Building Phases

"Drawing House Plans"
Well we're finishing the first lap here, rounding the corner full speed... M is the driver. H provides evaluation and logistics support (and, of course, brilliant suggestions and opinions). Little M provides comic relief. At the pit stop, officials from Zoning, Plans Review, and Permitting need to give us the green light before we roll on. We've turned in our drawings and are now waiting for the permit to build.

Lumber stacked and waiting.  GWNF to the right (red blaze on tree), our property downhill to the left

Next lap "Getting Under Roof":
Breaking Ground- digging and pouring the foundation of the house
Get electricity
Gather and order materials, machines, and crews
Build walls and roof

Future compost bins overlooking future home site. First things first!

Next lap "Getting Inspected"
Plumbing
Electrical
Well remediation
Repair the septic system
Occupancy permit

Sunset, looking uphill at future home site, compost bins, and national forest

Next lap "Finishing"
Interior walls
Counters
Wood stove
Stairs
Wood flooring
Repair the entrance to the property
Grade the driveway

We plan to have as much fun as we can along the way. Little M in canoe sled on future home site.

Next lap "Moving"
Move in
Plant a garden!
Build a shop/barn!

Dream Gestation

Has it been 9 months? ...since the possibility of care-taking this spot of earth was conceived.

Or has it been 6 years?...since M&I realized that the dreams we had held, would now take shape together.

No, it had to be at least 23 years?...back when M began to design and dream about building a house for somebody he'd love. (Ironically I had never dreamed of or cared which dwelling I'd have- except a tropical hut)

Perhaps it was longer ago when ancestral pioneers set sail or set course for new places, taking the challenge of building and piecing together their lives, a home.

Whatever the gestation, we're tending a dream here. And very practically, just eager for a place to call home. It's a challenge for two adventuresome souls to pick a spot on earth to hang our hats, but here we are.

It might seem like laughably little to show for all our activity: a cabin-sized box with a pointed roof, some windows, doors and rooms. Really? It took that long to come up with...this? 



But no one documented our learning curve of real estate, the Virginia residential and international building codes, and building software; no one witnessed the mighty winds created by uneven communication, tiredness, late-night impasses, new ideas, the big decisions, life-giving choices, and break-throughs of peace that marked our progress.

Design on many levels

A man designing a box who never knew that there was one.

Staking out ideas with friend / contractor who slogged with us through stage 1: Design.

The first time we staked out house dimensions and due South

So to the onlooker, I say, look for what's not in the drawings to tell the story:  myriad building methods we decided not to do; the materials we researched and chose against; the space and walls and angles we eliminated; the debt size that we decided not to sign on; and the resentments we chose not to allow between us, the pressured schedule we took ourselves out of.

Two individuals bound and working together...it's not a smooth process. But it is how we make a home.

Land-ho!