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I had no idea this was available in SOCAL. Thank you, I’ll have to expand our search!
Thank you, this mostly falls on deaf ears. Most people don't know this exists, they think it's all beach, desert, and overpopulation. We used to take a 30-45min drive from my house growing up to where this property is to see the leaves change, pick apples, and play in the snow. Sometimes my mom would like to drive straight to the beach after playing in the snow. It was the similar distance to the beach, about 20-30 min from our house. I think many people, especially on these boards, would have a different opinion of Southern California if they actually knew what it had to offer.
Good Luck, and let me know if you have any questions about the area.
I had no idea this was available in SOCAL. Thank you, I’ll have to expand our search!
Be aware that weekend traffic in and out of Julian is horrrendous and that the GREEN GREEN GREEN of New England does not exist in that part of California. You should also look into forest fire risks, which are high in much of the western US.
Be aware that weekend traffic in and out of Julian is horrrendous and that the GREEN GREEN GREEN of New England does not exist in that part of California. You should also look into forest fire risks, which are high in much of the western US.
Maybe TacoSoup is selling a home there????
The traffic can be bad when there’s snow, but I wouldn’t call weeekend traffic horrendous. Plus the OP and her husband work remotely so any traffic issues shouldn’t be of much concern. Yes most places In Southern California won’t be as green as the northeast, but if you looked at the pictures in the property you can see it’s surrounded by green. And unlike New England it won’t look like a barren wasteland come winter. Forest fires are always a risk in the western US, no doubt about that, but so are hurricanes (Florence is unleashing it’s fury now), tornados, blizzards, flash floods, etc throughout the rest of the country.
And no I’m not trying to sell a house there. I already have one in San Diego, and in the mountains by the ski resorts 2 hours from my house. I’m just trying to show someone there’s other options out there that they might not think of.
The times I went through Julian were not during snow or bad conditions. I got the impression it was a San Diego weekend getaway.
New England never turns barren, not even after a heavy snowstorm. I do not like snow but still thought it looked beautiful, and the way to make lemonade out of lemons was to go x-c skiing. Honestly, the OP wish list just screamed “New England” and other parts of the northeast.
We are looking to move in the next year and would love input on towns we should look at given our wants!
Our kids are getting older and really want to find the place to settle down and not move them around anymore. A general Zillow search of filtered 5 acres zoned for horses, 4+bedrooms, under 600k has pointed to NJ, NH, MA, PA, VA and NC as options but that's an overwhelming list to consider and not sure on towns within the states either. We need to be within an hour of a airport and I don't know any of those areas enough to know what cities make that commute doable with traffic.
My dream is to be able to have horse property with easy access to trails. I grew up riding hunter/jumpers but do not compete anymore. That being said I would rather live somewhere that favors English over the trail riding of say AZ if that makes sense.
We need a good sized 4-5 bedroom house, any age is fine just no fixer uppers. My husband is not handy and I'm only good with a paint brush Ideally would like 5 acres or of course more but don't want to be too remote/rural. My parents use to live in Waynesboro PA and it had its beauty but we could never do the one school, one stoplight, everyone knows everyone community.
The hard part for me is finding this in the 500k range AND be within an hour of an airport and 30-60 minutes of a city with a downtown (aka more to do than go to the movies and a chain restaurant) without knowing the areas better.
My husband and I have 4 boys (6,5,1,1) so it's very important to be in a good school district and I value having access to zoos, museums, hospitals, libraries with active storytimes or activities for young children, safe and clean parks etc.
I work remotely and my husband can for the most part, just goes to conferences 1-3xper month hence the need to be within an hour drive of a Airport.
I love seasons, green and having snowy winters so the South & Southwest is out. Ideally we would like to be within a 6 hour drive to the beach and a couples hours to camping (in the mountains). We can do snow, actually prefer it, but my husband can't do the gray for months on end so we need to research the weather of the mid atlantic states and NE more.
Does anyone know of a place that would have all of this?!? I'll fly out in a couple months to look at areas but really need to narrow down where this would all be possible. If it even is?
So in summary:
5 acres of horse property
4-5 bedroom houses in good condition
Max price in the 500's (land AND house, we are not interested in building)
Good schools
Close as possible to a town/city
Being within an hour of a major airport
Seasons (GREEN! TREES! FALL FOLIAGE!)with snow but not mostly gray all winter
Ideally within 6 hours of the ocean and 2 to the mountains.
Thank you so much for any input!
*If I should post this elsewhere, please let me know!
Since you have elimainated the South, I won’t suggest Carrollton, Georgia, which meets most of your requirements, except snow.
The times I went through Julian were not during snow or bad conditions. I got the impression it was a San Diego weekend getaway.
New England never turns barren, not even after a heavy snowstorm. I do not like snow but still thought it looked beautiful, and the way to make lemonade out of lemons was to go x-c skiing. Honestly, the OP wish list just screamed “New England” and other parts of the northeast.
Julian is definately a getaway for San Diegans. As I mentioned earlier my mom would take us there to see the leaves change, pick apples, and play in the snow. You need to keep in mind that if you live there and decide to go spend a Saturday at the beach where it’s 75 while it’s snowing in Julian you’ll be going against traffic both to and from as everyone is heading to the snow. This would be true for any scenario.
I’ve been to Boston, and throughout New England many times in early April. My wife is from NY and has family all throughout NY & CT. Whenever I’ve been there and there’s no leaves on the trees, and I haven’t seen the sun for most my trip I consider that a barren wasteland. Obviously that’s a stretch, but I like things green year round with plenty of sunshine. It is beautiful out there though.
I agree New England checks off a lot of what the OP is looking for, and I genuinely like the entire northeast. I was trying to show that’s there’s other places like it with better weather, and access to the beach and temperatures in the 60-70’s all winter just an hour away.
Since you have elimainated the South, I won’t suggest Carrollton, Georgia, which meets most of your requirements, except snow.
Georgia is too muggy and doesn’t have a winter I would move for. My dad was stationed there a long time ago and the first question any one asked was, what church do you go to? I know that’s not a negotiable for all but not the environment we are looking for. Really I’m surprised it would even be suggested but I’m sure there are plenty of people that love it.
With airports, it depends if you insist on direct flights everywhere or need the lowest cost tickets.
Not knowing that, I'd generally suggest outside Roanoke or Blacksburg VA. Well outside Charlottesville, maybe but cost might prevent.
It seems pretty impossible to know what people mean by good schools. What is good or good enough to one will be completely unacceptable to another.
That’s completely understandable and I think what we hope to find out isn’t going to be found by search the internet. Really I want low teacher to student ratios that focus on learning styles rather than testing. I’ve searched GreatSchools and other testing sites and it’s a start but want to hear from parents as well on the whole culture of the school. I also generally think that areas with “better” schools are going to have less crime, property and more family centered towns. That may be wrong but it’s been my experience here in CO and in the past.
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Ideally would like 5 acres or of course more but don't want to be too remote/rural. My parents use to live in Waynesboro PA and it had its beauty but we could never do the one school, one stoplight, everyone knows everyone community.
