Lesson Learned #1: Know The Deed Restrictions...

As you can see, there's been no progress with starting to build the house (we'd hoped to start on May 10th). That is because we've since learned that the garage cannot be built because it is in violation of a deed restriction. I suppose I should be happy that there's not an issue with the house itself, but it's quite disappointing that after having the land surveyed twice and going in front of the Historic Commission 4 times that this is just now coming up. Even with some legal guidance, we've realized we can't move forward with building the garage.

So, we're trying to adjust and actually build the garage underneath the house instead. It will likely end up as only a single car garage, but that is better than none (plus, since we have never even had a garage, getting a single car in would be an improvement!). However, that means changes to the architectural plans, cost estimates, and so on. Hopefully it does not mean going back to the Historic Commission for approval since the next meeting is not until mid-June.

We're trying not to stress too much about it, but I'm certainly keeping my fingers crossed that we can get this worked out by the end of this month!

Ground Clearing

The trees came down on Monday. We found out that 2 of the 4 were completely hollow inside, so that made us feel a little better about having to take them down... The rest of this week they've been working on leveling the lot and getting the footprint of the house ready for the foundation (which won't start until early May). Definitely making progress! We are also finalizing the house plans (why we can't start the foundation until May), picking out the lighting fixtures, starting to look at tile/marble/granite, and finalizing brick and shingle selection. Lots of fun!

Brush Clearing

They began clearing brush from the lot on Friday! Sadly the trees come down on Monday. Here's a final look at how big they are, put into perspective by the digger (I think? I'm trying to learn my trucks/equipment now that I have a son...).

Finally!

We got the "green light" from the Historic Dilworth Commission yesterday to begin building! Yippee! Four times was the charm afterall... Sadly, removing a number of large and beautiful trees is required, which will begin on Monday.

Keep tuned in for what we hope will be fast and furious progress going forward!

Historic Dilworth Commission - Review #2

Because the new property is within the historic district of the neighborhood (Dilworth), we have to get "approval" from the HDC before we can begin the actual building. We presented initial concept in January, and went again today to review updated plans. What an experience! There are a lot of opinions about minute details - overhangs, window placement, color choices, building materials, etc. It was nice to hear the feedback so that we can adjust some things accordingly, but could be frustrating at times to hear comments that I don't agree with. The most interesting comments actually came from neighbors who can attend the meeting to voice their opinion. Fortunately they had limited comments, mostly questions, and 2 of them introduced themselves to me afterwards to make sure I didn't think they were against us personally but wanted to make sure some concerns were addressed. We still have work to do on the landscape architecture, so the approval decision was deferred until next month...

The Property

We bought a corner lot facing a park here in town. It's beautiful, although unfortunately most of these trees have to come down because they are in the footprint of the house.

This will be the front yard.

These are views from the park, looking across the street at what will be the side of the house. You can see a tiny Casey and stroller to the right of all of the (big!) trees...

A wide angle shot of what will be the other side of the house and the front yard.

This is a view of the park...

Welcome!

After realizing we were outgrowing our home, Casey and I decided to go for the gusto and build a house. We have definitely been influenced by good friends of ours, who have built houses over the past few years, as we saw how fun it was to get to really create something that was unique to your needs/wishes (and we did see the challenging times as well!). We bought a piece of property in our current community back in September 2009, found a great architect and builder who have worked together before and are both familiar with the location, and got started on the process...

We've spent the past few months drafting plans for the house, and are still in the design/development architecture phase. I recently realized, though, that I was not doing a great job of keeping track of our progress so that I can really remember this whole experience. And what better way to do so than with a blog!