Moving Right Along

Today saw the pouring of concrete footings for the garage, more of the future basement for the main house was excavated, and the all-important Port-O-Let was delivered.

Our contractor also did some grading of the driveway so that a semi full of ICFs (Insulated Concrete Forms) could be delivered. The modular ICFs are stacked then filled with concrete for an amazingly durable and energy-efficient structure. Click here for a step-by-step on ICF installation. Click on the photo to link to our construction shots photo album.

Back at Rose Cottage, our landlord's handyman finally got around to mowing the rest of the yard which I had started last weekend since it was so overgrown. Chickens were let free at 2:30 in the afternoon after producing a baker's dozen eggs. We are keeping them in their run during the first part of the day now since we were suffering from low egg count by letting them free range first thing in the morning (we suspect they are laying eggs in undisclosed locations about the property... sneaky hens!).

A Groundbreaking Day

24 hours later than we hoped, but yesterday was a momentous day as the excavator finally dug into red earth where our future home will stand. Dionne called me early in the morning so I could hear the sounds of the diesel engine and machinery...it was truly music to my ears. Here you can see where they dug out the perimeter of the outer walls and placed rebar for the footings.


I've also added a countdown until the completion of the detached garage. Why the garage and not the home? We're moving into the garage first to coincide with the end of our current lease at Rose Cottage---no need to sign for another 6 months!

Contract Signed!

This was a busy 3-day weekend (I took a vacation day from the office), but it was well worth it as we finally got the actual construction contract with Jessica from Oakley Custom Homes squared away. Initial estimates show the completion of the garage by September 15th with completion of the main house around December 21st. We also spent some time on the property measuring and staking the future location and orientation of the house and the detached garage while Mema's dogs and the kids ran wild on our future backyard. Settling on the four corners of the house was more difficult than one would expect as slight changes of the front porch view drastically altered views from the back and side. We finally realized that this is because we chose to place the home at the mid-point of our "California-shaped" lot (think dogleg for golfers). From a bird's eye view you can see that it's impossible to have the front of the house face the main road and yet have the backyard view line up with our open meadow. We had to settle for facing a bit more toward Tom Black's house rather than Collinsville Road. Anyhow, several signatures and a few notary stamps later and we are set to break ground as early as tomorrow (Tuesday, April 22nd)!

Classic in Spirit, Modern in Style

As we near groundbreaking, I thought it would be interesting to share the article from Inspired House magazine which led us to the "Field of Dreams" home plan from Healthy Homeplans. One of my favorite excerpts defines a farmhouse as follows:

It looks like it belongs where it sits. It is constructed in a vernacular style, of materials that are native to its region.

There are multiple buildings on the site--anything from a barn or a henhouse to a detached garage.

It is shaped like a simple box and has a gable roof and clapboard siding.

It has an open porch to ease the transition from landscape to interior space.

Its proportions are carefully considered. Wings can't be too wide or the house will be stocky instead of tall and proud.

It has a simple, symmetrical facade with a pleasing arrangement of windows.

It features double-hung windows. The should be tall, with a minimum 1 to 2 ratio in width to height, and low (8 to 18 inches off the floor).

The pitch of the main roof is steep (8/12 or 12/12), while the pitch of the porch roof is low (3/12 to 4/12).

Part of the ceiling in the upper bedrooms slopes and the head height of windows is lower than usual.

There's evidence that it has grown over time: wings attached, rooms bumped out, second stories added on.

Click here to download a pdf of the full 8-page article.

Revising the Home Plans

The layout we decided upon is a modified version of the Field of Dreams home plan by Healthy Home Plans. As you can see, the exterior has a traditional farmhouse look which complements the land where we are building. There's just something awkward about a contemporary suburban stucco home out in the country. We met with our builder, Jessica Oakley of Oakley Custom Homes, and made revisions to the "off the shelf" plan including selection of windows, flooring, etc. (Did we mention that Jessica is part of our food co-op? We tried to barter a life-time supply of eggs in exchange for the new home, but she didn't go for it...) Before final pricing, an engineer needs to give the revisions a lookover. Grading of the property, however, can begin as soon as we sign the contract!