We opted to be as close as possible. We're living in a trailer on the property.

2 minutes away. I agree, Tara -- we frequently consult with our GC on site.

I'm about a ten minute drive away. I can't even count the number of times my GC has called me and said "can you get up there now, I need to show you......"

I know there are loads of people who build long-distance, but I'm glad I'm right here! Then I can catch things like the wonderboard that got mistakenly laid in the powder room before it becomes too big an issue to correct... (sigh)...

Summer

2 minutes, Sometimes convenient, sometimes a nuisance.

400 feet.

There is an old house on the property that we are living in. It will be torn down afterward.

We were fulltiming, in our big motorhome, with a base space at an RV park 12 miles away. As owner/builders I would head out very early, and my wife would come later. The commute time, the traffic, the cost of gas,...it took its toll. As soon as possible we figured out how to install full hookups for the motorhome in our own backyard, allowing us to live on site. It changed everything, much more convenient and more efficient. THIS was bad enough, I have no idea how it's done "long distance".

2 miles away. We are currently living in a rental house that has somewhat of a view of our 13 acres where the new house is being built. I open the back blinds in the mornings,drink my coffee and look towards our land wishing the rain would stop so we can get past the dirt work (sigh).

64 miles. A royal PITA, let me tell you.

We are building in another state, but it is only 11 miles away. Only two more weeks and our new home will be finished.

When we built this house in 2003-2004, we were living about 45 miles away. Work was about 5 miles from the then-home.

We visited the construction site 2-3 weekdays every week, getting up really early and making a round-trip to the site, and thence back to work. About 85 miles, round-trip. Wearing, but worth it. (Also gave us a taste of what the commute was going to be like, though of course now we don't drive to work and immediately turn around & go home, much as some days we might like that! :-)

We also tried to visit it once a weekend.

--Steve

5 miles....how long it takes to get there depends on the time of day. If we stop in before work in the morning (ie: 7am), it takes about 5 minutes to get there. If we stop in after work (ie: 5:30ish which is rush-hour) it takes half an hour to get there.

DH figures mid-July for move-in and I can't wait!

Great topic!

We're in a temp apartment that is about a 30 minute drive from the new house. There is no straight shot. I cut through neighborhoods for a half an hour. I've been making the drive about 5 days a week for 7 months now! Some days twice! It is a PITA, but everytime I go I find something and get it corrected. I ask myself each time I get home exhausted, "was 'x' worth the drive?". My answer has always been yes.

We close on June 14th, and not having to make the drive anymore might be as much a relief as actually getting in the house :) okay, not really.

We're about 10 minutes away and I'd go for the trailer at the site if my husband would.....

We're in a FEMA mobile home on the property. Plus DH works at home, which means that he misses a lot of work since there is little to no supervision from our GC so DH ends up doing a lot. (our GC is building 13 houses in the three coastal counties right now.) We'll take over from the GC once we are blacked in. Like Paint Chips, we were in an old house on the property while we were finalizing house plans. Katrina tore it down for us.

Lots of families around here are stuck in travel trailers while they rebuild. I would think that living in a trailer would be challenging for 2 adults - I feel for the families with children.

Currently, we're two hours away but we'll be moving back to our old house (tenants just moved out) within a month (which will hopefully be about the same time we break ground!) Then we'll be about 30 min. away from our construction site. I've already been talking to DH about parking our motorhome on-site when we get a little further along with our build...

We are 10 miles away, but I stop there at least twice a day because it is right around the corner from where my kids go to school. It is also 5 minutes from my DH job, so he is there at lunch and after he is done for the day. Our future neighbors are so kind, and lucky us, they have two kids that match up in age and gender with two of ours. If they see us they will come grab the kids to go for a swim or play while we put out fires with the GC. I look forward to reciprocating!

Amy

We are about 5 minutes away. We are the GC and DH is working on the house full time as well. It's really nice to be able to come home for meals and stuff.

We are living 2,300 miles away and have been flying out to the site about once a month. The dettached garage with living quarters has already been completed and we will be living in it soon (move is planned for the end of June and we will stay there until the home is complete). Drywall begins this week, so we will be there for all of the finishes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Progress So Far

mavs fan, that is truly long distance building! Thanks for sharing your building experience. Your home is beautiful. The windows you selected take full advantage of your nice views. Would you mind sharing the name of your window manufacturer?
We are building less than 100 ft. away on an adjoining lot.
I agree that it is nice to be close. Mistakes do have to be caught early. No GC can be there as often as I can. He are she has other houses to build. I have one.

emmachas, thanks for the compliment! We are using Certainteed Windows.

mavs We are currently in the design phase and are debating of doing a long distance build or moving and renting while building. The hard part would be that both of us would have to be in separate places. One here and one there, as my husband is not retiring until 2010. I can work anywhere. We are looking to start building next year but maybe the year after.

