Draft House Plans!!

Here it is! Our dream house!

This is the front elevation of the house we hope to build! Our designer, Holly, has been so great to work with. She took our ideas and made them real for us. Of course, being the detail-oriented engineers we are, we've been tweeking the plans. The really exciting part is I know we are going to be thrilled with the end result.

We are currently awaiting estimates from a builder to see where we stand in reference to our budget. Keep your fingers crossed that we don't have to go back to the drawing board altogether!

~LK

More land clearing snip-its...

Pink sky at night...our view due west (towards the road)

These photos are from three other days we worked on the land in December and early January. Our last day out on the land was 1/4/09. Since we're having an "old fashioned" winter around here with consistent cold and snowy weather, the snow has taken over -- and we have to do all snowmobiling we can while the conditions permit! Wanted to share these photos...perhaps our last until spring!

This one is of Keith wrestling some vines out of our trees...



Steve and I joined in the fight...and as you can see, the vines nearly won!



Never underestimate the ingenuity of a German...especially George Krug! When he couldn't get the brush to burn as well as he hoped he brought out all the stops. His 'fire-building supplies' included some standards like kindling (dried all week in the basement) and newspaper...and some specialty items you don't normally find in use on a vacant lot in the middle of 80 acres like a fan! Yup! He wired up a small fan to a car battery so he could get enough air on his fire! Now that's determination! :) Our future neighbor, Chuck, also lent a hand to get the fire going. If you aren't handy enough to wire up a fan, a leaf blower will do in a pinch!



George is also known for his unique attention to detail. Along with "Bucky", our very own deer who guards the property when we aren't there, he brought us a sign to point the way to our future home. Nice touch!

There are so many neat things about our land. For one, a friend and former colleague, Rita Markel and her husband Lew live about 1 mile away! Another excellent feature is the undeveloped park we have just a few hundreds yards away. It's called Hunters Creek park and it's known by the locals as a great place for hiking, cross country skiing (although not for the faint of heart), mountain biking and just enjoying nature. On January 4th Rita and I ventured into the park to check it out. She and Lew have logged many miles in there but it was my first time in. This is a photo from the trail we hiked. It is BEAUTIFUL in the park - breathtaking even! I feel so fortunate to have something like this just steps from our home. I can't wait to check out more of it! You can find out more about our park and view a map at http://www.hunters-creek.org/.

~LK

Welcome 2009!

Well hello and Happy New Year! I'm long over due for an update, I know.

Since my last post in November we've worked at the land a few more weekends, but the work has drastically slowed since the snow got to about knee deep. Then the holidays came along and we kicked into high gear with all the shopping, baking, cleaning, wrapping, etc...glad all that's done for another year!

Since my last post we've had our most exciting update so far. We received the first draft of our house plans from our designer - Holly - on 12.6.08! Keith had to pick them up from her because I don't know if I could have contained my excitement and waited until I saw him to look at them! We poured over the plans the first night and spent a few days after reviewing her rendition of our dream home. Her first pass was exceptionally on-target, a welcome step forward!

We faxed the plans to my Dad for comments and Dad K and Mom K put their two cents in too. Now we're waiting on draft #2 to come back for review. Although we would love to build exactly what she drew the first time around (especially "her" closet!), it is certainly well beyond our budget. It was basically back to the drawing board for the 2nd floor but the 1st floor was nearly perfect!! She even included 3D images of both floors so we could get a realistic sense of the space. VERY NICE!

On New Year's Eve we visited our first kitchen store! Honestly, I was not looking forward to this step. Hubby and I have such different decision-making styles that the idea that housebuilding is the 'true test' of a marriage is likely to be borne out in the decisions regarding door hinges and what color to paint the laundry room [yep, he will care!]. Being one of my favorite rooms in the house, I was feeling a bit territorial about the kitchen design -- not a good place to start from! :) Any way, all that aside, it was a really fun trip. We kept ourselves in the stock (vs. semi and full custom) area of the store and narrowed it down to one door style and our top 2 counter-top finishes! We even agreed on the stain and wood color --- AMAZING and yet another good omen. Next step for this milestone -- meeting with the kitchen designer to lay out the detailed kitchen plan. FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stay tuned...once we get draft 2 I will post a few images of the plan. I know...the nerve to make you wait! Don't worry, it will be worth it [be sure to remind me of that as we get down the road a bit with this project!].

