3756 East Mallory

With child #4 on the way, we were feeling cramped in our house on Ridge, and were looking around at what was on the market. One stop was in a quiet, out-of-the-way neighborhood off of Val Vista. When we first went to look at it, I was unimpressed. The house was painted an unattractive sunbaked terracotta, the front landscaping was dying and the back was nonexistent. But David was enthusiastic, so we made an appointment with the realtor. When I stepped in the front door and saw the high-ceilinged entry, I was more inclined to take a look, and in the end, we were sold.

On June 23, 1983, we started moving into our new house at 3756 East Mallory, anxious to settle in before our fourth child was born. The house was spacious and cool, just right for our growing family. The entry segued in to a living room and dining room on one side, a guest bath, den, and master bedroom on the other, and straight ahead a family room with fireplace. The family room led into the kitchen, which led to the laundry, storage, garage, and the rest of the (three bedrooms, two baths and plenty of storage). We added an upstairs room later.

And the backyard was wonderful. OK, it was completely unlandscaped, but it had a ramada and quite a few navel orange trees and lots of wide flat yard beyond that. Even after we put in a pool, a fort, and a tennis court, there was plenty of lawn left.

We did get in before Stuart was born, but only by a few weeks. What a relief! We made it just in time.