though I'd want a waterfront view!!! Carmel would be nice..... Thanks for sharing!
Have a good week end.
Sandyt
Each one has so much character. You
pay for the property also for all the area and surrounding areas of the location. It's so beautiful
there. I for one would love to live
there but would have to win the
lottery first. It's nice to dream.
Have a wonderful day and thanks for
sharing. Mimi
My goodness...real estate is really pricy out there. These homes are precious and all have the character we all love...
For $60,000 you can buy a cute cottage home in Roseau (Northern Minnesota), but you might freeze to death:) I guess there are trade offs. We built a 5 bedroom 3,000 plus foot home and our loan is for under 150,000 dollars.We did a lot of work ourselves too.
I feel like I am window peeping! Thanks, it was fun to look inside of these gorgeous homes.
Hi Cindy,
Darling homes...I love looking at real estate. You go right ahead and dream...you just never know what or who might come along for you someday. I too don't like it when they modernize an older home and strip its character. If you are going to do that, why not just build a new one.
Hugs,
LeAnn:)
Hey Cindy I just came back to tell you that I just looked at all the houses and to thank you for that. I love touring homes.
LeAnn
Lord, I'm glad I'm in Oklahoma!!
Such beautiful homes! I think the first one is my favorite...it's so quaint & charming. :)
A great way to sneak a peak! What charming homes!
It is so fun to day dream.... ok but what are we going to do about those cabinets in the first house..... great kitchen but beige cabinets.... well..... if we had THAT much money we could redo what ever we want.... I love the little yellow one..... but I thought you are going to win the HGTV dream house......
You really do live in a beautiful area..... but houses are cheaper in Texas.... Psst I day dream a lot also.....
HUgs
Linda
Cindy, wow, these are darling homes. I can't afford to buy there either! I love the yellow and white, too, so crisp and fresh looking!
Thanks for showing these homes Cindy. I actually went to the open house for the one that you would put iron on the front. I'm so guilty of going to open homes for fun!
Hi Cindy!
Thanks for getting us all set up to tour those beautiful homes with pictures of the interior and everything! It's fun to dream. I can't believe that one had less square footage than your apartment ~ I like your apartment much better, plus you don't have to be responsible for the maintenance in an apartment. Believe me, there's ALWAYS some type of maintenance involved with home ownership, which means I can't spend that money on decorating like I'd really want to.
Karin
Those are all so cute. I love older homes, especially cottages.
You certainly chose all of the best neighborhoods - good taste! The house in Los Gatos is to die for! I've always wished I could live in one of those that are right in town. I have a friend who lives in Willow Glen, where you also ventured, and those are such cute houses. I can't believe what they did to modernize the kitchen in that one you showed! Yuck! And then you flitted over to the Rose Garden area with all those beautiful old homes. I love your idea of putting the wrought iron and black awning on the one. It is insane what homes go for in this area. Actually, it's almost criminal!
Wow, that is insane. I could buy that little house HERE for about 100K.
I hate when people modernize old bungalows as much as you do!
Hi Cindy
The homes in your area truly are expensive too aren't they? They all look so darling. It sounds like you went in at least one of them? I love looking at model homes and sometimes go to check out Open Houses. The homes in my area are getting too expensive also and I'm in a smaller town an hour north of Toronto - the big city. Those prices are real crazy.
Well I hope you are buying Lottery tickets. There is a group of 19 in my office that I buy tickets with...one day Cindy...one day! I hope I'm not just dreaming too...
Hope you have had a lovely day
Judi
Judi, if you click on the underlined text under each home you can see the inside of them!
My goodness, I thought the "bubble" had burst even in California. I can't even imagine $700,000 for less than a thousand square feet! My house is around 2200 and cost less than $200,000. Thirty thousand dollars less. That's how I can remodel. Wow!
Brenda
Wow, we paid $119,000 for a three bedroom ranch on 2/3rds of an acre just three years ago.
Sometimes it is good to live in the Midwest!
Cindy.. pack those bags and come to Texas! You can have that same charming home here for around 200K... however we do not seascapes and trolley cars!!
It's so fun to dream.... keep dreaming .. you know know when you may win the BIG ONE!!
Cheers!