~LK

Folks...we have a driveway!

Well...almost! We have a decision on where it will be and a plan, and if you know my husband you know that's a feat in itself [love you babe!].

First we plan and discuss [a lot of discussing but always with great results]...

Then we decide: Yup, that's the spot!

Then we clear the opening...

And, finally, we have a driveway entrance...!!

This will be our view to the northwest as we drive away from the house toward the road!!

A week ago Friday, Keith, Steve and Dad Krug took advantage of an exceptionally beautiful "Indian Summer" day to do some more clearing. PB&J sandwiches and hot tea never tasted as good as they do while working out in the woods -- here's the boys enjoying the sun and a break.

This past weekend we worked at the land both Saturday and Sunday. It was cold, espcially Saturday, but it is so fun to be out there working and seeing the fruits of our labors. Saturday me, Keith and Steve cleared a bunch of brush and small trees just beyond what will the back of the house. This gave us a better idea of what the future view from our great room, dining room, kitchen, and deck!!

Sunday Steve, Mom Krug and Dad Krug joined us for driveway clearing. Keith and I decided on the entrance point from the road then marked it out based on the nicer trees we hope to save. Then we went to work clearing brush and cutting down small or crummy trees that would be in the way. We are making some huge piles of brush! Once we get my Dad's chipper out here we'll have a solid weekend + of work to chip all of the wood we have cleared.

Dad Krug came out even though he wasn't feeling 100%. He built a fire to rest by when he needed a break -- or when any of us needed to warm up!

It was another great weekend lots of progress. Next weekend we are bringing a friend who knows trees out to confirm our choices of trees to keep. We'll keep clearing until it's too cold to stand it (or snowmobile season starts).

Stay tuned for more fun to come!!

Land Clearing!!!!!!!!!!!

On Saturday, November 8th we were finally able to get going on the real work --- land clearing!! We were both so excited to get out to the land and actually work on it. We packed up our gear (and you know the Krug's have a lot of it!) and headed out Saturday morning. We parked in our normal spot, until we cut in our own driveway, in the cemetery driveway and got our working gear on. Keep in mind we were going to be operating power equipment so we had to put on some extra gear. Ah, who am I kidding?! We just look plain goofy in our gear no matter what the reason! :)




Silly outfits are becoming a theme of our land escapades. Ah well...good times. Of course, just as I suit up in my yellow rain bibs (which glide through the pricker bushes with the greatest of ease), boots, and safety goggles our future neighbor stops over to say hello! I'm sure she's wondering about her future neighbors...although she must have sensed that we're just country-bumpkins at heart. Knowing I would have no other option than the woods for potty breaks (something I had not quite figured out how to work around) she offered their bathroom to me any time, home or not, all within the first 5 minutes of meeting! Super nice people -- that's the country for yah!

Any way, Keith and I dragged our new chainsaw (Keith's newest baby), weed eater, gas cans, oil, water...you get the idea...into the middle of the land where we think we want the house to go. Our first goal is to clear the area around the future house location. We need to get the tall weeds, brush, and low tree limbs out of the way so we can really see how the land lays and slopes.

Mom and Dad Krug joined us mid afternoon and brought PB&J sandwiches, hot tea, and shortbread cookies -- GREAT lunch to eat after a few hours of hard work on a cool fall day!

We worked until dark and made a TON of progress for just a few hours. Keith cut low limbs and dead/small trees, I ran the weed eater and took down the tall weeds and small brush, Dad K clipped the small brush that was too big for the weed eater, and Mom K piled up the brush for future-chipping.


























