We are one month into the custom home building process. Our first round of architectural drawings should be hitting our inbox sometime this week and it feels like the calm before the (design) storm. So this is the perfect time to share a quick life and building update- what the timeline looks like, who we’ve hired, what we have planned for our new place, etc!
In case you missed it, we recently moved out of our home in suburbia to pursue our dream of building a colonial home in the country. It is going to take about a year and a half to complete our build, so we’ll be living in a rental home near our kids’ schools for the time being. The girls are sharing a room and absolutely loving every minute of it. Our rental is walkable to so many restaurants and shops, which is super rare in our neck of the woods. We’ve already walked to ice cream a couple of times and it’s making me super excited for summer nights of walking to all of the things!
Although our old house was a very special place to us, there were so many things about it that we did not like and would have been just about impossible to change, including the exterior and the narrowness of our lot. Ryne (not-so-lovingly) referred to our home as Mesa Verde because it was brown stucco with red wavy roof tiles. Although we tried our best with what we had, the home had very little curb appeal largely due to a massive garage that was built smack dab in the front of the house. We loved our neighborhood and our view, but there was not much hope for improving the aesthetic of the exterior. The desire for a more traditional home was ultimately our primary motivator for moving.
Ryne and I fell in love with the architecture on Martha’s Vineyard when we visited a few years ago and we’ve never quite gotten over the vision of a colonial dressed up in Christmas lights and snow. Our goal is to build a home that feels like a timeless heirloom. Although it will be new, we want it to look and feel historic, but with all the conveniences of modern living. We hired several amazing teams to help us bring our vision to life. Our architect, The Fox Group, designs and builds beautiful homes inspired by classical architecture. We’ve been following this husband & wife team on Instagram for years and it will be a dream come true to live in one of their beautifully designed homes! We hired W Design Collective to help us choose all of the hard finishes, from tile and countertops to door hinges and the doorbell! Their team is so creative. I am over the moon excited to see what magic and charm they dream up. I have every confidence in our builder Lost Creek Construction to bring it all to life! The owner, Tom, is the kind of person you meet and immediately know in your gut you can trust with your project (or your social security number).
To give you a little more of an idea of what we’re going for, the image above is a visual I drafted to submit to the HOA’s Design Review Committee prior to closing on our lot. They were a little resistant to allowing a white home, but we found a compromise on a warm white. I can’t wait to share more of the process along the way!! Currently up for debate is whether the exterior should be ashy red brick or painted white brick? Tell me your preference. Already looking forward to my first cup of coffee in our new house.