Valarie
which is why we no longer live in CA. But hang on prices are going down. Love those styles too and I'd like Los Gatos very much!
Cindy, I echo your sentiment about looking wistfully at beautiful homes and thinking "I could never afford even the less expensive ones". But it's so lovely to dream . . . . You have chosen some truly exquisite properties. I could easily see you adding your own personal touches to each and every one of them!
WOW!! With the price of those homes I would be lucky to afford a cup of coffee..I enjoyed the tour of dreams though..let us know if you win the lottery and we can visit you in your dream pick..
hugs ~lynne~
They all look like storybook cottages!
xoxo,
Mary
The homes are lovely, Love the first one, But your place looks so great, how can you bare to leave it all behind! You just want somewhere to do more wonderful deco!!! Love your home!
Ouch - I remember those prices! Of course they weren't that high when I lived there, but they were still way higher than the rest of the country! I always thought I'd love a little place in the Santa Cruz mountains, Carmel, or Monterey... Might as well dream big, right?... Donna
I love the charm of all of those houses. I've heard for years about California real estate prices. People move to Colorado from Calif. and can't believe how cheap housing is here. Hold on to your dream - you never know. Sally
Wow at the prices. Some of those homes would go for 60,000.00 (yes sixty thou) where my mom lives in western NY! How do people afford to live out there?????
Those are all beautiful homes. I can't believe the prices. I guess it's a good thing that I live in VA. Have a great weekend.
Hi Cindy,
You should cut out photos of all the things you love and create a "vision board". Send the message out into the Universe! One day, you never know......
You'll see!
Carol
“Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true”
~B
It's always fun to dream of our dream home. The pics are nice. My dream is a log cabin on a lake at the base of a mountain.
I'm in love with those cottages!!
Thanks for posting.
Anonymous (~B): Wow, that choked me up a bit! Let's hope ALL our dreams come true!
Cindy they are all darling!You just keep on dreamin'! And I also hate when people remodel the insides of vintage homes and transform them to contemporary spaces. It's like a rape. They are stripped of all charm....Sorry bout the vent *winks* But I do feel strongly that if you want a contemporary house...you should buy one!!! OK end of rant. I love to go to remax and check out homes all over the country to see what I could buy if I sold my house.....Maybe someday I'll retire to the south where they have such charming old homes for such affordable prices. But San Fran is such a great place!! Vanna
Cindy,
I'm going to be visiting relatives over Thanksgiving in Morgan Hill. Can you give me some ideas of shops to visit around San Jose and Santa Cruz. I'd LOVE to visit your Thrift.
Thanks,
~elaine~
roz_etta@yahoo.com
Beautiful homes, each one! But my goodness! WOW! What prices! I guess I will stay here in Georgia!
Wow, I thought the Boston area was pricey! How can anyone buy a house out there? I hope the salaries are in line with the real estate. I prefer the smaller house, more cozy and less housecleaning! But I suppose if Icould pay 2 million for a house I could afford a housecleaner.
Thanks for all the Gorgeous eye candy, I certainly agree all those pretty homes would be lovely to live in!! If only!!!
Have a wonderful weekend!!
mandii
Love the tour. But these houses our way overpriced. Ridiculous. Your favorite is mine too. mishelle
The homes were lovely - I watch HGTV first home buyer shows all the time and go crazy over the $200,000 home in other states and how the homeowners pay about the same as I do in rent for their mortgage - I guess it goes along with the joke about how you know you live in California when you make $300,000 a year and cannot afford a house! (Not that I make that much, lol, but you get the picture!)
Hello Cindy, first of all: sorry for my english is not really one of my strong points. I'm from Austria, upper Austria. I look every day in your blog and I will give you a really BIG compliment. Your blog, no sorry I would say your style of your home is STUNNING and BEAUTIFUL. I love it and it's a really enrichment of my life. I love your style and your blog so much. Thank you for doing that. And I hope you will find a house for you, that suit your taste and wishes!!! Many many kind regards Sonja
I do the same! I like very much my house, I don't want to move. It's just for fun.
Alfazema
They are all so beautiful! California is too expensive for me!
All my income could get me was a five thousand dollar mobile home. Got to love living in the good old poor state of Ohio. To think we voted down an income potential because the owner did not pay taxes, casino employees pay taxes. Ten thousand jobs down the drain because of taxes.
