Where We Live

Since Kesh was born we have moved a lot. We first lived with my mother-in-law in her very large, approximately 300 square meter, home. Then we moved to an apartment. Then we moved to an extremely large house (400 square meters or so) where our company's office was shared with our living space (business downstairs, bedrooms upstairs, shared kitchen and common spaces).

However, with small child #2 on the way it was time to separate our living space from our office space. 

Finding rentals here in Cuenca is difficult. With the influx of retirees from North America (and other parts of the world) rental rates have skyrocketed. When we first moved back almost 3 years ago you could find a house for $250 or $300 per month. Now houses run for closer to $500 or $600 per month and you are lucky if you can rent an apartment for $300. 

We looked and looked with very little luck. Everything was out of our budget or too far away from where we needed to go on a daily basis (we walk everywhere). 

Right before I left for the U.S. in December, we finally found the right place at the right price! We had seen the apartment before, but the owner was asking $370 per month, which seemed steep for what it was. However, the real estate agent worked with us (and for us) and dropped the rent to $270 per month. (I know, most of you who live up North are dying right now at how little we pay for rent, but it is commiserate with the cost of living and salaries here in Ecuador)

We are now living in our own home, separate from our business. Kesha has her own room, we have our own room, and the new baby will have his own room. We have a wonderful kitchen that I love cooking in (it is one of the highlights of the apartment!), and a nice amount space for our family. We live a 1 mile walk from the new office and Kesha's daycare is on the way there. We live right in front of the river and close to parks. In fact, we leave our kitchen window open all of the time and we can hear the river from our apartment... it is wonderful!

I have given several friends and family a Skype video tour and one of my friends commented on how she was surprised at how our home was very similar to what you might find back in the U.S. I love her dearly, but it did make me laugh.

Arturo has sent away new countertops to be custom made of Laurel wood (as you can see below, the old ones are very well loved), and we still need to decorate. But overall home is reflecting who we are more and more every day.

This will be our home for the next few years until we can save up enough to buy a place of our own. I would love to buy a place like this and completely remodel it. The older apartments in Cuenca have so much personality and so much potential.

Here are a few photos of our new abode! Enjoy the tour!

Our kitchen with the well loved counters.

Another view of our kitchen. I love the natural light!

The view of the river from our kitchen
(you can also see some of the lineal parks that we have near by)

Another view from the kitchen side of our apartment
(that is Cajas National Park/the Andes Mountains in the distance).

Our well loved and well used washer and dryer!

Our dining room (it's dark because it's a bad angle...
we have wonderful natural lighting!)

Kesha's room (yes, she is sleeping in this picture).

The hallway from the living/diningrooms

What will be our new baby's room. The crib is being made and will be ready in a few weeks.

Our bedroom (view from the bathroom door)