The Decision to Give Up Living on Land

• September 18th 2015

by UrbanTurf Staff

Curtis Sloan and Ryan Hunt are taking a somewhat uncharacteristic next step with their new home purchase: They are selling their house in Takoma Park in favor of 680 square feet on the water in Southwest DC.

In late August, UrbanTurf wrote about a $189,000 two-bedroom at Gangplank Marina, DC’s community of 86 houseboats (map). The article was what spurred Sloan and Hunt to consider the move.

“I’ve also always been attracted to life on the water,” Ryan Hunt said. “I woke up one morning and Curtis had seen the UrbanTurf article and asked if I wanted to go see it. I was shocked he was willing to consider it.”

“We had talked about downsizing and potentially moving back into the city for a while, but hadn’t really done much about it,” Curtis Sloan told UrbanTurf. “And after we saw the post and went to the open house, it just seemed like a great opportunity. The vessel was much nicer than I expected.”

The property is set up with a living space, kitchen, breakfast bar and a large window that lets in a lot of natural light. The master bedroom, although smaller, has good-sized closet space, expanding the home’s storage. There is also a small outdoor seating area and the home comes with air conditioning, laundry and a parking space.

Based on the massive turnout at the open house, Sloan and Hunt knew they needed to make a decision quickly, one that was driven by a desire to downsize and declutter.

“I’ve always been attracted to living smaller,” Hunt said. “After owning a home in Takoma Park, I felt like most of my free time was spent doing yard or home projects. I wanted to avoid this and reclaim my free time to experience more than home projects and cleaning.”

The couple got an offer together, which Sloan pointed out was tougher than expected “because it’s difficult to find lending for a 1974 boat with no engines that you’re planning to live on full time.” Their offer was accepted about a week after the listing hit the market.

The couple will move in next week, but they are preparing themselves for what it will be like to live full-time on the water.

“Instead of doing things like mowing the yard, you have to scrub the deck,” Hunt said “You have to haul the boat out for inspections every 6-10 years (which has the added challenge of finding a place to stay while this is happening).”

And then there are the waves.

“I have heard that the first month you live on board, you feel every wave. The second month, you get use to the waves, but it feels weird to walk on land. After month three, you get used to the transition.”

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the_decision_to_give_up_living_on_land/10347.