Discovering the Morey Mansion

I was driving down a quiet, orange tree-lined street in Redlands the other day when I spotted a for sale sign at the end of a driveway. As I always do, I slowed down to take a look, expecting the 1950s ranch style home that is popular in that area. Imagine my astonishment when this was staring back at me.

Hello gorgeous!

I quickly Redfinned it, and the pictures of the inside did not disappoint. Check them out here. 

I decided to do a little more research on the house, just out of curiosity, and it turns out it is not only famous (was used as a filming location in Talk About A Stranger, in 1952), but is also haunted! Maybe the ghost upkeep is very expensive, because the owners also seem to be financially troubled. I'm not at all surprised that they're being forced to sell due to bankruptcy, just looking at that place made my bank account whimper. 

If you're looking to move to Redlands and have $1.6M to spare, check this place out. Maybe you can get the ghost to move to the pool house?

Christmas in New Orleans (the House Highlights)

Merry Christmas, from beautiful New Orleans, Louisiana! Instead of flying to Florida to spend time with Garrett's mom, we all decided to meet in New Orleans and have a little Christmas vacation together. None of us had been here before, but we had our preconceived notions - I envisioned the whole city looking like Disneyland's New Orleans Square, and people partying in the streets all night long.

Not that I was entirely off. The French Quarter is beautiful and very Disney-esque, but it's only a very small portion of the city. And yes, there are people partying on the streets, even two days before Christmas, but we're told it's a very small crowd, compared to the onslaught of people they're expecting for the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras this year.

Nevertheless, getting out of that part of the city felt pretty good. We hopped in a cab, and told the driver to take us to Chartres Street - where we'd heard the fancy people live. It did not disappoint! Check out some of my favorite houses from our impromptu tour...

You know I have a weakness for yellow houses, and check out that turret! Even the carport is adorable!

But there were many others that were arguably more grand...

Porches are definitely a big thing here, though we didn't see anybody rocking on them, or drinking mint juleps while fanning themselves. Maybe it's just not the season...