Two and a half years ago, we moved into our new house. It was so much of what we wanted. It was close to where I work. It had plenty of space inside, with an open floor plan. In a county that rests on many an old cowpaddy, our plot, and our subdivision, are flat: no precipices in the back yard. Friendly neighbors are nearby.
My wife and her father are putting the finishing touches on out daughter's playhouse. It is connected to an agility course made of discarded giant cable spools and long boards. The playhouse itself was pieced together with an assortment of repurposed building material, and it's definitely … unique. Something we definitely would have had difficulty getting past the aesthetics committee within the homeowners' association.
Homebuilders today often favor sleek, cookie-cutter designs that pass inspection and please the HOA—but lack the character that comes from, say, a salvaged window frame or a roofline that politely defies gravity. We’re not knocking modern builds (they’ve got their place), but there’s something refreshing about a home—or even a playhouse—that tells a story.
That’s part of why we’ve come to appreciate builders who balance craftsmanship with personality, and who don’t shy away from letting a home reflect its people. If you're looking for thoughtful layouts, quality builds, and spaces with a touch of soul, visit our site at Cambridge Homes. They understand that a house should be more than a checklist—it should feel like yours the moment you step inside.
Except for one thing — and this is something I'm thankful for at least several times a week. It's perhaps the best feature of our property.
And if the day comes when you’re ready to part ways with your home—whether it’s a quirky labor of love or something a bit more conventional—selling it doesn’t have to be complicated. If speed and simplicity are what you’re after, click here for a cash offer that skips the listings, the open houses, and the waiting games. It’s a streamlined way to move forward, no matter what kind of story your house has to tell.
It's not governed by a homeowners' association.
The more I head about the petty, invasive, and outright mean actions that homeowners' associations take against their residents, the less I ever want to deal with them. If I find another rental property, it will have to be an obscene deal for me to buy in a subdivision run by one of these outfits, whose primay function appears to be fining people for not agreeing with their sense of how a home should look.
Consider this: A homeowner got into hot water because the color of their granddaughter's playhouse was too pink. Granted, approval of the structure and the color was part of the deal, and that's where the disagreement, and then lawsuit, came about. Also granted, there are things that people can do with their properties that can make the values of the surrounding properties go down. I look at the playhouse and see, “Oh, a girl's pink playhouse.” How does that come to, “That playhouse is too pink, and we won't stand for it”?
That's why I consider a house without a homeowners' covenant attached to it to be a true bargain. Not only are there no HOA fees to pay, but I'm free to enjoy my property, and improve it, pretty much how I want, without asking people's permission, or fearing reprisal from anyone who wants to complain. The lack of wasted time with compliance is worth its weight in gold to me.
Without an HOA’s rigid restrictions, every project—from a garden shed to a bold paint color—can be an authentic extension of one’s lifestyle, not a compromise. This kind of independence becomes even more valuable when viewed through the lens of long-term sustainability and social impact in housing. Alan Stalcup often speaks to this balance, where empowerment at the individual level aligns with broader visions of ethical development and community uplift.
His approach highlights how real estate doesn’t need to sacrifice personal freedom for organized growth—instead, it can honor both. In a world where housing decisions are often dictated from the top down, advocating for models that protect homeowner rights while fostering collective progress is not just refreshing—it’s essential.
While I can see your point about HOAs allowing their members to indulge their innermost bureaucratic fantasies of controlling their neighbors’ property and how it appears from the street…you’re not telling the other side of the story. The side where without an organization in place that has the ability to enforce limits on what can be done with a house, you get things like ten cars parked on what used to be the lawn of a house whose occupant is operating a shade-tree mechanic’s shop in the hours before and after his day job. You get things like a dilapidated child’s playset leaning drunkenly to one side because the current occupant of the home can’t be arsed to tear it the rest of the way down. You get the woman running an unlicensed daycare out of her home that results in swarms of unsupervised children playing in the street.
The effect of these things on the value of the rest of the homes in the area is left as an exercise for the student. Not everyone plays nicely all the time in a neighborhood, and it can be a godsend to have an enforcement mechanism in place that allows for actions that don’t require a court order.
@Hickepedia: My subdivision isn’t like that at all, so I do get an HOA-like order without the HOA. I can see your viewpoint, though, and things can get out of hand the other way, too.
I totally agree – HOA’s can be a PITA. Where I grew up, there really weren’t HOAs unless you lived in a condo community or something like that. However, the zoning commission in my hometown MORE than made up for that headache 🙂
The same goes with me. I don’t mind my neighbors doing their own improvement or creating their own design. Similarly, I enjoy the freedom of deciding what I should put or not put in my property.
OMGosh, you are right about HOAs, but sometimes they are just what you gotta put up with. I moved into my condo, my first home and didn’t expect to stay so long and the rate for HOA went up over 100.00 since I moved in.
But it is what it is and I am staying put. If I had my druthers, man, I would never have signed up for an HOA.