Building of the Dream House: February 2021

Dream House… becoming a reality.

We debated whether or not to share these updates - or just wait until it was all complete. But both decided, that much of the enjoyment is sharing the ups/downs along the way, with family & friends. To get to this point in life is a milestone. In our 26 years of marriage, we have owned 9 houses, and rented 3. We have extensively remodeled 3, and been a part of 2 that were semi-custom builds, but never had the delight of designing one from scratch. Our life journey together has always been a windy road. Though it might not seem this way to some - Joe and I have never been indecisive, or disagreed much on our course of action - we have always made decisions together, and let life take us on adventures. One of those was our move “back” to McMinnville in 2017. We knew we wanted our kiddos to grow up here, and we also knew it was the place where mom could join us after my dad passed away. However, the one thing we are glad we did not know going into this is that we would have way-too-many-house-changes during our time here. Not something we would have ever wanted or imagined - but at the same time [looking back] we now understand each step/decision that got us to this exact place. And for that, we are very glad.

So many things had to align (or not align) to get us to this here - and we are finally getting close to building our dream house. We thought it would be fun to post the updates as we go (assuming I can find time – and also remember to do so!) 😊 I used to be much better about blogging my passions, but that went out the window awhile ago. So time will tell if I can keep this up.

Backstory: We purchased this this property located in West Wind in June 2020. It was over-priced, but we also knew it was one of the last 1-acre lots left. (I wish we would have known about this special place 10+ years ago, as the area was not as treasured as it is now – and we could have done much better in the “spend” category!) Lots of history on the development of this land, as there has been long fought battles regarding this 52-lot sub-division by Maralynn Abrams and her son. (Sadly Maralynn passed away this past December.)

But our realtor helped us w/ some crazy back & forth, as we researched septic, HOA requirements, appraisal roadblocks, etc. and we ultimately prevailed. (She also owns property here, so knew how to help us navigate things - whew!) The community is on the dividing road between the city and county line, which makes it unique because it is so close to town, but with more space - and it has its own water system. It has wonderful views of the valley and Coast Range – and our lot backs Draper Farms, which was built in 1856! We are looking forward to our short walk to pick-up fresh produce. https://www.drapersfarm.com/who-we-are

We weren’t sure we would build right away - that part took a lot of planning, talking and praying to get to that decision. But after getting a better understanding of the process, timelines - and spending many hours with our amazing builder, Mike Riddle, who had previously created an office for me in our last house (https://mikeriddleconstruction.com/) - we decided it made sense to get started now, so that the kids would be young enough to make solid memories here.

We have been working on the house-design with Mike Riddle since October – and last week we got to the point of being able to get things “staked out.” It's just an initial view of things, but one that was so fun! Luke and I had been out on a walk when Mike texted me. He said he would be there for another 30-mintues if we wanted to stop by and see things. YES, OF COURSE!!! So Luke and I went as fast as we could to meet him at the lot (it’s within a 20-minute walk of our current place.) We were SO excited to see the outline of the house! For the first time, it felt very real. 😊

Last but not least, below are a few photos taken since we purchased the property: walks to say hello, burning energy to “hack” down blackberries, the winter storm, the day I walked with Luke to see the stakes, and also the vision of “what is to be.” We are all so excited for the next year, to watch it unfold, as ideas become reality. Each of us has had a say in the design and that has been so much fun as a family! And Mike Riddle is THE BEST – we know that he is going to create an amazing house for us, and we are so thankful that our paths crossed w/ his in this life!

I will post as things progress… we are now awaiting appraisal approval and permits… but hoping to have an “official” groundbreaking in March/April.