House Hunting

Today we had our first day of house hunting! We saw a total of 5 houses, all of which had their pros and cons based on size, location, and access to public transportation. Hopefully we will be able to see another handful of houses later this week or next week. We'll let you know when we find "home sweet home." Until then, here are some pictures and highlites from our 3 favorites:

House 1: This house was very clean, new and modern. There were a total of 5 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, a large kitchen with both a American and a German refrigerator (the German ones are much smaller than we are used to), as well as a small patio and fenced in backyard. There is also plenty of storage in the basement. The landlord was also very nice and spoke nearly perfect English! The surrounding town has access to several bus stops within walking distance, as well as a few bakeries, restaurants, and grocery stores.

Front Door


Living Room


Kitchen


A bedroom


House 2: This house and surrounding town are extremely charming. It is located near the Rhine River and is surrounded by what appears to be acres of grape fields. Just to give you an idea of its charm, there is access to a balcony on the 2nd and 3rd floors, and a grape vine winds up to the 2nd floor balcony! The kitchen is brand new, there is a woodburning stove in the living room, and well developed landscapping in the front and back of the house. The one main problem is the long commute to work.

Front door


Living room (serving window to kitchen)


Grapevine on Balcony


House 3: This "penthouse" is made up of what was once 2 apartments on the ground floor, so it is a very unique space to the point that we're not sure if it meets our needs. That being said, it is still very impressive! The entire backside of the house is made up of windows that open to the backyard and our main concern is that about 1/3 of the space is kind of like an indoor/outdoor area. It is still under construction, so the kitchen and laundry have not yet been installed. The home is located in an upscale neighborhood and is located within a few miles of downtown Darmstadt. We would have 1 master bedroom, 1 guest room, and 1 room for laundry/closet space (there are no closets in German homes, so we will most likely be using a small bedroom for closet space in whatever home we choose).

Front Door


Living room/Dining room


View from the backyard


As you can see, we were able to look at a wide variety of homes. It was a very enjoyable day! We also were able to walk around the outskirts of Darmstadt and through a park surrounding the Orangerie Restaurant where we learned that German squirrels have orange fur and are much less common than in the US. It has been raining for the past 2 days, so the grass looks especially green!



Tomorrow we take our German driving test so that we can pick up our new car from the dealership! Here is a sneak preview of our car: