introducing our new home...
Well, kind of!! We bought land and we are starting the process of building a new home for our family and I could not be more excited. But I feel like I am getting ahead of myself. Let's go back a few months and I will tell you how this all came to be.
We were not planning on building...
Don't get me wrong. This is literally my dream. I have wanted to build a home for years and years. As someone who flips houses, this is a process that I have always wanted to go through and learn about and do for myself. But our plan was to find a home in the neighborhood next to our current one and remodel another house for our family. Over the last year and a half, we have looked at a couple of homes in that neighborhood that came on the market and we passed on them because we couldn't renovate them in the way that we wanted to with the the lot size and some of the layout issues that couldn't be fixed. We honestly had back burnered the idea of moving. Pretty sure "back burnered" is not a real word. Haha!
I was doing a walk through at one of our flips in August when Elmon called and said there was a house that came back on the market in a neighborhood near us that we had been interested in over 6 months before. We weren't in a place where we wanted to pull the trigger and it went off the market really quickly. We had forgotten about it. But he had set up a showing and asked if I wanted to meet him over there. And that is where the story really begins...
so let's answer some of your questions!
I asked you on Instagram a couple of months ago if you had questions about this process or the home and you guys sent in a few, so I'm gonna answer the ones that I can now and I will answer more along the way.
how big is the lot?
I fell in love immediately with the property itself. It's a neighborhood really close to where we live now, which means we will still be close to the kids' school and our life and the things that we enjoy. Plus, bonus: Our really good friends live just a few houses down. The kids (and Elmon and I!) are so excited.
But what really sold me was the size of the lot. It's 1.75 acres and I have always wanted a larger piece of land than is normal in the good old Arizona suburbs. We feel like there is so much potential and have some really fun ideas of how to use all the space.
what is the first step?
The first step for us was to find and hire an architect. Our plan is to self build. Is that a thing...? Shows you how much we know about this. But we are not using a home builder in the traditional sense. We are planning on having someone build out the shell and then we will finish it out ourselves. Our thought is that this will allow us to have some extra control in our timelines. We shall see...
As for our architect, we have hired one and I am so excited!! We are working with Clayton Vance, who works in Park City, Utah. When I was in Park City this summer for the Showcase of Homes I walked into one house that I immediately fell in love with. There was something about the floor plan and the exterior that I was drawn to. It felt intentional and unique to other homes that I have been in and seen. And what's so great is that he was the architect of the house in the showcase that I could not get enough of the previous year. After our initial call, Elmon and I both were really excited to work with him.
So far we have gotten a soil report and a land survey done. These were required from our architect and he needed those in order to get started on our project.
ARCHITECT: Clayton Vance
BUILDER: H2 Homes
DESIGNER: Olsen Home Design
ARCHITECT: Clayton Vance
DESIGNER: W Design Collective
are you keeping the existing house?
We are not keeping the existing home. Although there are some really interesting details of the existing house that we like - like the ceiling in the living room and the exterior Hacienda vibe - we have ultimately decided that we will have more freedom to make this house exactly what we want if we start from scratch.
The ceiling in the existing house
do you have a style in mind for your new home?
Yes...and no. I have an idea of a style or like a mash up of like 3 or 4 styles that I like. I'm calling it Modern European Napa. Dear Lord, please help our architect and me. 🙂
I want our new home to feel timeless, but not "old" and I love the feeling of a beautiful English kitchen, but I still love a Spanish style influence as well. Hence why I'm calling it European. I want these elements to have a new and fresh feel and my husband leans a little more toward wood and steel...not sure if that will make an appearance or not, but that is where the modern element comes in. And then there is Napa. If I could combine the feel of a modern farmhouse with the warm earthy elements I see in a lot of Napa homes and wineries, then I would be super happy. I don't exactly know how all of these elements will come together in a home, but I am ready to figure it out.
All I know for sure is that I want our home to be a comfortable, cozy and beautiful space filled with warmth and texture on both the interior and exterior as well.
when will it be done?
Great question! Probably much later than we would want it to be done. We bought the property back in August and in our (very naive) minds, we expected to be moved in my Thanksgiving of 2022, maybe Christmas as a worst case scenario. Now we know that our expectations and realities were WAY off and we have adjusted our mindset. We might still be wrong, but we are really hoping for fall 2023/winter 2024. We start working with our architect next month and he estimates a 6-8 month design to permit process. If we work off of that timeline, then we could have our permits in hand by beginning to end of the summer and hopefully break ground in the fall. We are currently estimating our build to take 12-18 months, but without having done this before we could be really wrong. I am hoping that we are right though and that this whole process takes us about 2 years to complete.
A few more photos...
I can't wait to share more about this personal and really exciting and overwhelming project with you guys. I think by my next post I can share our wish list items, some inspiration photos and hopefully some progress about our plans with Clayton.
But until then, here is what our house and land currently look like. Oh, the possibilities...
Let's be
friends!
Get exclusive design tips and blog updates sent to your inbox!
read comments or leave a comment...