High On The Point – September Update

The date everyone looks forward to is the date construction starts.  This makes the planning real.  It is physical:  it is moving soil and big machines and lots of activity.  It is the follow up to signing the contract and paying the deposit to get the project started.  It is the first step off the cliff.  The point of no return.

The project commences. Trees flagged in red are tagged to be removed.

Prior to the landmark day when the actual building has commenced there have been months of planning.  For most clients the planning phase has its own appeal.  It is the dream, the vision, a wish list.  It is standing in the candy store wondering what is affordable based on the huge number of choices available and trying to make the ultimate decision.  The planning stage has more to do with soul searching than number crunching.  “What are my needs?  What does my heart desire?  What am I willing to compromise on?”  The design phase allows us a huge amount of freedom to explore ideas without committing money to actually building them.  The importance of this phase cannot be under estimated, as this is the time to make all the decisions about the project.  Doing this work during the design phase means that once the big machines are working, there are no further decisions to make and the big machines can keep moving forward.

We once had a client tell us that they would have liked to been able to build a ‘test’ cottage first before they did the real cottage.  This would have allowed them to try a few ideas before deciding what they liked.  It’s an approach that retail stores have gotten right.  Going shoe shopping allows us to try on every possible choice in the store before we decide which pair to buy.  Building a new place from the ground up doesn’t afford us that option, but there are ways to try out ideas before we decide if we like them.

Over the next several months, I would like to share with you the process of designing and constructing a new home.  Our role for this project was to bring the design team together and to coordinate the various consultants that were involved and of course we did the interior design.  We are also acting as the clients’ advisor during the construction.  We will walk through the design stages for this project and also share the construction process of the house.

It is an opportunity to ‘try’ out a house before you build your own.

Cheryl

The big machines at work. Top soil is being removed and the surveyor has marked the basic footprint.