As we prepare to submit the new house drawings to the city for a building permit, our current house just listed for sale!
10%!!! /
New details + more information = new bottom line. And - no surprise - the new bottom line is more than we can afford. So we're now part of the magical reality of:
" V A L U E E N G I N E E R I N G " ! ! !
There are many euphemisms for this, but the real bottom line comes down to "making it cheaper without sacrificing the essence." There are several forks in this particular road. Which one slopes downward quickest to the best possible destination? Once more: STAY TUNED!
Pricing /
The updated pricing set is now in the hands of the contractors, and so it's anxious waiting time. Will the hygrothermal analyses and revised envelope detailing, the structural framing definitions, lighting schedule, kitchen bump-out, and any number of other bits of new information push the bottom line beyond reach? Is some redesign in our future? Stay tuned!
Taking steps toward realization /
It's a three-ring circus!
With the property in hand, we are finalizing construction materials and details, making selections, and gathering salvaged materials for incorporation into the new home. At the same time, we've hired an independent rater to guide us through our dual-path LEED and GreenStar processes, are running building science evaluations on the exterior envelope assemblies, and are firming up the home's bones with a structural engineer. Finally, we are slowly but surely prepping our current home for when we'll list it through our realtor.
Oh: And there's real, billable work to be done, too!
Budget realities, apparently. /
The initial house estimate of $480,000 quickly went up to $674,000 and so we are faced with difficult choices, what with the Sworn Construction Statement due Monday in order to meet the sequence of events preceding the closing in 3 weeks. The quandary is that this project CANNOT become a million dollar effort. That defies the challenge of realizing an "affordable" new, high performance house. I don't wish the epilogue to this entire project to be "Sorry. It Can't Be Done". Stay tuned.
Design studies /
We are simultaneously working through costs and design refinements. This is an image testing a possible new kitchen configuration.
An end. A beginning. 12/5/15. /
Late today, everything changed. We purchased a property on which to build. Look for this website and its coverage to shift focus. it's going to be hard, but it's going to be fun!
Possibilities! /
We have recently looked at and are considering 3 different properties; 1 in Saint Paul, 2 in Minneapolis. We did a walk-through of one with our realtor, and are awaiting his analysis of the property relative to the neighborhood, value potential, and any market caps that we'll want to stay within. There is a possibility that we'll make an offer. If and when something happens, the world (from our perspective) will start to change.
Market Expectations /
The house project continues, with some new thinking injected by our new realtor (we seem to have burned the first one out, as he and his wife are retiring and moving to another state!). On one hand, my wife and I have our own set patterns of living, and expectations for the new home based on what we like and don't like about our current home. We are modest in our lifestyle, do our own house cleaning and maintenance, and aren't aspiring to "luxury" living. We believe in a light environmental footprint and believe that "green" should not be everyone's responsibility. On the other hand, we are reminded that there will someday come a day where we'll sell this future home of ours. If we live in the home we want in a neighborhood that we like, there will inevitably be a price point that we'll need to fit into so that we're not extreme outliers. At that price point will come market expectations. A future buyer will see certain deficiencies as deal-breakers, and demand various essentials if they're going to make the best offer. How to balance these expectations against what we believe in, when the two clash?
I cannot wait, by the way, for the time where this blog becomes a daily thing and the new house is actually starting construction!
Transitioning /
With the remodeling essentially complete and the holidays behind us, we are getting more aggressive about a new property search. On our mind: Location, economics and the ethics of teardowns.
Getting ready: A strategic remodeling /
In anticipation of the new house to come, we are remodeling the kitchen and family room areas of our existing house. These heavily-lived-in spaces were worn and dated looking, and suffered from 2 minor leaks above the ceiling. This strategic remodeling is both a chance to enjoy a major refreshing of the rooms in the time we have left in the house and also give these rooms a cleaner, more up-to-date image. Most appliances are now replaced, along with the main countertop, sink, backsplashes, and flooring. We took advantage of the old ceiling elevation and created a raised portion in the center of the kitchen, highlighted by cherry cove moulding, new semi-flush lights, and a soft gold paint finish.
Antithesis: Example #1 /
This house, near Rochester, is currently for sale by RE/MAX (and featured in the current Midwest Home magazine). To me, this represents much of what is wrong with current residential design. It could be a metaphor for the U.S. in some ways: Isolated and gluttonous, the haughty sole occupant of "the highest point in Olmstead County", surrounded by needy monocultural turf, it is selfish in the extreme.
For this or more of the same, contact Robin Gwaltney at 507-259-4926.
For a corrective reset, stay tuned to this blog or contact me for one possible domestic future-oriented exemplar.
Waiting for HELOC /
In one ring of the multi-ring build-a-house circus comes some initial financing. This entails financing for both our existing home and the new property (when we find it). The existing home requires some key updates to a few areas in order to get it ready for showing (when the time comes). The new property is something we want to be able to make an immediate offer on when the time comes. Getting financing in place for both needs came down to applying for a home equity line of credit (HELOC). This is a new thing for us, and it's been a revelation on how long the process takes. We made the in-person application and submitted the necessary materials 5-1/2 weeks ago. We are still waiting for approval, despite having excellent credit scores, minimal debt and clean financial backgrounds. The wait time is surprising to us, and I put this in a blog post to share it with others who might be considering a similar action.
Form Studies /
The current design in white model form (a nice little rendering option provided with ArchiCAD version 18!), showing the high roof pitched to the sun's average noon angle and the low roof intended to have vegetation and a useable deck. The house is less than 2000 gross square feet, including the finished basement.
Seeing the house this way strikes fear in the Wicked Witch of the East...
Case Study NA01 /
This is a paraphrase from the Arts and Architecture magazine article in 1945 on Case Study House Program’s House #1 by J.R. Davidson. It applies largely to my own goals for our own house.
“[Newland Architecture] will build as soon as practicable… [for] a fairly typical American family… Let us then presuppose a Mr. and Mrs. X, both of whom are professional people with mutual business interests, the family consisting of one teen-aged daughter [soon to be] away at school and [an older son who is also away at school but] is an occasional welcome guest in the house. In this case, we must suppose that the joint income is sufficient to provide ample but not elaborate living standards.
“[When guests] will enter the normal life of the household, it is desired that some separation be provided, if possible, quarters to be in the nature of a small separate apartment in which privacy can be achieved when desired.
“Provision for the daughter, whose schooling will necessarily develop into longer periods away from home as her education proceeds, must be on the basis of space usable to the parents when not given over to the child. We might assume a variety of interests in activities related to the work of the parents, provision for indulging in gardening as exercise and recreation, and also arrangements for an indoor hobby in which they both might share.
“Inasmuch as it might be presumed that this will be a servantless house, it must be designed in such a way that care and upkeep do not interfere with the professional activities of the occupants.
“The house is to be a simple and straightforward expression of the living demand of modern-minded people wishing to cope with their living problems on a contemporary basis.
“We now place this all neatly in the lap of Mr. [Scott J. Newland].”
Anthony Bourdain /
Listening to an excellent and fun discussion between Anthony Bourdain and Chris Hardwick on Monday's "The Nerdist" podcast, I was struck by this quote from Bourdain when he was asked what he valued today versus when he first started out professionally:
"Now, I try... whatever I do, I don't wanna look in the mirror and feel ashamed of what I did the day before. I mean, I'm trying to be a reasonably decent citizen of the world. I want to be a good dad. I want to make ever more creative work and do the best I can at it, have fun, stay interested... and work with interesting people and make beautiful things that I can feel proud of."
Sounds about right to me.