Second model, second lot

We are at an impasse... again. The only lots that will fit a Sewickley with an attached garage are highway side and we are not willing to buy one of them. I called Michael, today, to let him know that this was not going to work and we were going to resume our search for an existing home.

Michael is a salesman, and a good one. I knew that he would look into this and do his best to find a solution. I did not expect, however, an immediate response. He responded with, "well... there is ONE lot." Now, this pissed me off, quite frankly. He gave me a line of BS about how we wanted a walkout basement and this other lot would not allow for a rear walkout, only a side walkout. At the same time, I was glad that there was another option. My brother's advice about the lot rang in my ears and I will forever be grateful for it.

So, the bottom line is that there is one other lot, across the street and up the road a bit. I looked it up on the map and it appears to be in a great spot, where there should be a lot less road noise. We'll see...

First glance - Love the Fox Chapel

I grew up in Fox Chapel. For those of you unaware, Ryan Homes is a Pittsburgh-based company, so many of the models are named after areas of Pittsburgh. So, when we visited Cobblestone and toured the Fox Chapel model, we thought that it was kismet, because we loved it! It is a great plan, especially with the morning room and 4' family room extension, which creates the nice open floor plan that we have been looking for.

There are problems, however. First of all, the model, as presented, is approximately $430,000! That is way out of our price range. We don't need everything shown, however, so it looked like it work out. It essentially came down to the elevations available. They were all integral front garage options. Because the current phase V lots are too narrow, there is no way to accommodate a side or rear garage door. This meant having a full flight of steps to get to the front door. Although this is Pittsburgh and lots of steps are common, it is not what we are looking for. We have several relatives who have problems with steps and understand well what an issue it would be for them, and for us when we get older.
We are at an impasse and cannot find a resolution, so it seems like Cobblestone is simply not going to work for us...