Names: Leslie and Matt Lee
Ages: 43 and 42
Occupations: Leslie — financial administrator; Matt — business manager at physical therapy clinic
Children: Josh, 14; and Tyler, 11
Address: 2213 Oakhurst Trail, Hillsborough
Neighborhood: Beckett’s Ridge
Move-in Date: December 2001
Details: 2-story house with porch, deck and 2-car garage. First floor: Foyer opens to office on right with opening to kitchen. Kitchen with breakfast bar opens to living area and dining area at back of house. Entryway to kitchen from office has laundry room on right with access to garage. Left of foyer is half bath. Ahead of foyer is open living area with corner fireplace and door to deck. Right of dining area stairs to second floor and master bedroom and bathroom, with transom window above tub. Second floor: Loft to left of stairs with access to exercise room. Walk-in attic ahead of stairs, with pull-down attic space above landing. Right of stairs are two bedrooms separated by full bathroom. First bedroom includes attic access in back wall of closet.
Nearby Landmarks: Occoneechee Mountain Natural State Area, Triangle SportsPlex

Where We Live Leslie: I like the open floor plan. And the light. There’s a lot of light. It’s an east-west positioned house. We get the morning and afternoon light coming in both ways. I think I do just like the layout of it. You don’t ever feel segregated in one room. You can see the kids while they’re working on the computer.

Matt: Or back on the trampoline.

Leslie: Even in the back yard, you can just see them. I like that the kids have the whole upstairs, and we have the downstairs.

Matt: Yeah, the master downstairs is nice — just the convenience of it.

Leslie: We like the bigger corner lot that we have on the cul-de-sac.

Matt: The corner lot is a little more yard for the kids to play games.

Leslie: Bigger yard, and it’s quieter on the cul-de-sac — less traffic.

Matt: Yeah, kids can play more on the street — good old game of street tennis.

Leslie: I like the neighborhood. It’s convenient. We both work in Chapel Hill. It’s convenient to Chapel Hill.

Matt: Plus [interstates] 40 and 85 are right here, too.

Leslie: It’s close to the bigger cities. A lot of [the kids’] friends live here, too.

How We Chose Our House Matt: We were drawn to it, and just the location — proximity to Chapel Hill and Durham and Raleigh.

Leslie: And it was a newer neighborhood. This was a brand new house when we moved in. We looked at a couple of different floor plans in here because at that point they were still building out homes in here. We wanted to be on the cul-de-sac because we could let the kids ride their bikes without worrying too much on traffic. We did decide on this floor plan because it was a little bit easier.

Matt: Family-friendly house.

Leslie: Yes, it’s definitely a family-friendly house — family-friendly neighborhood, too. I was working in Hillsborough at that time, so I wanted to be a little bit closer to work. We were living in Chapel Hill. I knew they were building this neighborhood. Driving through, we saw all the kids playing and we knew it would be a good family neighborhood. There are so many kids that go to the same schools in this neighborhood. That’s one of the reasons we moved here.

Matt: They could be able to bike to a friend’s.

Advantages Leslie: Close to work, lots of kids, great neighbors …

Matt: Sense of community.

Leslie: Our cul-de-sac does get-togethers where we grill together. We’ve had a chili cook-off in the fall. Social gatherings are fairly frequent around here. It’s a small enough neighborhood that you can get to know others fairly quickly. I just like the small-town feel of Hillsborough, too. And I think that’s one of the reasons we decided to move to Hillsborough. I like a small-town feel, and if you need a big-town feel, it’s just down the road in Raleigh. If you need a jar of peanut butter, you can drive to the store and it’s only two minutes. We could walk to the farmers market — the Hillsborough one at Home Depot. Just cut through the neighbor’s yard and hightail it right up there.

Matt: There’s Weaver Street [Market] too.

Leslie: I like to go to the library. There’s an eclectic bunch of things to do around here.

Disadvantages Leslie: Well, Waterstone’s not built out yet, so I don’t know yet. [Laughs.]

Matt: Yeah, there might be some traffic issues down the road. [More laughs.] You’ve got your choice of fast-food restaurants — I consider that to be a disadvantage.

Leslie: I wish there were more restaurant choices. You’ve got your Churton Street and then your fast-food restaurants, and there’s not much else. But it’s not like you can’t just ride down the street to Chapel Hill. I just wish there were more of a variety of restaurants. I don’t think the Sonic that they’re building is going to do it for me. I was like, “Really, a Sonic?” Anything but more fast food. That’s probably my one gripe with Hillsborough.

Our Neighborhood Leslie: We came in on the tail end of them building it, so I don’t think it’s really changed that much.

Matt: We’ve seen people come and go.

Leslie: It’s a transient neighborhood, so we’ve lost some neighbors and also got some good neighbors.

Matt: It’s close to 85 and 40. I think that’s why it’s a transient neighborhood, being able to access other places.

Leslie: Our homeowners association puts on things. They had the neighborhood yard sale recently. They do a July 4thparade. They close the streets to traffic for Halloween. That’s been nice over the years. We’ve got a pretty attentive homeowners association. They’re doing a golf outing soon, lots of social events.

How We Made 
Our House a Home Leslie: We did some upgrades. We’ve painted. And I think over the years you live in a house long enough, it becomes a home.

Matt: Throw a cat and a dog in there, it’s a home. If it smells like a home … [Laughs.]

Leslie: I think mostly just decorating to your own tastes is how you make a home. When we first moved in here we didn’t put anything on the walls because we were afraid to put any holes in the wall. We got over that quickly. We put up some personal pictures, put up some art.

Matt: The layout [makes it a home].

Leslie: Knowing people can come in and feel comfortable here, plop down on the couch. Kids can come in and play games or videos.

Matt: Just the great room itself, the way it’s attached to the kitchen, the way it flows. You can communicate with your family while you’re cooking. You’re not just separated off into different rooms. Downstairs is just like the nerve center.

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