I have debated on doing this for some time and realized I wanted to after my cumulative experience of reading and lurking in the shadows. It's been a lot of fun and I've learned a lot following other build threads and misc. topics I've had on my mind. Moderators, if there is a better location for this thread, please by all means let me know and we can move it to the right location.
My wife and I purchased 5 acres in Holly, Mi to build our dream residence to live and raise/expand our family in 2014. It was a piece of property that had been for sale for a long time which was unusual and we had passed on it a couple times previous to actually going to look at it. I'm glad we did because it was beautiful. 5 acres of rolling hills, heavily wooded with hardwoods and soft with about an acre of swamp/wetland. The bugs will drive you inside if the conditions are right! Either way, we were blessed with this property and began planning right away. We began building our home in the spring of 2018 and I began building the barn in the fall of 2021. I'll share pictures and stories from along the way, it's been a wonderful journey, I hope you enjoy as I've certainly enjoyed seeing your builds and transformations!
All the way to the beginning, probably 2019 the dream stage began but the clearing and leveling took place between 2017 and 2018. Menards sure has a cool building and visualization tool. I used it many, many times to price estimate and dream. It's a little hard to tell but there wasn't any flat ground on our property. Where we built our home, it needed to be cut down about 5' in some areas which helped fill in some of the low areas. It was all sand which was very helpful when it comes to having a good base to build on. It was a little more challenging where the barn was going to go. The ground in the back was cut over 8' down and towards the front was filled in about 3'. This ground was much different though, solid clay with gravel. It was tough on the machinery! Finally though, we ended up with an awesome spot to build our home and soon to be barn. Actually, the barn and house ended up within 6" of elevation of each other. Also, I have proof that deer do, in fact, **** in the woods!
Stay tuned, more to come!
My wife and I purchased 5 acres in Holly, Mi to build our dream residence to live and raise/expand our family in 2014. It was a piece of property that had been for sale for a long time which was unusual and we had passed on it a couple times previous to actually going to look at it. I'm glad we did because it was beautiful. 5 acres of rolling hills, heavily wooded with hardwoods and soft with about an acre of swamp/wetland. The bugs will drive you inside if the conditions are right! Either way, we were blessed with this property and began planning right away. We began building our home in the spring of 2018 and I began building the barn in the fall of 2021. I'll share pictures and stories from along the way, it's been a wonderful journey, I hope you enjoy as I've certainly enjoyed seeing your builds and transformations!
All the way to the beginning, probably 2019 the dream stage began but the clearing and leveling took place between 2017 and 2018. Menards sure has a cool building and visualization tool. I used it many, many times to price estimate and dream. It's a little hard to tell but there wasn't any flat ground on our property. Where we built our home, it needed to be cut down about 5' in some areas which helped fill in some of the low areas. It was all sand which was very helpful when it comes to having a good base to build on. It was a little more challenging where the barn was going to go. The ground in the back was cut over 8' down and towards the front was filled in about 3'. This ground was much different though, solid clay with gravel. It was tough on the machinery! Finally though, we ended up with an awesome spot to build our home and soon to be barn. Actually, the barn and house ended up within 6" of elevation of each other. Also, I have proof that deer do, in fact, **** in the woods!
Stay tuned, more to come!
