Welcome to our journey as we build a new home.
4/8/2023:
Hubs and I worked on the punch list this morning. No photos, we’re too close to the final reveal. The last two weeks have been pretty emotional due to last minute things that need to be done, accompanied by tons of rain and a supercell tornado that hit our area last Friday.
We are blessed. We had no damage to the house nor our apartment, but we know so many who were smack dab in the middle of the tornado’s path and weren’t so lucky. Our prayers have been with them. I would normally be offering my help and bringing meals, but the new house took precedence due to our pending deadline.
I will have much more to share next week.
3/31/2023:
Closer and closer! It's a flurry of activity right now.
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| This is from a week ago. No more port-a-potty! |
3/20/2023:
Welcome, Spring! And since Winter dumped her rain on us every week for the last, I don't know, 7 weeks, would you please take it easy on the precipitation? Thanks ever so much.
I never should have posted about Billy the Builder telling us 2-3 weeks--that was 6 weeks ago and we're not done yet. Rain, rain and more rain. And today it's freezing.
I'm praying they pour our driveway today. I walked into the house Friday afternoon after work and found the kitchen backsplash done--but not in the way I requested. Texted Billy the Builder and he said he would make it right. Hubs went back out to the house yesterday and they had taken it off the wall so I'm feeling a little bit better about it.
There are other hiccups...wrong faucet fixtures in our bathroom, not enough tile for our bathroom, most of the problems are revolving around tile. Our dishwasher got lost along the way (we purchased it in November) but it arrived last week.
More to come; enjoy the photos:
2/24/2023:
Onward—dirt work, moulding, flooring, cabinet hardware, garage doors, and trim work are completed or in progress. We are waiting on tile for the fireplace, kitchen backsplash and master bathroom (later next week), appliance installation (this week or next; most are at the house), HVAC, granite for the tub, lighting installation, driveway and two more barn doors. Hubs and I will probably paint the studio barn doors this weekend or next, weather permitting. Photos will be posted soon. Billy the Builder is still saying 3 weeks to completion—there has been a lot of rain impeding progress, but we’re rolling with it. Packing is not going as planned but I hope to make a dent in it this weekend.
2/12/2023:
Has it really been 4 weeks since I last updated this page? Apparently so. I do not know what day it is most of the time these days.
And Thursday evening, Billy the Builder called and said that we were 2-3 weeks away from completion. 😲 The thought that we could be completed 6 weeks ahead of the projected date was astounding to us. Of course, this all happens that quickly as long as the weather cooperates. This week we anticipate 3 days of rain. We will see.
I started trolling Facebook Marketplace a couple of weeks ago looking for a dining table and chairs. I knew I didn't want to buy a new set and was lamenting my decision 3 years ago to donate our dining room set to a local charity. I loved that set, and you could tell it had been well loved. All the meals we had there--well, I finished my pity party and moved on.
About a week after I began my search, I gasped at what I saw--it was the same dining set we had. We bought our set 27 years ago when we moved into the last house. I think it was a pretty popular set but I still couldn't believe I was looking at it on Facebook. I saved the listing and stewed about it--talked to the Hubs, what do you think?--whatever you want, dear.
We picked it up yesterday. I had hoped it was our actual set, but it wasn't. It has some wear but we can work with it. I texted photos to the family:
And here is what the house looks like today:
More updates soon.
1/17/2023:
Phew! I can't believe it but we may be just about done with selections. Today we selected indoor lighting and purchased our fireplace logs, starter, etc. Yesterday we re-selected tile and granite.
Unfortunately, someone yesterday decided to take a joy ride through our house with a hammer and knocked holes into 3 walls--the day before the painter arrived. It will be handled but boy, does it make me a bit nervous about what can happen between now and when we close.
And, it appears completion will happen before the original projected completion date! We locked in our mortgage interest rate Friday so fingers are crossed and prayers are up that we're closing before the 90th day. There's no telling what the Fed will do at the end of the month when they have their next meeting.
Progress shots for your viewing pleasure:
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| The wall in the living room where quilts will hang |
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| View of living room facing due west |
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| Pantry; for perspective, it's 4' x 4'. |
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| Obs, the kitchen. Once the granite goes on top of the island, it will be 4' x 8'. |
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Hubs is measuring the opening for the fridge. The wall he is next to and
the one across from him are two of the walls that were damaged yesterday.