They are all gorgeous, but I have always been in love with little yellow houses with white picket fences...:)
Thank you Jesus that I am an Oklahoman and have no plans of moving out of our great state! WOW you can get a MANSION with over 8000 sq feet for over one million dollars here and the 879 sq foot cottage that was almost 700k you can buy a 5000 sq foot plus home. Wow, have you ever thought of moving away from California? How in the world do people afford homes out there?
They are all beautiful homes but I love your place!
WHAT BEAUTIFUL HOMES.CINDY,YOU MUST BUY 2 OF THEM.AS MY HUBBY SAYS,"WE CAN AFFORD TWO JUST LIKE WE CAN AFFORD ONE".HA.BUT WE CAN DREAM,CAN'T WE...ANN
Well, luckily our salaries are higher here too! I don't think I could ever leave here. I was born and raised here and the weather is wonderful. It will be 78 degrees today...in the middle of November! That's higher than it normally is this time of year but it's a wonderful place to live.
Cindy these were so fun to see! Of course I loved the yellow one! ;-)
I know one day you WILL have your own dream home - but certainly the beautiful home that you have created NOW IS a dream too. (((hugs)))
xo,
Kim
Hi Cindy! I do that, too! OMGosh! Let's put our $$ together & move into that first home in Silicon Valley!! I just did the virtual tour!
Big TX Hugs,
Stephanie
Angelic Accents
My aunt lived in Los Gatos for many years during the 70's She had a ranch and alot of land.
Love the homes, Cindy!! I wish I had beautiful homes like that in my area- in PA neighborhoods either have it or they don't. California is so gorgeous, I wish it wasn't so far away!
~Rachel
Thank-you for the tour. All of these home are just beautiful.
Ginger
Holy moly! How can anyone afford to even live there? Those are beautiful houses, but my house was literally a fraction of the cost of even the smallest house!
Kady
Thanks for the lovely tour.I love looking at homes too, sometimes we go for a drive just to do that. I love homes with old charm and character, with all the nice details. I've seen lots of white homes that I love.
Thanks for putting me on your favourite, it's an honour. I love coming here too.
Oh Cindy,What lovely homes you have found. WOW..I just can't believe the prices. Never give up your dream of owning one. As they say, what you Think about is what your BRING about....Keep Thinking.
If you move to MY areaa, you could purchase homes like these for under $300,000. Depending on location and age.
Wanna come East....:)
Big Hugs,
Dianne
so funny how home prices are VASTLY, HUGELY, different in various areas of the country. 699,000 would build you about a 5,000 square foot luxury home where we live!! those houses are BEAUTIFUL! i'm going to go tour them tonight on my laptop. blessings!
Cindy,
Great post; I too liked the first one the best and I loved that kitchen with the glazed ( but beige) cabinets. I have done a couple of posts this week about houses near Harvard Square in Cambridge MA. Check them out..very different from Silicone Valley, very historic. I think I just appreciate houses and good design from any area of the world.
Janet@Housepeepers
PS. We both got the same award from Lookiloos. I feel like I am the presence of a Rock Star ( you).
Lol Los Gatos? Who wants to live in the city named "the cats"? I agree that housing is WAYYYYY too expensive in the bay area. If you were to move to texas, you could get one of those 2 million dollar houses for like 100 thousand. I have a friend who lives there and it is just insane how cheap you can get a house.
Cindy, I love the home tour...isn't it fun to dream! That's one of my fav things to do...either online or driving through some of the historic areas in my home town.
Susan
When I was living in the Bay Area, my best friend and I would get together to exercise and our favorite thing to do was walk through Willow Glen. Although, you can't walk very fast while gawking at the houses!
If you ever decide to move north, Sonoma County has beautiful, older neighborhoods at much less. (but you'll need to be independently wealthy because there are no jobs!)
Well they are all beautiful! We can always dream right?
Well, what can I say... Move to Missouri. We have wonderful, and I mean wonderful homes for way way way less than any you mentioned. I know... You love California.. I understand.... but the real estate market here iw amazing in comparison... and we could have such fun!!!
You have to love those Bay Area prices... :) All would siut me just fine if they were a tad bit less expensive
Natasha
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