Neighborhood: Riverbend II

Move-in Date: October 2010

Square footage: 2,500

Details: Walkout basement, full walk-in attic and 2-car garage. First floor: Stairway to attic level, bedroom/office, hallway off foyer. Bathroom connects bedroom to second bedroom off hallway. Half bath, laundry room, master bedroom also off hallway. Master bath has soaker tub and walk-in, open shower with pebble flooring. Open living room with built-in cabinetry ahead of foyer, with open kitchen and living room to left. Island with sink, breakfast bar separates kitchen from living room. Covered deck with ceiling fan off dining room. Basement level: Open activity area, 2 bedrooms and bathroom, family room, patio off family room, workshop/garden room with double doors.

Nearby Landmarks: Vietri, Historic Occoneechee Speedway Trail, Eno River

Where We Live

Leslie: It’s quiet, peaceful. There’s lots of wildlife. We have wild turkey. There’s lots of deer, foxes.

Cecil: Joggers

Leslie: And lots of walkers. It’s conveniently located to 85. I like that — being off the expressway. How would we describe the house? It’s a …

Cecil: Toned-down indigo blue. It’s a craftsman. Some might call it a beach house with the color. Maybe we need an expert opinion on that. We kind of took plans from a craftsman, bungalow style and kind of merged them together with my color choice.

Leslie: Actually I have a magazine that I took the color from: This Old House, May 2010 edition. I was at Home Depot wading through magazines, saw that magazine and thought, “That’s it.”

Cecil: Unfortunately the other choices weren’t like that. You didn’t instantly know how you were going to do something or what you were going to pick — meaning draw it up, change it, draw it up, change it again.

Leslie: We have a full basement.

Cecil: A daylight basement and a walkout basement.

Leslie: And then we have …

Cecil: Really one of the nicest attics you can have.

Leslie: We have about 1,500 square feet upstairs [in the attic]. It’s a nice surprise. From the street, you probably wouldn’t think it, but there’s a lot of space. If we stay here long-term, we might consider putting in a bedroom and a bath and just have a large open area.

Why We Chose Our Condo

Leslie: Schools was one reason — location, location.

Cecil: Three years ago we decided we wanted to build another house. We liked Cameron Park Elementary School, and there was one other place we were looking — I think it was Grady Brown school district — but it was far out.

Leslie: We came from Chicago, and people laugh at me, but I like being near the highway. It’s nice being near a downtown historic area. There’s culture with it, authors. There’s a lot of history here.

Cecil: Occoneechee Speedway is probably the neatest part of it — and probably the Eno River. We were off Jomali Road in Pleasant Green Woods. We just wanted to build another house, to make a little money and to have the adventure to try to create something.

Leslie: I think we enjoyed building the first house. And as you’re going through that process, you get new ideas and you want to try again.

Cecil: We wanted to get closer.

Leslie: To Hillsborough the town, have more of a community connection with having the downtown, Weaver Street [Market].

Advantages

Cecil: The biggest advantage is probably the easy access to the highway, to the town.

Leslie: Parks.

Cecil: I guess close to walking trails. Coming from Chicago, some of the advantages are the beautiful weather …

Leslie: Cost of living. The housing is what, 30 percent less? There you get for 900 square feet about $200,000. I think college sports.

Cecil: College and university life, I guess, and access to Duke and UNC.

Leslie: Also the easy access from Hillsborough to UNC. There’s a Chapel Hill transit that runs. So I park and take a bus to UNC every day. You can do a park-and-ride in Hillsborough at Durham Tech or Home Depot.

Cecil: You need to get them to stop out here at the end of the road.

Leslie: Yeah, that would be nice.

Disadvantages

Leslie: It’s not Chicago.

Cecil:We’re not going back to Chicago.

Our Neighborhood

Leslie: It’s not much of one right now. There are 12 half-acre lots.

Cecil: Ten left to be sold.

Leslie: You buy the lot, and you find your own builder. This neighborhood is not a track home, like Churton Grove is a track home. These are custom-built homes, so I think that’s unique. Hopefully this neighborhood turns into families. I would envision not only families but potentially retired, that all ages could fit and be happy living here. I think the minimum development is 1,800 square feet, so I would say moderately priced homes.

Cecil: Approximately 2,000-square-foot custom homes. The neighbors are warm and friendly and have a sense of community. They’ve included us in.

Leslie: I think it’s a safe community.

Cecil: Safe neighborhood close to town.

How We Made Our House a Home

Leslie: I think it’s a home because we designed it. We designed everything from the floor plan to the colors. When I picked the colors, I used favorite colors of designers “This House Beautiful: 500+ Favorite Paint Colors.” I didn’t like the coloring in the other house, so I tried to spend more time picking colors. I like warmth, pretty and lasting. I guess a traditional warmth is what I like. And I guess that’s what helps make it home. It’s kind of a casual warm.

Cecil: was the general contractor for both of our homes that we built. He definitely has a gift. His father has built many houses.

Cecil: We designed it to be a good place to build family memories.

Leslie: I think so.

We might want to feature your neighborhood. To recommend your home or another home, contact Catherine Wright at catherine.wright@gmail.com.