recap

As soon as Andy was told that he would be given the lot, I started thinking about house plans. We were living in the Bay Area at the time (December 2003) so I began to e-mail architects and builders for ballpark cost estimates. Of course, they couldn't give me an estimate for a house that was going to be built 300 miles away, so I looked on the Internet for architecture firms in Eureka. There was only one, so I e-mailed them. The person who answered my e-mail happened to be DJ Cleek, a Blue Laker that knew Andy and his folks. He was almost ready to break away from the firm and start his own business, too. So, we hired him, and our lot split and homebuilding process began.

In July 2004, Andy and I got engaged, and the wedding seemed to take most of our time. Andy's parents dealt with the lot split in Blue Lake while we planned our wedding for August 2005 in the Bay Area. We moved back to Arcata in January 2005. This made wedding planning more difficult. since we were still focused on the wedding, we didn't do a whole lot related to the lot split. We were married in August 2006, and really focused on the lot split afterward.

We were told, by the county, that we would need 3 things to split the lot:
1) The new lot would have to be at least 1 acre.
2) The lot would have to have access to power.
3) The lot would have to have access to water.

There were rumors that we might have to improve the road as well, then those rumors were put to rest. We were going to have an acre, and could get PG&E to the house, but water was going to be an issue. At some point we were told that because of LAFCO, a statewide water regulation board, would not allow our house to have City of Blue Lake water and sewer services. Even though all of the houses around our lot have city water, ordinances have passed since those houses went in prohibiting the extension of city services over city lines. Our lot happens to be in county jurisdiction, just on the outside of Blue Lake city limits. The city line happens to run down the middle of Blue Lake Blvd., just one lot away from our lot. So, I guess trying to fight LAFCO was our first step in the lot split process.

We lost the fight with LAFCO, so we prepared to put in a septic system and dig a well. We waited for enough rain to fall to conduct wet weather testing for the septic system. In January 2006 we had had enough rain to go out to Blue Lake with a backhoe, dig some giant holes and have an engineer collect soil samples. Eventually, we were told that we had passed the perc test and were cleared for a septic system. As soon as it was dry enough, in June 2006, Andy's parents contacted a well-drilling company. I think it was August before they came out to drill our well. This was extremely frustrating, because DJ had given us a timeline for the whole process, and the well-drilling delay had just set us back at least two months. Once the well was dug, it was discovered that we had plenty of good water in the well. That was a major relief. With that information, the well and the septic, the acre and power, DJ began to draw up the lot split plans and paperwork for the county.

The preliminary lot split plan was filed in the fall of 2006, and we were recommended by all county departments except Public Works. They had found a loophole or two that would require us to repave the road from Blue Lake Blvd. to the north end of the current property. And it all had to be 20 feet wide with 2 foot gutters on either side. That easily would have cost many tens of thousands of dollars, so we did everything we could to work around it. We have revised our lot split plan and resubmitted it. We asked our neighbors who use our little road to sign a letter against the improvements that the county had requested and they did. We have planned to put in an 80 foot gravel turnout to allow traffic to pass. We plan to clear all of the overgrowth from nearby trees. We will have to put in a fire hydrant on our new lot so that the CDF can fight a fire on our property, even though the Blue Lake Volunteer Fire Department would be the first responders. Ugh. We have made all of the necessary changes and accommodations and we hope that the county will accept our plan.

So that's where we stand. Waiting. Over the last 3 years, I have created well over 100 digital files of plans, elevations, ideas, etc. The whole time, DJ has delayed drafting our house plans because without the lot split, there is no house. (Honestly, it was a good thing, too, because we have been through so many completely different versions of the house that we would have had a lot of changes to make and to pay him for. Now we are settled on a plan that we love.) Last Friday, we met with DJ to take a look at the house plans he had drafted for us. They were great. There were some minor changes that needed to be made, as expected, and there will be more to come, but we're very happy with the way things are headed. DJ said the house that I had created, with input from Andy, would be easy for a contractor to build. That was all the validation I needed. I am glad to have gone through this process even though it has been rough at times. I am still optimistic that we will be in a completed house by summer 2008. However, I'm trying not to get too excited about things, since it has taken 3 years to get this far.

the inaugural post

We are having major internet difficulties right now, so I'm going to have to keep this brief.

We started this blog in order to keep a diary of our homebuilding journey, as well as keep our family and friends updated on the process. If some other people, randomly searching for information, happen to find our blog, great.

The two of us were first told that Andy would be given 1 acre in Blue Lake by his parents in December 2003. The plan was this: split the lot, deed the new lot to Andy, Andy takes deed to bank for construction loan, Andy builds house on lot. Sounds easy, right? Not a chance. It's now just over 3 years later, and we're still hung up in the lot split process. I'll try to give a succinct recap in the next post.

Our objectives with this house are fairly simple. We'd like to give the house as much of a Craftsman bungalow aesthetic as possible. We'd like to make the house as "green" as we can afford. We want to end up with a house that is comfortable, beautiful and functional. Some perks that we'd like to include: a printing studio, room for veggie and flower gardens, homes for an Irish Terrier, two goats, a few chickens, and probably a child or two at some point.

So... check back every once in a while. We hope to create some posts of interest. :)