904 Cottage Row Lane, Cedar Falls, IA 50613

If your list of must-haves includes river frontage and an almost unreasonable amount of garage space, we should probably talk. This Cedar Falls raised-ranch sits on a half-acre along the Cedar River, and the setting is easily the star of the show. Several skylights bring natural light into the open main living space, where the kitchen, dining area, and living room flow together around a gas fireplace.

New flooring, fresh paint, renovated bathrooms, and new appliances mean plenty of the updating has already been handled-which is always preferable to discovering your weekends have somehow become dedicated to home improvement. Inside, you'll find 1,430 finished square feet with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

There's room for sleeping, guests, an office, hobbies, or the room everyone eventually has that doesn't really have a name but somehow stores everything. And then there's the backyard. Or, more accurately, the river. The lot stretches toward the Cedar River, with a deck overlooking the water and a setting that changes right along with the seasons.

The bike trail is steps away and Black Hawk Park is nearby, making it remarkably easy to walk, bike, fish, or generally become the outdoorsy person you've been meaning to become. Sitting on the deck with coffee and doing none of those things is also a perfectly reasonable choice.

Now, we need to talk about the garages because this property has decided one garage simply isn't enough. There's a detached two-stall garage. Another one-stall garage. And then an entire garage underneath the house that's insulated and climate controlled.

Cars, motorcycles, bikes, kayaks, pontoon (seriously), tools, woodworking, projects-the hobby that started innocently enough and now requires dedicated square footage-there's room for it. And that's really the thing about this house: it isn't particularly interested in being like every other house.

You get an updated three-bedroom home, half an acre along the Cedar River, the trail practically outside your door, Black Hawk Park nearby, and a garage situation we're still talking about several paragraphs later. It's a little different. We think that's the point.