It was a tiring day but it was so cool to stand in the spot where we started and be able to see clearly for a few hundred feet in any direction. We have another days work of this basic clearing before we can decide for sure where to place the house and driveway but we made some major progress. FUN DAY!

We're also enjoying the builder/design process. We've decided to have an architect draw up some very basic plans for us so that we can have each builder give us an estimate on the same thing. This seems like the only way to compare apples-to-apples, or anything close. So we're looking forward to that. So far one builder did a preliminary sketch based on our ideas and kind of missed the mark on the craftsman feel we're going for on the outside. We're hopeful an architect will be able to design us what we are envisioning. So stay tuned for that!


~LK

Pre-purchase Photos

Hello and 'Happy' Election Day!

Before we get too much further along I thought I'd back up a bit and fill you in on the work that went into getting us to the point of being landowners. Purchasing land in the "country" is not a simple endeavor. Every town has different rules and every piece of land has its unique uncertainties that make it a bit of a gamble, especially the less familiar you are with construction and site work. Lucky for us, we have a lot of great resources in our family and friends. My Dad - a site contractor - has been an invaluable resource for us, and will continue to be as we move forward.

Once we found this piece of property we spent a number of days out there walking the land and weaving our way through the brush pacing off distances to decide which part of the original 80 acre parcel we wanted to purchase. This photo ("Our boots") is a fun one after a day at the land. It's taken in the lot immediately to our north which is actually a cemetary - Holmes Hill Cemetary -- a very pretty and [hopefully] peaceful neighbor!

One of the major milestones in purchasing a lot in the country is the "perc test" for the septic system. Because of the location of our land, we will not have any municipal utilities like water, sewer or gas. Rather, we will have our own well for water, a septic system, and propane for heating fuel.

Because it can be a very large cost item we conducted the perc test for the septic prior to purchasing the land -- to be sure we weren't getting in over our head or getting a bad deal. First step in preparing for a perc test is picking the perc hole locations. We tried a few locations before we found one that seemed like it would work. Keith, Steve (brother) and Dad Krug dug 6 or 7 thirty-inch deep holes before we found the 'right' spot. Here's a photo of the Krug brother's hard a work -- it pays to be a girl when jobs like this come up! :)

My Dad came to Buffalo to make sure our choice of a perc test location was a good one -- he conducts perc tests all the time for his customers so we were so grateful to have his input. We all agreed on the best spot and made plans to dig the official holes the following weekend. Dad Krug drew the short straw to help us that day...he got to work the other end of the two-man (note: "man") auger that we rented to drill the one 48" hole that was required by the county for the official perc test. Meanwhile, I happily held up the shovel and Mom Krug served the most important role of all - photographer! :) We owe Dad Krug BIG for this day!!

Before leaving the lot for the day after preparing our official perc test holes, we stopped for an optomistic photo opp. We had to put a sign up for the county official who would be coming out to conduct the perc test -- and we decided to leave space for our future house number just in case. Fortunately we'll be able to add our own number to that sign now!!

It's official!

Yup! As of 10 AM yesterday we are land owners! Our attorney handled the closing and let us know when it was done -- super easy! It was a bittersweet day, however, as my Grandpa feel and re-broke his hip the night before. We headed to Albany yesterday afternoon to spend the weekend with my family. Grandpa is in the hospital again, and it's not looking good this time...so for now we're focused on family...

Land Closing...October 31st @ 9:30 AM!!!

I don't want to say it's official yet because it's not...but we're soooooo close to being the proud owners of 8.00 acres of beautiful land on Vermont Hill Road in South Wales, NY. It's been a long road to get here -- we spent probably 20 weekend days over the last year and a few months driving around WNY looking for just the perfect plot to call home. And now we're two days away from being land owners!!

I'm starting this blog in anticipation of it being official in a few days -- and as a way to keep all of you updated on what I'm sure will be an exciting, and at times trying, adventure: "The House the Krug's Built"...our dream home.