Friday, April 1, 2016

A is for Architect

Today I'm kicking off a month of alphabet posts as part of an online blog challenge known as The April A-Z. You'll find details by visiting their web site (Blogging From A-Z Challenge), but long story short-you blog every day in April (except Sundays) which happily adds up to 26 posts, one for every letter of the alphabet. You can work with a theme or fly by the seat of your pants.

Guess which plan I follow? Ha!

Actually I always have a very loose theme, but my actual posts feel a lot more like flying. Every year about this time I look at my blog and decide it feels tired. The A-Z seems to give me the boost I need to see my little corner of the Internet with fresh eyes, and remember why I started blogging in the first place.

This is my sixth year in the challenge and this year's theme is-HOME.

We're currently building a house so I do plan to write some 'nuts and bolts' posts, but I'm also going to write a bit about what I think makes a house a home.

Grab your coffee...here we go-
A is for Architect

If you're going to build a house you need a couple of things. A couple of hundred things actually, but initially what you'll need is some land and a plan. 

Hubs and I have been discussing retirement pretty much since the day we got married. I'm only half kidding....we're big planners here. We're also kindred spirits in terms of how we feel about life beside the water. It's a dream we've had all our married life, and while we've lived a whole host of places not beside the water these in between years, this was always our plan for retirement. 

our land

Also hubs is not retired. Hubs is working, but he was retired for eleven months a quick minute, and he'll retire again another day. In the meantime we're watching our plan come together. Ever-so-slowly, but that's probably best saved for another post. 

S is for Slow. R is for Rain. H is for Have Mercy this is taking forever. 

Back to Letter A. You need land and you need to know what you're going to put on that land. One of the benefits of moving eight times in thirty years is that we've lived in a lot of houses, each one helping us understand just a little bit better how we like a home to feel.

What are the spaces we actually use and what space is wasted? What makes for comfortable living and what makes for aggravation? Where in the house do we spend our time and what rooms do we just pass through to get to some other room? You people with living rooms know what I'm saying, right? 

So hubs and I had a general picture in our head of the type of home we wanted, the layout, and the flow. We were completely simpatico in our vision, and we could have hired an architect to start from scratch and imprint that vision onto a blueprint. I will tell you that route can be very expensive. Another option is to buy a plan online. There are literally hundreds available for purchase, and if you can find one there that suits your needs you'll pay much less than one created from a blank page. 

We're kind of particular, ahem, and in our case we did end up using an architect, but not in the traditional sense. We never met him. Our builder had a custom house plan his architect had drawn for him, and we absolutely loved that plan. We discussed some changes we'd like to make and our builder had the architect modify his design to include a screened porch, an office, an additional bedroom, and a reconfigured guest bathroom. We paid the architect for the modifications, but it was far less expensive than if we'd had to pay for a brand new from-scratch drawing.


We did have to tweak the plan once early in the process, and you should know every time the architect tweaks there's a fee. You want to have a pretty clear idea of what you're looking for in a home before beginning the process. 

Also marry someone who shares your taste-ha! 

There's a small island in the lake that hubs and I refer to as 'our island'. We really wanted 'our island' to be part of our view, and the architect is the person who makes that happen. He sets the plan onto the plat via his magic computer and then moves it around until everyone is happy.


We are very happy.

18 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your first post! My late husband, Richard, used to draw house plans. He had many that he talked about one day building. But we never did! We found the house we are living in now and this is where we stayed for over 25 years! I love your island and your view. It will be an amazing home!

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  2. A is for AWESOME! Really! Our retirement home is larger than the one we raised 3 boys in. People asked us why we went larger. We told them it was because we could. HAHA! We have some grandchildren and missionary friends and family who come to stay for a time or two. It has Christmas trees in the back that we groom and sell, and meadows with fresh air... the only thing missing is my little brook.

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  3. Sound advice Joyce but I wouldn't expect anything less. Good luck with the challenge. I'm taking part for the second time this year.

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  4. Yes, I agree, A is for AWESOME! My goodness, what a gorgeous place you all are going to have. I just love hearing all about it. Happy weekend!

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  5. Very Nice Post... I am the AtoZ police [sort of] making sure you are still participating, if you are not let me know...

    Welcome in the letter "A"... thank you!
    Jeremy [Retro]
    AtoZ Challenge Co-Host [2016]

    Stop over and find a free "SIX STRINGS: BLOGGING AtoZ CHALLENGE" Here: http://www.jmhdigital.com/

    HOLLYWOOD NUTS!
    You know you want to know if me or Hollywood... is Nuts?

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  6. Good morning! Well I've NO doubt I am going to enjoy your A - Z challenge! This whole building a house process fascinates me that's for sure. I don't see it every happening to me personally, but I thoroughly enjoy watching someone else go through it. My daughter and her husband already have their "plans" in process though they don't plan on building their dream home for another 5 years or so. Their house right now is ON the dairy [which went against the grain badly for my daughter, lol] but will eventually be ON their farm. A much better choice I agree, lol. It's one of their favorite things to do though is to sit in front of the computer and get ideas and put them together with other ideas trying to come up with their future home. Mel is at a disadvantage as she has only lived in 2 houses [the house she grew up in and the one she lives in now] in her entire twenty nine years so she doesn't have all that experience to draw on. That's where I come in, lol. I enjoy sticking my two cents worth in whenever I have the chance. And I am sure they are interested too, lol. Have a good week-end Joyce!

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  7. I'm looking forward to the rest of the alphabet, Joyce! Your lake home will be such a wonderful retreat for you two and the entire family!! Happy April & A-Z!

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  8. The way my hubby keeps talking, I have a feeling we'll be doing this come retirement.

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  9. I would love to rebuild my house. I've been in it for 44 years and I love it but know of so many things I could improve on. Looking forward to your posts,

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  10. Looking forward to a month worth of Home! I wish I could have come up with a theme but . . . no such luck. Do you have a name for your home yet? You know all great Villas with islands do. ;)

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  11. Looks like a heck of a nice house you have there. Or at least the plns for one.

    John Holton
    Blogging from A to Z Challenge Co-Host
    The Sound of One Hand Typing

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  12. Awww, how lovely. It looks FABULOUS! We live in a 600 year old cottage which is also lovely. Not architect designed! ~Liz A-Z http://www.lizbrownleepoet.com

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  13. You're off to a great start in the A-Z Challenge, Joyce. I enjoyed your post, and look forward to reading more.
    Kathy (Reflections)

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  14. I'm excited to see the progress via your blog. It sure does help to be simpatico with the spouse on such huge matters of house and home. :)

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  15. Fun!! I will be back to check out the rest of your A to Z posts. My husband and I have been considering building our own house! Can't wait to see and hear about your experience!
    @AllysePanaro from
    The Frog Lady

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  16. That is awesome that you found a builder that you get along with so well! That is most of the battle. This will allow you to trust him a lot more than your typical builder!
    @AllysePanaro from
    The Frog Lady

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  17. What an exciting project! Tons of work and things to take care of, but how great to get to build your dream house. Good luck!

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