When my husband, Brian, first advised me he was from Laguna Seashore, it took all the things I needed to keep calm. “Oh, is that close to Los Angeles?” I requested.
Like most older millennials, I do know precisely the place Laguna Seashore is. I’ve watched each episode of the fact present (I am an LC with a Kristen haircut) and am an enormous fan of The O.C. (Seth and Summer season Eternally!)
I do not know why I am pretending. It seems that Brian is a fan of Seth and Summer season as properly.
I by no means thought we’d find yourself residing on the land of beachfront cottages and sun-drenched bays I noticed on TV. However in 2021, we determined to depart the Bay Space and spend a couple of months in Brian’s hometown. We each work remotely — me as a author, he in tech gross sales — so why not?
We have been right here ever since. As we speak we reside in an outdated 940 sq. foot aluminum trailer throughout from the seashore.
Deciding to remain in Laguna Seashore wasn’t onerous – I imply, it is stunning, sunny, laid-back, and has a thriving arts scene. However discovering long-term residing in such an costly space required us to get artistic.
Discover a artistic life-style in Laguna Seashore
The median dwelling worth in Laguna Seashore hovers round $3 million, and the median month-to-month hire is over $8,000. Brian and I pay $6,200 a month for a short-term rental, a excessive worth we will reside with for a couple of months, however we will not maintain.
Fortunately, we found a unusual little group tucked right into a picturesque canyon and throughout the road from essentially the most luxurious resort on the town. It is stuffed with cellular properties promoting for as little as $150,000.
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Brian and I aren’t any strangers to different residing—we beforehand lived on a 46-foot motor yacht for 3 years—so the idea of a home on wheels did not intimidate us.
Whenever you buy a trailer on this cellular dwelling group, the construction is yours, however you lease the land it sits on. We determined to contemplate buying a cellular dwelling as a hybrid resolution – half possession, half rental – all at a decrease price than both conventional possibility.
After residing on a 46-foot motor yacht for 3 years, the 940-square-foot vessel “seems like a mansion to us,” Bryan mentioned. “We’ve at all times preferred unconventional locations.”
Courtesy of Jaclyn Westlake
We purchased the trailer for $212,500, which was cash we saved after negotiating a $5,000 credit score line with the vendor when the house inspection revealed some crucial repairs.
Dwelling on the boat we had nothing however a TV and a mattress. We took out a $150,000 dwelling fairness mortgage in opposition to our trailer to rebuild the unstable again deck, fence the yard, redo the landscaping, renovate the kitchen, and renovate the home.
All in all, we at present pay about $5,148 per thirty days, together with:
- Land lease: $3,424
- Utilities: $394 (it fluctuates somewhat from month to month, however that is what we can pay for electrical energy, gasoline, water, sewer and web in April 2024)
- pay debt: $1,330
We’re wanting to repay our dwelling fairness mortgage to additional scale back our month-to-month price of residing and hope to do that inside the subsequent two years.
Take a look at our “classic” Laguna Seashore trailers
Our two-bedroom, two-bathroom dwelling was constructed within the Sixties. The look is unique and we love the retro look.
There was no storage, only a carport, so we constructed a storage shed within the facet yard to retailer tenting gear and vacation decorations.
Jaclyn and Brian’s outdated 940 sq. foot trailer has wheels (though not seen) and could be moved. You may see the storage on the best and the storage room past the fence on the left.
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In our storage you can find a golf cart, which is our favourite solution to get across the neighborhood, purchase groceries, or cross the road to the seashore. We had a daily automotive and a van to move Brian’s surfboards round city when the golf cart wasn’t out there.
We put our personal stamp on the kitchen and added a butcher block, tile backsplash, dishwasher, and wine fridge.
When Jacklin and Brian bought their trailer, they knew they wished to replace the kitchen. “It is good, however it would not have a whole lot of heat or character,” Brian mentioned. Jaclyn added that it was “very white.”
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There aren’t any closets—not a single one! – on this home, so we needed to get artistic with storage: my closet is in the lounge, our towels are saved within the buffet in my workplace space, and the pots and pans are within the leisure heart.
It is unconventional, however we make it work.
Jaclyn and Brian did not make any structural modifications to the lounge and eating space (to the left behind the sofa), however they did have to determine the best format in what they name a “bizarre area.”
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Though I’ve an actual desk, I usually write on the sofa with our 15-year-old dachshund combine, Indy (brief for Indiana Jones).
Brian often works in an workplace transformed from the second bed room so he can shut the door whereas he takes calls. Generally he goes outdoors.
Jaclyn is a recruiter turned profession recommendation columnist and novelist whose first guide, Expensive Dottie, was launched in June. Her second novel shall be revealed subsequent summer time and she or he is at present engaged on her third, usually at her desk or sofa.
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Our wallpaper is somewhat loopy (all issues tropical!), together with in the master suite.
It was a lot enjoyable understanding that the place was ours to embellish nonetheless we wished.
Jaclyn and Brian have a king-size mattress, “which is necessary when you might have a pet that likes to take up a whole lot of area,” Jaclyn mentioned. There was a dresser reverse the mattress, and a TV hidden behind the dresser that might be raised through an elevator once they wished to look at TV.
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What offered us about this place was the yard. It has an outside bathe and eating space, and enjoys loads of daylight. We added some tropical landscaping, a scorching tub, a ping pong desk, a pizza oven and a projector display.
I really like sitting outdoors and watching the hummingbirds dance round our vegetation.
Jaclyn and Brian spend most of their time within the yard, working, studying, enjoyable and entertaining visitors.
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A “much less tense” model of the California Dream
Dwelling in a home on wheels doesn’t exempt us from the everyday home-owner complications. Since transferring in, we have now handled an ant infestation, put up a termite tent, expelled a bunch of rats, and are at present coping with a gopher drawback.
However protecting our month-to-month housing prices low (for the area) reduces the stress to deal with these points.
We frequently take pleasure in morning espresso on the deck, stroll to the seashore, and loosen up with a night dip within the scorching tub.
The trailer is true throughout the road from the seashore, the place Jaclyn and Brian often go a couple of days every week.
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We love watching Indy sunbathe on his favourite lounge chair, invite mates over for an outside pizza occasion, drive the golf cart into city for dinner or the annual Sawdust Artwork Competition, and activate motion pictures underneath the campfire Hearth pit stars.
Briefly, we had a good time right here. We’ve lived on this dwelling for 2 years and we do not plan on transferring anytime quickly.
Jaclyn Westlake Writing books about fascinating, flawed girls looking for their method on this planet. Her debut novel “Expensive Dottie,” out there wherever books are offered. She is a recruiter turned profession recommendation columnist, and her work has appeared in The Muse, Enterprise Insider, and Inc.You may observe her adventures in writing, seashore life, and extra on Instagram @jaclyn_writing or jaclynwestlake.com.
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