We weren't intending to buy a house when we came to Angelus Oaks. We actually were out for a drive and felt like going to the mountains. I had been driving up to Forest Falls for over 15 years by this time, and I knew of a great little Mexican restaurant named El Mexicano where we could eat lunch and get away from the city for the day. After we ate we wandered across the street to the Gilmore Realty office just to browse at their listings but the office was closed for lunch so, we just drove up and down the streets looking at what was available. When we went back to Gilmore Realty lunch they were in the middle of something and couldn't be bothered to show us any property that day so they sent us up the hill to their other office in Angelus Oaks. The agents there were very pleasant and accomodating. We saw a couple of houses, in their listings, that were within our price range, and had the realtor show them to us, but either the floor plans weren't practical or they weren't easily accessable from the street, which was a must with Eric's line of work. The realtor told us we probably wouldn't be interested in the last cabin on our list because it was so small, but we wanted to see it anyway. We wanted to keep our options open. So, he tried to get in but there were dogs inside and they weren't familiar with him, and he told us we'd have to come back the next morning and Ron would show us the place.
We decided to spend the night in town at The Whispering Pines, a quaint and inviting motor lodge, on the other side of the highway. We were so excited that we couldn't sleep so we took a 45 minute, midnight run up to Big Bear and raided the local Stater Bros store for goodies. We took our hoard back to the motel, and ate while we dreamed of living in a place like this. We were up bright and early and walked over to The Oaks for some breakfast while we waited for the real estate office to open.
After getting acquainted with Ron we followed him down to the house, and on our drive down the first thing that made an impression with us was how friendly everybody seemed to be. They waved at us and smiled even though we were complete strangers, coming from Anaheim we thought we were on another planet. The road down to the house wound around and passed a little red school house (yes, just like the one you see in old-fashioned pictures), the street resembled a quiet country lane that had hidden treasures around every corner. We passed some people walking their dogs and they waved at us. They didn't even know us and they waved! What a place! When we arrived at the house our first impression was how cozy and hidden it seemed. Once inside that's where all the coziness disappeared; the place was a cluttered cave. I was amazed that someone would list their house in such a deplorable condition, but once I looked past the mess I could see the potential. The house had good bones. The front yard had some challenges though; there was an asphalt driveway that went all the way down to the front door, which made it easy for Eric to load up but ruined any chance of having a landscaped front yard, but basically the place looked turn-key, and the price was right; that was a big plus for us. We wouldn't have the time or funds to move out of our other house, and into a new one if it needed a major overhaul. We also we knew that the weather was going to change soon, and if we didn't make an offer on the place now we would have to wait until spring to make one. We didn't know if it would still be on the market by then. We had a lot to think about.
We went back home to discuss the possibility of buying the place, and when we got there we found a message on the anwering machine from a real estate agent named Rex Riffel who wondered if we were interested in selling the house. We thought it must be fate. So, we put the house up for sale and made an offer on the cabin. Thanks to Rex and Laura our house in Anaheim sold within two weeks, and we cleared enough money that we bought the cabin outright, and we moved in the first week of November.
We decided to spend the night in town at The Whispering Pines, a quaint and inviting motor lodge, on the other side of the highway. We were so excited that we couldn't sleep so we took a 45 minute, midnight run up to Big Bear and raided the local Stater Bros store for goodies. We took our hoard back to the motel, and ate while we dreamed of living in a place like this. We were up bright and early and walked over to The Oaks for some breakfast while we waited for the real estate office to open.
After getting acquainted with Ron we followed him down to the house, and on our drive down the first thing that made an impression with us was how friendly everybody seemed to be. They waved at us and smiled even though we were complete strangers, coming from Anaheim we thought we were on another planet. The road down to the house wound around and passed a little red school house (yes, just like the one you see in old-fashioned pictures), the street resembled a quiet country lane that had hidden treasures around every corner. We passed some people walking their dogs and they waved at us. They didn't even know us and they waved! What a place! When we arrived at the house our first impression was how cozy and hidden it seemed. Once inside that's where all the coziness disappeared; the place was a cluttered cave. I was amazed that someone would list their house in such a deplorable condition, but once I looked past the mess I could see the potential. The house had good bones. The front yard had some challenges though; there was an asphalt driveway that went all the way down to the front door, which made it easy for Eric to load up but ruined any chance of having a landscaped front yard, but basically the place looked turn-key, and the price was right; that was a big plus for us. We wouldn't have the time or funds to move out of our other house, and into a new one if it needed a major overhaul. We also we knew that the weather was going to change soon, and if we didn't make an offer on the place now we would have to wait until spring to make one. We didn't know if it would still be on the market by then. We had a lot to think about.
We went back home to discuss the possibility of buying the place, and when we got there we found a message on the anwering machine from a real estate agent named Rex Riffel who wondered if we were interested in selling the house. We thought it must be fate. So, we put the house up for sale and made an offer on the cabin. Thanks to Rex and Laura our house in Anaheim sold within two weeks, and we cleared enough money that we bought the cabin outright, and we moved in the first week of November.
This is what the back of the house looked like when we saw it for the first time in August 2000. The spa is about 10 feet in front of the screened door. 
This was where the "spa" sat in the middle of the deck making it totally useless for any kind of seating or entertaining but we didn't entertain that much, and the thought of sitting in a Jaccuzi under the stars was 
very appealing to us, so we thought this was a big selling point until after we purchased the house and found out how it was put together. We never used the spa. This is the view of the side yard. There was a rickety fence directly behind me when I took this picture (that's firewood under the big blue tarp) we thought the fence was on the property line. As it turned out our property line is barely on this side of that huge pine tree. We thought we were getting a lot larger lot than we actually were. 
This is the view looking out to the back of the deck. The deck is just to the right on this picture. As you can see the yard is quite lush in summer and it provided a lot of privacy; something we treasure.
Here you can see that the deck was built around this huge pine tree. When it was originally built I don't think the tree was that big because now it was beginning to lift the deck. At this time we didn't realize that was what was happening but after living here for a few years and having to make several repairs on the deck we realized that the deck just wasn't worth saving.
Here is a view of the rock walkway up to the front of the house.
I took this picture while standing on the deck.
very appealing to us, so we thought this was a big selling point until after we purchased the house and found out how it was put together. We never used the spa. This is the view of the side yard. There was a rickety fence directly behind me when I took this picture (that's firewood under the big blue tarp) we thought the fence was on the property line. As it turned out our property line is barely on this side of that huge pine tree. We thought we were getting a lot larger lot than we actually were. 
This is the view looking out to the back of the deck. The deck is just to the right on this picture. As you can see the yard is quite lush in summer and it provided a lot of privacy; something we treasure.
Here you can see that the deck was built around this huge pine tree. When it was originally built I don't think the tree was that big because now it was beginning to lift the deck. At this time we didn't realize that was what was happening but after living here for a few years and having to make several repairs on the deck we realized that the deck just wasn't worth saving.Here is a view of the rock walkway up to the front of the house.
I took this picture while standing on the deck.