Your home is absolutely stunning! I love how they mixed the stone and brick finish together. We will be doing something along those lines, as well. I really love your lighting, too. May I ask what company they are from?

Zoe52,

We have had an easy build so far. If you do decide to undertake a long distance build, you must have a very good relationship with the GC. It is working well for us, but may not be for everyone. Where do you plan on building?

Thank you for the compliments!

The foyer, dining room and formal LR are all from the Kalco Palladium collection - http://www.kalco.com/collections.asp

The kitchen and family room lighting choices are from the Golden Lighting Highland Park collection - www.goldenlighting.com

The master foyer (Hatillo Collection), powder room (Berkley Square Collection) and study (Olympus Collection)are from World Imports - www.worldimportslighting.com

The master fixtures with globes are all from the Designers Fountain Windsor Heights Collection - http://www.designersftn.net/dfn_Catalog.php?id=

The master fixtures without globes are all from the Cristal Lighting Versailles Lorraine Collection - http://www.cristal-usa.com/

The secondary bathroom vanity lights are from the Cristal Lighting Somerset Collection - http://www.cristal-usa.com/

The exterior coach lights are from the Minka Dark Sky Collection - http://www.minkagroup.net/products.asp?div=164&styleid=3913

If I you have any more questions, please feel free to ask :-)

Thanks for all the info. We are building in the Wilmington, NC area in a gated golf community near there. The builders we are interviewing both live and work in the community, as well. So they would utimately be our future neighbors. They are both custom home builders and come highly recommended by the developing company. They each build only 5-6 homes per year exclusively in this community. I believe that they would both be equally good and trustworthy. I haven't decided who we will be using yet, as we are still in the design phase.

Still I would prefer to be around when the house is going up. Since I live in Upstate NY it would be a long drive there about 740 miles away. It looks like I will be the one who will have to oversee this build mostly as my husband travels a lot. Flying would be possible, of course, but expensive, especially if it is a last minute thing (no direct flights from here) We will probably need to figure out the most cost efficient way to build this home and still feel involved.

We're about 10 feet away in a FEMA trailer. It gets tough trying to sleep in the daytime since I work nights, but the sound of construction is music to my ears at this point. Framing is about 95% completed. Windows and exterior doors come in on Wednesday. Siding is waiting to be installed. Rough in plumbing and HVAC have started already.

We're about 30 minutes away. I'm there at least once a day, if not twice. My husband is an attorney and never leaves the office, so I'm the one doing most of the project management. It's been a hassle but worth it. I am much better at identifying mistakes than my GC...which makes sense since I'm so experienced! (total sarcasm there!!!)

40 minutes from the house, about 15 from work.

About 30 minutes away.

We're about 15 minutes. Unless, it's snowing- then it can take up to 30 to zigzag around the flatlander's cars parked in the middle of the road! LOL

So.Cal drivers + snow = demolition derby!

100 feet - we're living in the barn/shop (since last fall when our previous house finally sold). Excavation for the new house is scheduled to start tomorrow:)

15 miles on country roads...takes about 25 minutes to drive there, dodging wild turkeys, deer and crazy drivers. We've definitely cut back on daily visits now that gas is $3.49/gallon here.

we're living on site in an old ranch built in '64 w/original appliances. (sweet!) it will be torn down after the new build. ...sad but true.

We are in a rental about 15 minutes away...and I get the come right now phone calls all the time. When we first started the build we lived a solid 35mins away and it was the pits...hopefully in we will be in, in about 20 more days...YAY

We're about an hour and 15 minutes away. We're building in a different state. We drive out on weekends.

We're about 1400 miles away. We began building in December and have made probably 5 trips out to the build site. Each time we go we spend two days meeting with different subs, making choices and always have a great relaxing dinner with our builder and his wife. We have been incredibly fortunate with our builder and plan to be in the house the last week of June. It's been so smooth it's kinda scary!

Six miles and about 10 minutes away.

Winters are too cold in our area for an RV or we would be living in one on-site. But if we ever build again it will be further south where it is warmer and I'd go for living in a large RV during the build.

close....about 10'. We are living in a mobile home while we are building ourselves. It sure is convenient!!! And moving to the new house will be a breeze!

2 min walking distance.

On DW's work days we're in a friends garage room, 20 minutes from our house. On her days off we're at our farm 2 hrs away. It's a pain but sure beats paying big rent during construction. Tom