After a LONG sabbatical, I'm finally going to resume my blog...
Of course, much has changed since my last entry, not the least of which is we have undertaken the "home project" of a lifetime... We are going to build a new home!
Actually, "we" aren't going to do much beside pay the bills and oversee the work. I am hiring all of the subcontractors, and we have gone through the process of designing the house and planning everything out.
To date, we have completed the following tasks which are all prerequisite to the building itself:
- Selected and purchased a 6 acre lot in western, central Ohio.
- Worked out a home design, and had it drawn up (not to mention countless tweaks).
- Requested quotes for every aspect of the building process from putting in the driveway to painting and trim work.
- Secured financing (though, there are no "typical" homes in the area that are comparable to our home).
- Staked off the rough house location, and had the septic system location marked on the land.
- Applied for and received zoning and health permits, and well on the way to getting the building permit as well.
So, in a nutshell, we are just now about to begin the actual building process. We have already put in 6 months of work, and now, we are hopeful that we will have a completed home in another 6 months.
After signing the loan papers yesterday, I went out and mowed the house site and the (future) driveway so my excavator knows where we want each. I took some pictures after mowing the thick thigh-deep weeds, but it is difficult to get a sense of things -- looks like a partially mowed field -- which is what it is :)
Here are the pictures from yesterday -- oh, I should mention that a few months ago, I was tired of doing nothing but "preparation", and decided to put up the mailbox... Stay tuned as we (hopefully) begin to make weekly progress, and I find time to post updates...
The mailbox...
From the road, looking up the driveway...
Half way up the driveway, it splits, and goes around the house... We will turn to the left to get to the garage (in the back).
From the "fork" in the driveway -- looking to the right...
Proceeding around the driveway to the left... The deck will be to the right.
From the driveway -- looking toward the house where the deck will be.
From the driveway -- looking where the two garage doors will be -- on the left side of the house at the back.
At the back corner of the house, looking out over the house site toward the road.
From the deck -- just outside the door, looking out over the land. We will consider this the front of the house even though it overlooks our land instead of the road.
From the front porch -- the formal "front door" does face the road.
From the front porch, looking toward the front corner of our land.
