First a little history of my peregrinations around Eugene since moving here in the 70's. My then husband and I rented a house in South Eugene for many many years until the 80's when I was making enough income to buy a house and bullied him into being a co-homeowner. He was a very fearful (mortgage!) and resentful (sure, YOU can afford it) guy. Which fear and resentment were aggravated by his post college attempts to parley a Geology degree into something other that working for a Houston Texas oil company with an undisclosed need for a young guy to send to the Middle East. After 5 horrible months in Houston (Feb. weather was pleasant: sure sign of a coming hell) we decided we would move to my home state as he felt his (Colo.) had little to offer job wise. I vetoed Portland as too densely occupied by family at that time. Eugene was the next biggest and, need I add, no hot bed of Geology employment in which he said he was no longer interested. Here I continued up my work experience ladder in accounting despite my degree in Math. Sadly, and perhaps inevitably, my ex never found satisfying and stable work he was willing to do in Eugene.
That first home was in West Eugene, where we lived until after the (long inevitable) divorce in 1988. A year later I moved to an apartment in the Coburg area. It was perfect for me except it had no A/C and again my income was making ownership wiser. I decided I would like to live in central Eugene. The first one I found that was easily affordable and cute was off 18th and Garfield (Central Eugene). I purchased it in 1997 for $119K. And then over 8 years proceeded to update, improve, repair and enhance it to the tune of $48K. When insane house price inflation hit in 2005 I figured it was the ideal time to dump that cute turkey before more $$ was inevitably needed. In spite of my sizable additional sunk value I was able to clear a net gain of $28K. Then, I decided to wait out the high price mania in an apartment, once again in the Coburg area, but this time with A/C!!
In February 2007, thinking that home values had hit bottom (they so hadn't) I moved into my sweet little home on Escalante St. (River Road) During
my fairly extensive search and house viewings (in Bethel and River Road) I was
sure of only a few things: MUST have small yard, MUST have A/C, MUST have
shade, and MUST have a flatish driveway. This resulted in my realtor (who was
GREAT) being unsure what I might specifically like. So we visited several
together and I was able to give him feedback as I discovered my
previously-unknown-to-me preferences. Unlike my small (and bizarrely remodeled
1940's bungalow) it must be newish and not in need of any remedial effort. I had liked Garfield,
but no longer wanted to buy something that would plunder my pockets. Hence
I added: must be built after 2000. I found this house by going to an open house
by myself. When I walked it, my immediate thought was: "what are these people
doing in my house?" That was the first time I experienced love at first
sight (including men). But then, homes do not need to be intelligent, wry, and
kind. One could summarize my iteration of Eugene
dwellings over 4 decades as:
Rent, Own, Rent, Own, Rent, Own.
This flip-flopping was driven mainly by my abhorrence of a needful
yard which became a top disqualifying feature.
Now (if you have indulged me up to this point) a thoroughly tediusly summary of how I arrived at my little piece of heaven. Which I continue to decorate and organize to my minimalist, neatnik heart's content. After only a few months here I purchased something I didn't know I needed. I love to cruise River Road Resale where I have found nearly a dozen bargain priced furnishing and decor. It was here I found this simple wooden mirror ($15) perfect for my front entry. At once it called out for my mail box key on one hook and a penquin in the box. Subsequently, in the age of Covid, it presented it's second hook as the solution to having a mask at hand should anyone darken my door and meet my criteria for opening. (Few do)