House Buildin'

Henry and I are building a house. Or, we're paying people to build us a house. So many people ask us to clarify when we use the first statement. I would think it would be obvious, but I guess you never know. I am not building anything. This house is going up on a piece of property that had been in Henry's family for a while. The old structure was going to be brought down by weather if we didn't do it ourselves, so it was time.

Tearing into a house isn't an opportunity that comes along every day, so we took full advantage. There was a lot of hatchet, crowbar, and sledge hammer action. Safety goggles were worn by all.

So after what seemed like months of planning (it really was months of planning), construction began on the house. Although Henry and I poured over the plans and every detail, there were still some questions in how our two-dimensional picture would translate. So we have been watching anxiously as it is going up.

First step: earth work. I'm not even including any pictures because it's all just dirt. Although the hole they initially dug was quite impressive (and a little bit terrifying). Moving all that dirt took forever (forever = less than 2 months). 

After we got the dirt mostly where we wanted it, we got a foundation. Cement has truly never been so exciting. Also - where is our fourth wall?

Proudly surveying his new cement.

Cement is exciting!

 Henry was there the day they poured the slab, and was able to put our initials in. Awwww.

 

Somewhere between pouring the slab and framing was a whole lot of retaining wall drama. I mean, who hasn't had drama over a retaining wall before? Basically, when you have two people who know as little about retaining walls as Henry and I making decisions about them, it leads to drama. 

So we ended up with 1 rockery to hold up our dirt, and one huge cement lego brick wall to hold up some more dirt. Our dirt isn't going anywhere it isn't supposed to any time soon.

The rocks want to be more exciting than the cement. But do they pull it off?

Just try to get away, dirt!

Finally, walls started showing up, including the elusive 4th wall of our basement. Our house will not ultimately be this awkward yellow color (that is just the color of the siding before paint).

 After the exterior walls frames went up inside, finally giving us a sense of what the space would actually feel like (so far - just like Grandma's basement).

A man and his castle.

 Currently we have two stories and a basement, but no stairs. I can't wait to walk around on the top floor and see what our view actually looks like. Probably looks like the neighbor's bedroom, but there is a good chance we'll actually get to see something quite pretty.

Ta da!