All about New House

I've gotten a few questions lately about "New House" and I've realized I never really documented the transformation from the house we bought last May...

 
and it's different phases of deconstruction shortly thereafter..

and the "New House" that emerged...

And here we are today...(literally)

We bought the original house in May of 2012 after about 6 months of looking in this area. We drove by March 14, came in on March 15 made an offer that day. We signed the contract within 2 hours, went to dinner and had Lizzy on the next morning. 'Cause we like to do things the easy way....

We closed in May, started work in June and moved in the first week of October. Joseph completely designed the house we live in today and gets 100% of the credit for the vision, planning and creation of our home. As I often tell folks, I just move in when its done. I bring the kids and the clutter. :)

I turned out so well, if I do say so myself. It really is the perfect house for our family.

We kept the existing basement and the very back wall of the original house. We added a garage to the main level and extended the footprint of the house forward toward the road. We carved out the side of the hill to make a main-level driveway and change the slope of the yard.

A second story was added which includes the kids rooms, the office, the playroom, bathrooms and a common area.

Everything about the main level changed with the exception of the location of the back door and three windows in the living room. It now includes the master bedroom, living room, dining room, kitchen, mudroom, laundry room and bathrooms.

It came together wonderfully, I wish we entertained more now like we did before we had children so more folks could enjoy it more often.

We just love living here and this is the perfect home for the kids to grow up in. Its funny to think that Lizzy will take her first steps here and maybe even come back from her 1st date here! (Let's all take a moment to pray for that lucky guy, whoever he is, and that he survives the "meeting-her-dad-at-the-door moment". Lizzy, I promise I will try to make sure Dad isn't too scary, but I can't make any guarantees.) 

So, now we've been here 8 months and there is still some decorating to do, but there's plenty of time for that. Maybe over the next few months I'll post some pictures of different areas..just to prove that NO ONE (at least no one that I know) moves in and has a house that's picture perfect right away. Its always a work in progress and (in my experience) just about the time its all "done" is the time we put the for sale sign in the yard.

We plan to stay here a very long time, so be prepared for this to take a while. ;)