Yah! Such a good feeling to become one of the "in-crowd". I will be closing in the next week or so as well and break ground in less than 2 weeks! Looking forward to following your build.

Congrats! It is a fun and unique (maybe kinda crazy!?) group to be a part of! So happy you are finally realizing your dreams :)

Congrats and welcome aboard. Our lives have been upside down for the past year as we were selling a home and building a home and should be closing in the next week or so. I can tell you its one of the happiest times and one of the most nerve racking and stressful time as well. I KNOW we are blessed and fortunate to be able to build in a time while so many others are hurting so we thank the Lord everyday. In the end if the worst problem I have is stressing over odds and ends of having a new house built, I'll sign up for that anytime as things could definitely be worst :) My advice is no matter how stressful it gets, ENJOY THE JOURNEY!

Again, congrats and can't wait to see pics!

Here is a link that might be useful: Our home sell/build blog

Enjoyed reading your story. So happy for you and your family. I built a home here several yrs ago. We bought property and are about to do it again, if I can ever get myself enthused enough to get going on the project.

Are you still planning to build the Edgewater? Looks like a nice floor plan.

Thank you all for the warm welcome! I've been following everyone's story for several months now and am so excited to finally be able to participate. :)

red_lover - while I still like the Edgewater, and my husband prefers it over our chosen plan, it had a few too many blemishes that we would have had a hard time overcoming. I continued to scour books and plans online and was on the verge of hiring a designer until I stumbled upon the Rosemoore Cottage by Garrell Associates and instantly fell in love! We've made a few changes to the layout but overall it really works for our family, our lifestyle and our property. As one of my closest girlfriends said when she first saw it, it is totally me. :)

We're going with fiber cement lap on the 1st level, board & batten on the gables, brick at the watertable and stacked stone pillars and stacks. The roof will be asphalt dinemsional shingles with metal on the accent/porch lines.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rosemoore Cottage

Congrats!!!! We just closed today on our construction loan and I'm just about to sit down with a glass of wine to celebrate with DH. We will be moving right along with you although we won't break ground for another month at least... we need our land to dry out from all this rain! :D

good for you!
hope you plan to invest in the things
that don't 'show'.
insulation
detail to air sealing
correctly sized and designed hvac.

while you don't see these things
they affect your eveyday comfort
and reduce utility costs..which
only increase.

what part of the country will you
be building in?

best of luck.

Congrats dutty!!! I hope things dry out quickly for you so you can hit the ground running soon!

Energy rater, we're in Murfreesboro, TN, about 30 miles east of Nashville. My husband and I are both from this area and since we're building on property that's been in the family for 30+ years, we don't plan on ever selling so yes, we are investing in doing what we can to make this house as energy efficient and tight as possible within our budget. If that means I don't have cabinets installed in the mud/laundry room right away, then so be it!

Closing is this afternoon followed by a meeting with the builder and excavator to situate the house on the lot so we can pour footings next week! Hoping to be in by Christmas...

Congrats.....I am building in the same time as you.... I have the footings/crawl space dug and hope to frame them up and pour concrete sometime soon. The builders will start to frame about Sept. 1st and hope to have me in by Christmas.

start planning hvac layout now.
will you be able to put mechanicals
and ducts within the building envelope
or in attic?

best of luck.

Posted by parsonse (My Page) on Fri, Jul 27, 12 at 11:46

Congrats dutty!!! I hope things dry out quickly for you so you can hit the ground running soon!
Energy rater, we're in Murfreesboro, TN, about 30 miles east of Nashville. My husband and I are both from this area and since we're building on property that's been in the family for 30+ years, we don't plan on ever selling so yes, we are investing in doing what we can to make this house as energy efficient and tight as possible within our budget. If that means I don't have cabinets installed in the mud/laundry room right away, then so be it!

Closing is this afternoon followed by a meeting with the builder and excavator to situate the house on the lot so we can pour footings next week! Hoping to be in by Christmas...

Hello Parsonse, I am located a couple of exits down from you off the Sam Ridley exit. Where exactly are you building in Murf. and with what builder?

Energy, the HVAC will be in the attic.

Xclusive, I've read your blog & knew you were fairly close by! We're out in the Almaville area close to Amvaville Rd. and 840. Absolutely love it here!

Xclusive, I forgot to name our builder! Maurice Ludlam is a local custom builder & owns Serenity Construction. He's a good friend of a good friend and building our house for a phenomenal price. :)

Phoggie, congrats on getting started! I've been lurking in the shadows until after we got the construction loan finalized so I've followed your story. What a beautiful piece of property you have - cant wait to see your progress!

Parsons--love your house, but don't make the garage too shallow. Hate that I can't get groceries out of the back of my SUV without leaving the garage door open. Especially in the winter.

Next house, I'm making my garage deeper.