A nice surprise

Because of all the rain, we hadn't expected much to happen at the lot last week. But we stopped by anyway for a visit, and were pleasantly surprised to see the basement had been framed. This photo shows the walkout to the back yard and to the right of the picture you can see the large window that is going into the basement as well. We don't really have any plans to finish the basement, but you never know. Plus it will give me adequate light to use the space for the wetwork I do; painting, dying, felting and such and also for a workroom for Tom. Below are a few more pics of the framed foundation.

I've been asked why I haven't yet shown the houseplans. You may have noticed I've posted a line sketch of the house. Thanks, Gary for providing that! The house will actually mirror the sketch as the driveway is on the left. But it will give you a hint of what is coming. I will post the floor plans eventually, but not just yet!

We met Mike as we were leaving. He tells us that he needs to know where to put the stove ventelation... I thought I'd have more time to decide! We've been researching kitchens for weeks and still haven't come up with any decisions. I've even subscribed to a couple of magazines! We will be meeting with a kitchen designer in a couple of weeks.

We've begun!

This may not look like much to you but to us it is the real beginning to our new home! We have a foot print, a feel for size and space, a promise... As I go through these pics I can see the garage and the kitchen and where the fireplace will be.

Unfortunately I was tied up this weekend so Tom was here without me, but he did a great job on the pics. He also made decisions. The basement door will walk out straight to the back yard from under our Master Bath and there will be a large window in the side wall to overlook where we will put the meditation garden to let in light and view. We (Tom) decided no on a woodstove for the basement and yes on a heat duct to the four-season room. Now we wait for the lumber to arrive so Mike can start framing. If concrete excites you as much as it does us, there are more pics of the foundation below.

(By the way, did you notice how green the trees have gotten? )

April 29 It begins

A well graded sweeping drive way, a clean front view and the beginning of a basement.

SOLD! 22 March 2009

The decision to sell our beautiful home in Princeton was hard. The selling of the house in this market was hard. But finding a new home that we could love as much was nearly impossible! So finally, after more than a year of searching we decided to build. Then months of looking at lots and considering builders got our stress levels up until we thought we'd give up and become apartment dwellers.

But at last we discovered Lot 4, and Mike! We fell in love with this site. Trees and wildlife and interesting landscape suited us so much better than the level bare lots, or sites in flood zones, against highways, or in monopoly board style neighborhoods. When we met Mike and he spent two hours going over our plans and taking us back to the site to describe his vision for the house... well we felt we were home already. A couple of more weeks to be sure we could get the customizations we wanted (a builder that not only says yes but actually understands!) and a few more weeks to get the papwerwork taken care of and on March 22, the sold sign was up and the hard parts were done!