The Journey Begins in Earnest

Having gone through Kubler-Ross's first four stages of grieving, we have reached acceptance. Our large home in a suburban development has been vacated, fixed up, and sold. Most of our possessions were put into storage, and we are now settled into a nearby rental property. This move allows us a great deal of flexibility in our finances and our timing as we move forward.  We have met with our friends & financial advisors at Galecki Financial Management and have our financial house in order.  We are now methodically and soberly proceeding with our dream.

From the sale of our home, we had sufficient funds in the bank that we were able to pay off the mortgage on the property on which we will be building Green Oak Farm. We did this because without a lien on the property, we would eliminate the monthly mortgage interest and could do as we wished with the site.

We talked with our builder, Larry Crane, and decided that it made sense to go ahead and prepare the site for construction.  By taking the house down now, we can save more money over the next 12-18 months by eliminating insurance payments and minimizing our property taxes.  In addition it makes the timeline of the construction of the new house more predictable.

The first phase of site preparatory work on the grounds has been completed.  The initial killing of the lawn in June was successful.  Heartland Restoration walked the grounds this past week and we are ready to do the next round of broad-leaf weed control this fall.  More details about the prairie preparation will be forthcoming in a future blog post.

Electricity and gas to the existing house have been disconnected. The gas line on the site will be severed from the main line in the coming week to prevent any potential accidents during deconstruction or construction.  We still need to cut the water line to the house from the well, and cap it off.  

Two years ago, our architect, Tim Gray, introduced us to Dan Chase and Brook Linton of Solid State LLC.  Dan is a local architect who studied with Tim at Ball State.  Solid State LLC is a small company based in Muncie, Indiana that specializes in deconstruction of wood framed structures and material repurposing. Many of the houses they deconstruct are older and have valuable architectural salvage materials such as wood molding or hardwood flooring.  Our 1970’s ranch house is well built, but has no special architectural features.  Our plan is to deconstruct the house to keep what goes to the landfill to an absolute minimum.  We will recycle the asphalt shingles, give the kitchen cabinets to a friend and donate whatever possible to the local Habitat for Humanity Restore.  The wood frame of the home will be taken apart piece by piece and we will store the wood.   As we near the completion of the new house, we will use this wood to construct several structures on the site: a large storage shed for gardening supplies, a firewood shelter, a shelter for bicycles and recycling bins near the road and a couple of dog houses.  These structure will be very useful for us and reuse these building materials well.

Prior to deconstruction, we needed to remove some trees from around the house.  Some were old and sick and some were beautiful and healthy, but unfortunately in a location that would interfere with the construction of the new home.  We hired Tom Myers of Myers Plant Health Care LLC to manage all of our trees on the site.  Tom is an experienced and knowledgeable arborist who embraces our vision of sustainability for the property.  He will be working with us over the coming years to prudently trim and treat the trees on the site and to selectively plant new ones.  

The trees that came down will largely be cut, split, and stacked for future use as firewood.  One oak tree, several dying ash trees, and a maple will be evaluated for potential use as decorative and functional elements in the house. We will be talking to a local sawmill this week so see if these are suitable. We hope to use them for the mantle over the fireplace and perhaps elsewhere as a visible reminder of what was lost to make what will be.

The effect of this activity has been to affirm our excitement about Green Oak Farm, and to rejuvenate our enthusiasm.

The Existing House Before Tree Removal.....

And After!