No longer have a pond!

[Mmathis]

Welcome back!

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Well it's been a little over a year since I last posted. We built a new home and have been here 10 months, it has a very small yard, the type of subdivision it is in is unique. It is more like a small town in that you can walk to everything, has plenty of restaurants that are owned by entrepreneurs some that even live in the subdivision. We have office buildings, small boutiques, a bank, an ice cream shop, and a bed and breakfast. The only thing we don't have is a gas station or grocery store but there is one of those just a few miles away. During the summer we have a street party every other week in the town square, and once a month there are concerts and a movie at the amphitheater. This is definitely not for everyone as you really have to like people and because the houses are so close, the average size lot is probably 1/4 of an acre if that. We live on an alley side so I only have one neighbor on the one side and the alley drove on the other so my yard is bigger than most. Not much privacy but we are ok with that as we enjoy talking to our neighbors as they are all really good.

We haven't decided whether we are going to put another pond in or not if we do it will be nowhere near as big as our last one as that would take up 1/3 of my yard and I need a little room for my dog to run. We are just now planning out our landscape so we will see what I come up with.

Todd

One of the best things I did with our existing house was to build an outdoor courtyard with our pond contained inside it. Being a stucco contractor I can't tell you how many courtyard walls I've stuccoed for people over the years. The biggest majority of them enclosed things like swimming pools and hot tubs, and quite few of them had some sort of water feature and sometimes a small crappy pond After seeing and working on so many I was determined to build a courtyard for myself one day, with a nice pond, and now that its done I sure haven't regretted it.
We moved from a place that had some acreage and no neighbors in site, so moving to a small lot with neighbors all around we felt a little odd,,, sort of exposed, even thought most of them were nice. Still I longed for the privacy we had and when designing the courtyard I made sure the walls were high enough to block out the view of any of the neighbors, but still provided a good view of the great looking mountains we have in this area. The privacy is great, but it also has many advantages for enclosing a pond and of course the pond adds a lot to the life of the courtyard. We have a sliding patio door that walks right out the living-room and into the courtyard and the pond is very visible inside the living-room and the sound of the waterfall with the door open is great too. There is a large covered roof area that shelters most of the courtyard so even when its pouring rain outside you can walk outside with your coffee or drink and sit and relax comfortably beside the pond and enjoy the downpour without getting wet.
Anyway, something to think about when planning your landscaping on your new house.

 

[Mmathis]

@Mucky_Waters I've always admired [been jealous of?] your pond. Maybe you and @taherrmann4 can get together and make some similar plans for his property!!

 

[Magzire]

Would a pond like that add valve to the property?

 

[Mucky_Waters]

@Mucky_Waters I've always admired [been jealous of?] your pond. Maybe you and @taherrmann4 can get together and make some similar plans for his property!!

Well thank you Turtle Mommy, but if Todd's previous pond is any judge of his designing skills he probably doesn't need any help from me. But reading his post about moving into a smaller property with closer neighbors I just thought I'd mention how I dealt with it and still managed to incorporate a new pond into the mix.
One thing I didn't mention is how much my wife loves the courtyard and entertaining guests out there. Its scored me a lot of points over the years.

Would a pond like that add valve to the property?

As to a pond adding property value, the general consensus is NO, from a property assessment point of view anyway. In fact some might even say a pond could lower a property value, but a well constructed courtyard? Yes, because it sort of becomes a seasonal living space like a deck.
Of course value is in the eye of the beholder, and if and when I sell my house I'll be looking for a buyer who loves ponds and courtyards.

 

[sissy]

Sorry to hear but you will love your new home just as much and since you are close to every thing to do and explore you may not have time for a pond yet .But knowing ponders they never give up on trying something else ,even if it is pondless .Hardest work ever when you start with a new home .I know after moving from NJ to VA and doing a new home and all the yard is a major task in itself .So many decisions

 

[herzausstahl]

Tmman I've always thought a smaller yard is harder & therefore more fun to landscape as every space counts. I say go for it. For me the fun & joy is in the creation as much as enjoying the "finished product", if I had to fill mine in to sell, I'd grab every rock I loved & then do it knowing I'd have as much fun using what I've learned to build the next one. That said, I'd try to give it time to sell for the person who wanted to keep it to show up to buy it. Honestly your new neighborhood sounds awesome. Our neighbors are 1/2 the reason we wouldn't want to move. Louisville is a nice area, I have family there.

 

[sissy]

I am lucky I will just move the fish to the other pond at the other house and take out the liner and fill it in .I know here ponds are not a selling factor .There is one house pro. built pond and it has been on the market now for over 4 years and started at 119 thousand and now down to only 55 thousand and has not sold at that price either .Nice house but smaller lot with a bigger pond in the back yard and it will not sell .

 

[Mmathis]

@sissy WOW! That's a big price drop. Are you sure it's the pond that's the issue, and not something with the house or property?

 

[sissy]

Realtor has called me about the comments on the pond and asked me about taking it out .It is around 5000 gallons .I looked at house and if it was where I wanted it to be I would buy it but it is out in Chatham and it would take me over an hour to get to my sisters house .It has 3 covered porch's and one overlooks the pond and back yard is fenced but it takes up a big portion of the back yard .Front yard is bigger and property is almost an acre .House is like new and nice and large and nice basement and shed .2 fireplaces also and really pretty landscaping .No issues at all with the property and not many houses there since there are farms all around the house .