The opening with the windows is the primary studio for me. |
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We told the trim carpenter what we wanted for the fireplace, and
he did a great job. There will be black herringbone tile below the
mantel, and the shiplap above the mantel will be painted black. |
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Our contractor normally installs colonial-style trim. We wanted Craftsman
and we're happy with the way it looks. |
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Paint! You have no idea how I agonized over it, but I finally got it
to where I think it will be fabulous. The only chip missing here is
Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black for the fireplace shiplap and the
studio barn doors. |
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This shot was taken during a FaceTime call with the Hubs--
he was out there but I couldn't be. The brick was just
going up. I can't wait to show you the finished house! |
1/8/2023:
So much happened at the house during December that I didn’t have time to post about it. Photos coming soon, but we have walls and brick should go up this week. We’re meeting with the trim carpenter Monday to discuss primary closet, pantry and all of the other trim. Paint colors have been selected, and I have to finish picking out the lighting—and that’s hard!
12/3/2022:
The front door was installed—we will stain it later.
11/26/2022 UPDATE:
Jack, our oldest son, gathered the boys and significant others and met us out at the house to sign the beam:
It was a wet, dark, chilly day, but having all of our boys and their partners with us warmed my heart.
11/26/2022:
My, how time flies. So much has happened--and still much more to go. A year ago this week is when the Hubs found this spot.
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| The front |
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| Our view from our back porch |
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| This is the wall in the living room where I will hang quilts |
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| View from the living room to the kitchen |
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| Our back porch |
9/10/2022:
It's been just over a month, but the footings have been poured, and the cinder blocks are up!
This past Thursday, we ordered exterior and interior doors, door hardware, and shingles. Onward and upward! Tile, countertops and concrete up next!
8/8/2022:
You know it's real when the mailbox and port-a-potty are installed!
Trenches are dug and awaiting concrete for the footings:
7/29/2022:
The house is staked, but not where it should be. Trees are cleared, lot is mostly leveled, and we have big rock piles! They’ll be used for landscaping.
7/13/2022:
Tree removal started!
6/25/2022:
After we sold our home of 24 years, we moved into a tiny apartment and figured out within a year that we wanted to retire here. It's my home base; Hubs was born and raised in Texas, but he's been happy to call Arkansas home for the last 28 years.
Thanks to the events of the last couple of years, trying to buy an existing home was frustrating. Every time we found a house we liked, it was either snatched up within minutes of listing or became a victim to a bidding war that we could not win. This went on for months.
The day after Thanksgiving in 2021, Hubs and I drove home from Memphis. It was a nice day, and Hubs took a ride in his Slingshot. He found a subdivision on the outskirts of town that I didn't know existed. He came home and told me about it, and took me out there that afternoon.
The thought of building a house had never entered my mind, but we realized that no one would buy it out from underneath us, and we would get what we wanted (or could afford). We happened to meet the guy who owns all of the lots and builds most of the houses in the subdivision. We walked through some of his houses in progress, and the idea grew that this would be a good fit for us.
We finally signed a contract on May 13, 2022. We have purchased our house plans. We are building a house! Here's the lot:
I know, it looks...scrawny? Scraggly? But we love it. See the next photo:
The property overlooks what is known as Kellogg Valley. We picked the lot situated at the highest elevation point of the subdivision. There's another valley behind our lot--the lot backs up to Camp Robinson, so no one will build behind us. We spent a Friday evening out there recently to watch the sunset. It was glorious.
So Hubs' initial plan was to go to the worksite every day to check on progress; now he's thinking once a week is enough, but I told him that whenever he's out there, he has to take a photo. We found a place where he can plant himself to take the photos and I'm hoping we can make a stop-action video once it's completed. We'll see how well that works!
And as you can see, ours will be the first house built on the street. Two of the lots across the street from us have sold, but we hear that it will be awhile before anything is built.
I will post updates on the blog, but will add those posts to this page in chronological order from newest to oldest, so you won't have to scroll all the way to the bottom if you're catching up.
Go make!
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