Our New House (ONH) in Rancho Mission Viejo

This is a promo video for the Rancho Mission Viejo Rodeo for 2020. This rodeo takes place in August each year and is five minutes from our house.

February 4, 2020: Below is the public comment I just submitted to the South County Traffic Relief Effort — before the February 7, 2020 deadline at 5pm PST — email address: scoping@SCTRE.org Relatively new to California, I’ve only recently learned about an Orange County proposed roadway extension (alternative 18) for the South County Traffic Relief…

Only those who live in Rancho Mission Viejo — and possibly the people who live in Coto de Caza who speed through our neighborhood up Chiquita Canyon Road — will care about this road opening today. It’s pretty exciting though.

As Michelle and I downsized to a smaller and low maintenance home — while also relocating from Minnesota to southern California — we decided to take our time buying furniture, sculpture, art and other items for our home in order to get what we really want. We also wanted items that would last…potentially for the…

Phew…finally. We closed escrow on Thursday, moved stuff in on Friday, and have just a few things to take out of our rental townhouse and then we are totally and completely moved in! It’s only taken six months and a couple of offers in Irvine that fell through (and, sadly for the sellers, both properties…

Stopped out at the house today and walked through it. Couldn’t quite tell if the cabinets are perfect, but we walk through on Tuesday morning and Michelle can decide in daylight (I was there in the late afternoon yesterday and the sun coming through the window was orange so was tough to tell). We’re excited…

In my last post I mentioned our disappointment in the cabinet color mismatch but, as expected, our William Lyon Homes team is pulling through for us! The cabinets are being redone this week by the manufacturer and we’ll be viewing the house next Tuesday to ensure they are acceptable to us. About Our Elevation One…

Today was our “pre-floor” walk-through and we were very excited to do it as we are now 23 days away from closing on this house. This pre-floor walk-through is a time when — prior to flooring being installed — we are able to walk through the house with a William Lyon Homes manager and ensure…

Michelle and I went out yesterday to checkout the house and so she could pick up a cabinet door to exactly match the paint color. That will allow her to specify other colors and so we can buy lighting, furniture and accessories that blend in to the palette she has chosen. Though we can see…

Everything is moving along nicely. After these photos were taken the baseboards were installed, all walls painted, and many other finishing touches were done. WE ARE SO ANXIOUS TO GET IN THOUGH! Soon…it will be soon. We’re just over one month from closing but it’s tough to wait. Click any image to view a larger…

Went out to visit the house yesterday (Saturday, Sept. 15th) and it didn’t seem like there was a huge amount of progress. From the outside it appeared there was more siding and roofing done, but when I went inside I saw that the entire sheetrocked walls — in the house and in the garage —…

14,000 homes! Yep…that’s how many will eventually be built here in Rancho Mission Viejo (RMV). Below is a map overlay of current RMV villages (e.g., Sendero; Escencia) and future ones, depicted in gray. The surrounding black dashed lines are the boundaries of the 23,000 acre Rancho Mission Viejo, a master planned community that will eventually…

Here are a few photos taken on of our new home being built in Rancho Mission Viejo‘s Escencia neighborhood on Saturday, September 8, 2018. Click on any photo to view a larger version:

This is the model for the home we purchased, William Lyon Homes’ Residence 4. Click on any photo to see a larger view:

This is a brief video I shot of my lovely bride, Michelle Lamb, and me in the model of the home we’ve purchased:

Family & friends back in Minnesota have been asking questions like, “Wait…where the hell is Rancho Mission Viejo!?!” Our new house is in an Orange County, CA development called Rancho Mission Viejo (RMV). Besides being all brand new, it receives almost a constant light breeze from the ocean that is absolutely delightful!