We’ve been spending a lot of time planning our future house, and having a lot of fun with it. Tim (the computer expert) has been teaching me how to use Sketchup, and I’ve had fun being a bit of a computer geek the past few days. Sketchup is a 3D design program, with a free version that has been quite helpful. We’ve put the perimeter of the house we’re planning into the program, and are able to add walls and sample furniture models and move them around to determine just how things might fit, where we might put things, and the best way to design the interior.
We really want a round house, and have found a kit design we are planning to go with from Smiling Woods Yurts. It’ll be like a wood version of a yurt, with a dome/skylight at the top to bring light in to the expansive floorplan. Take a look at the photos on their website. We plan to have lots of windows to the south, with a view of our property and the mountains beyond.
Yesterday we were able to visit the Smiling Woods home of some folks about an hour away, so it was great to be able to “touch and feel” it and get an idea of what it is like. It was nice of them to open their home to us and tell us about their experience of building. Their home was smaller than the one we are planning, and it looked pretty similar to this photo from the Smiling Woods website:
At this point, we are thinking about a larger diameter, without an extension to the side as in this photo. Tim will be his own contractor and do most of the work, but I’ll add a helping hand as much as possible. There will be lots more to come on this as we move ahead. We are very excited about this plan!
Besides that planning, we’ve been talking with Park County about the permitting process, trying to find all the info we need for planning. It’s a confusing process, and guidelines are not all spelled out clearly in one place. In the process of submitting a permit for the barn, we found that even the county personnel don’t understand all the ordinances or interpret them the same way. We believed we could build the barn prior to the house, but were told at one point that it is not permissible to do that in our zoning. We’ve got it straightened out, and we will be able to proceed with the barn. We really need the barn to create a workshop and storage space for the process of building the house. Now we are moving forward with a rezoning process to accommodate our future needs.
We are still waiting for the well permit, and just have to sit back on that one. It seems things move so slowly, but there isn’t much we can do about it. Running water would really be nice. 🙂
Additionally, we are designing and constructing some insulating window shades for our RV, to keep the cold out during the winter. The single-pane windows are quite drafty, letting the heat out and the cold in. We think these shades will make a big difference, look nicer, and be easier to operate than the coverings currently in the RV.
This is Thanksgiving week, and we plan to visit the property for a few days. Perhaps then I’ll have time to catch up on posting more of how this all came about.