The Plans

We mentioned that the plans had changed slightly since we last blogged.  Here is the updated floor plan.  

Since our actual plans are on paper that is nearly the size of our computer desk, Greg created a pretty good rough outline of the plans. Bed1 is obviously the master bedroom.  Bed2 will be the boys' room and Bed3 will be for the girls. We are going to finish two bedrooms in the basement rather quickly after we move in so that Grant can move down to his own room and we can have a guest room for visitors.  The two sets of stairs both go down to the basement. Not shown in the drawing is the large covered deck in the back.  

 Karen played around with the front rendition and added some color.  

We are planning on having  medium/dark sage green siding with a charcoal/black roof and white trim.  We are going to opt out of having stone work on the front pillar and just go with a cylindrical pillar that is fluted in the middle.  We are also going to go with exterior window trim rather than shutters.  

It is all going to start with a large hole in the ground.  Pics will follow!

A long time comin'

Here we are just under two years from our last blogging and what a couple of years it has been!  We are FINALLY ready to build our house!  The first steps toward actual construction took place this morning.  Greg was able to accompany and assist our builder by staking out the foundation. We plan to be as hands on in this process as possible!

See the tiny pink flags?

Also, a sweet little excavator appeared next to the lot.

Digging is supposed to commence on Monday with the foundation complete by the end of the week.  We have changed the plans slightly from what was posted a couple of years ago, though we are still planning on having a 3bed 2.5bath ranch and eventually finishing the basement.  2012 is going to be a fantastic year, though it started out on a pretty great note :-)

  If you're following the process, we'll be updating regularly.  Wish us luck!

A "Lot" of Work

It's been a while but we've had a couple of new developments since our last posting. First, we inherited a sweet lawn tractor from (Great) Grandpa Henderson. We never knew how much fun mowing a lawn could be! We also never knew how long mowing a lawn could take. With the acquisition of the mower, we've been able to keep the lawn nice and neat. We also spent a load of energy pulling 3-7 foot weeds out of the sandy ditch that will one day be our culvert. It is kind of cool to drive through this undeveloped neighborhood and see the lots of weeds and then our maintained area. Also makes it easy for people to see which one is ours!

Our second feat was the building of the fire pit!

We have a lot of branches that we can use as firewood and we thought, as the weather turns cooler, it would be fun to have a place we can go and roast dogs or marshmallows. Plus, who doesn't like to burn stuff.? It took very little time to do and we're excited to have our first fire!

We put it near the back right corner of the lot in a very flat open area that won't be disturbed once building begins. It is near the creek which flows along our back property line so we'll have to make sure we're covered in deet before spending the evening out there, but it seemed like the best place to put it. Karen had a blast but Greg did most of the work...

Visitors welcome!

Lot 9, meet the kids!

We finally brought the kids out to explore the lot.
They followed dad from the front to the back.



We even took a walk around the walking/biking path.

They were so excited which, of course, makes us even more excited! They are looking forward to being able to 'help' build their own house.

Phase 1 has begun!

We officially own the lot!



The closing was today. The whole process was rather simple. The players in today’s meeting were our lender, Karrie, and the land owner/ real-estate attorney, Russ Holesinger, and the two of us, of course. Holesinger is kind of a big, well-established name in these parts. The land we’re building on used to part of Holesinger Farms. Russ is a successful attorney in town. We found out pretty early in the process that Russ is not only the owner and acting attorney, but he will also be our neighbor as he and his wife will be building on lot 10! To make things even sweeter, Russ brought cookies!


We signed some papers and wrote a check, (ate cookies), and wha-bam! We have a piece of land to call our own. We are not going to begin the building process until after we pay off the lot, so we have a "lot" of motivation to keep saving and living as frugally as possible. We have to digress to something completely off topic for a moment, but this will be relevant in the long run! We have a slight obsession with a local business called Freezer’s.


Freezer’s is the town ice cream shop and they have a rotating soft serve ice cream flavor schedule which changes every 2-3 days. Each month they put out a calendar of the flavors which we promptly acquire and adhere to our fridge. We’ve basically tried every flavor at this point! Because Freezer’s is located along the bike path, we’ll often ride with the kids up to have some ice cream (justifying that we’re simply working off the calories we ingest by biking instead of driving). Let me get to the point. Freezer’s is attached to a sub shop called Cousin’s, of which we are also fond. When Russ came to the meeting today, he brought cookies from Cousin’s Subs. As he offered us cookies, he mentioned that he owned Cousin’s. Of course, we had to inquire…did he own Freezer’s as well? YES! So, not only are we going to be neighbors with a highly respected member of the community, but we are going to live next door to the OWNER OF FREEZER'S! How cool is that? (So cool it's Freezing! Ha!)


Back to the lot…we’ve grouped our plans in phases and Phase One is the purchasing of the lot and the subsequent paying the lot off. Phase 2 includes saving enough for a hefty down payment on the construction and the actual building as well as the fence. Phase 3 is finishing the basement. Phase 4 is the in-ground pool. The phase definitions and time-frames are flexible, but we’ve definitely taken the first major step in building the Henderson Homestead.

A splash of color and some reassurance!

We are wizards with the paint application! Here are some renderings of what we'd like the exterior to look like as well as our planned basement layout... and the remainder of this posting would be specifically for Vicki.


Please notice the two....TWO bedrooms and full bath located in the basement which will be finished shortly after we move in if not before. In fact, please don't just see the drawing as two bedrooms, but as an open invitation to all family members near or far!

Purchase Update and House Plans!

We went into the bank this week and made all the arrangements for the closing which will occur on July 13th…less than two weeks away! We’ve visited the lot many times. Yukon has officially peed on the parcel. The kids will get their first look-see in just a couple more weeks. The house across the street from us is all finished. The home owners worked a deal with Darwin to host an open house for potential lot buyers and builders. Their house looks great! We are now sold on the idea of a built in sprinkler system and we met our future neighbors. They have twin 10 year old girls and a part-time 11 year old boy. They seemed like really nice people. Wade something and his wife…we have some time to learn names. We didn’t happen to meet the people building the house two lots down from ours, but we’ve certainly walked all over their property seeing the progress and coming up with ideas for our own house placement and design. Speaking of house design, we’ve found one that works for us. We wrangled with house large or small we wanted the house to be and had to debate whether we wanted a large house and a large wait for all the extras like finishing the basement , the pool, and the jet ski/boat….or do we want a moderate house and the those extras in a more immediate time frame. We decided moderation would serve us better in the long run and found a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath ranch with a 3 car garage.





The red arrows indicate areas where we plan on making some minor changes, but we like the overall layout. We’ve looked at so many house plans. Settling on one is a big step and a big relief. We’re definitely going to nix the French country looking exterior shutters and décor and we’ve found some similar exteriors that we prefer, but overall, this is the general idea. Now, imagine a white privacy fence in the back surrounding a large patio and rectangular pool, and you’ll see into our future! Maybe a less distant future should include the lot closing, the paying-off of the lot, the saving-up for a down payment on a construction loan, and the selling of our lil’ shack.