Yes, assuming you also have a job. Having no job (and no desire to get a job) and little savings (the author says it almost all went to paying off the mortgage) is a little stressful, to say the least. In this situation having a big pile of cash and a mortgage would be preferable.

I do also have some pre-existing savings; I just don't want to use them if at all possible (and have to start all over, sob), so I've been deliberately pretending they're unavailable.

I understand what you're saying, but a technical note: you say "start all over," but I think that is untrue. You would be starting from the position of having no debt and owning your home outright (a positive net worth.) That's an excellent position to be in, in terms of trying to build savings. Congrats on the mortgage! :)