Oh Lindy, your exterior is gorgeous!

When did you break ground?
- Graded lot & Broke ground in early May '07

When is your estimated completion date?
- Finished & closed by 8-31-07

What is your square footage?
- 2890 sq. ft.

What stage are you at right now?
- Rough-in stage, electrical & plumbing almost done.
Should be to insulation & drywall by end of next
week...? Hopefully!

When did you break ground?
- TBD

When is your estimated completion date?
- Our goal is by 6/13/2007. That gives up one year (take a day) to get our act together.

What is your square footage?
- 3100 sq. ft. + 1200 in daylight basement to be finished later

What stage are you at right now?
- We just signed a contract for the sale of our current home, so things may be accelerating. I'm sure we will be sidetracked for a bit finding a rental and moving, but after that, we are hoping to finally sign that contract with the GC and get going!

We are supposed to break ground in July, 2007
Estimated completion date-around April of 2008
Square footage-6000 heated and cooled
Right now we are waiting to meet with builder to go over bid, it was to be this Fri. but we are going out of town for a family reunion. Find out next week (I am going to be nuts the whole trip!).

Oops! 2007 for our estimated completion would be aggressive wouldn't it? Try 2008 instead!

We are still in the design phase

When did you break ground?
Hopefully, we will in fall 2008

When is your estimated completion date?
-sometime in 2009

What is your square footage?
Right now it is 3600 we are trying to get it down around 3200

When did you break ground?
May 30, 2007

When is your estimated completion date?
October/November

What is your square footage?
2,052

What stage are you at right now?
Framing. They were supposed to finish the first floor walls today.

When did you break ground?
September 2006

When is your estimated completion date?
Well, it was May 23, 2007, but I think we'll realistically be finished sometime in November 2007.

What is your square footage?
Approx. 4500 sq ft

What stage are you at right now?
They should be finishing the brick this week.

When did you break ground?
Mar 10/07 we began demolition on our existing house

When is your estimated completion date?
July 15/07 completion with August 1st move-in

What is your square footage?
2808 finished

What stage are you right now?
Exterior EIFS going on, inside is in "wait" mode...paint prime has been done but we're waiting for trim work & doors to come in, stairs to be installed (have to be stained on-site so we can't paint until then), kitchen install June 24, then flooring which is ordered, then counters and fixtures and we're good to go! This waiting is killing me lol.

Awesome pictures everyone, glad to hear your builds are coming along so nicely!

When did you break ground?
July 5th 2006

When is your estimated completion date?
August 15 2007

What is your square footage?
3450 main floor; 3450 walkout basement with 2150 finished right now

What stage are you right now?

Ready for granite etc...final 60 day dash b/c I locked perm financing on Mondy b/c rates are going through the roof (beware!)

When did you break ground?
-April 20, 2006
When is your estimated completion date?
-August 2007

What is your square footage?
-3200

What stage are you at right now?
-Trim carpenter is installing doors and tim
-Just signed pool contract
-Cabinets will be ready in about 2 weeks

When did you break ground?
January

When is your estimated completion date?
August 2007

What is your square footage?
3200

What stage are you at right now?
Almost finished with drywall
{{gwi:1457460}}

Paco, your house is built into a mountain? Please send more photo's of different views. That is something to look at. I can't imagine what it takes to build a house like that. WOW!!

When did you break ground?

April 2007

When is your estimated completion date?

Hoping August 2007, but guessing probably September.

What is your square footage?
approx. 1700 finished, plus a full unfinished basement

What stage are you at right now?

framing is done, housewrap is on. Roof trusses go on next week.

One of these days I'll figure out how to post pics, I'm still kind of new to posting.

When did you break ground?
Closed escrow May 2nd 2007
When is your estimated completion date?
December
What is your square footage?
6000 main house 2500 guest house (1300 unfinished for now)

What stage are you at right now?
Main house: rough plumbing, framing almost done, sheeting and radiant sheeting going on tomorrow. Plumber starts Tuesday. Pool was dug, metal placed and plumbing stubbed. Ordered my RED windows and doors today!!!

Guest house: After kicking the designer from here to breakfast, we got the garage plans. Should have gone with the architect. Now we have to catch up with the main house.

Kats, you might try a vacation rental. Our house is on the market and if we can't rent back, we'll move into a vacation rental. I know you're in SoCal in the hills somewhere and there's vacation rentals all over the place. The desert is economical right now. Good luck!!!

dragonfly, your home looks so welcoming! Hopefully, you'll be moving in soon, maybe just in time for the 4th of July!

ajpl, wow, seems like you've gotten quite a lot accomplished since May 3rd! Hope it continues this way till the end.

kellyeng, it's been 3 months since we closed on our construction loan, too (UGH!) so I know that a loan extension is also a possibility for us (AAARGH!) I see two islands in your kitchen - just like us! :)

zoe52, you're lucky to have found GW so early on in your building process! Good luck trying to decrease your square footage, it always seems much harder than the other way around.

paco6945, I'm also enamored with your view and setting! Are you going to have an infinity-edge pool? I think it takes great vision and a wonderful architect to build on a lot like yours, can't wait to see your view photos when you post them!

krislrob, I can't wait to see your RED windows and doors when your home is complete! I just found out that Sierra Pacific Windows (based in No. California) recently started offering a whole new selection of colors, all at no extra charge! So instead of going with bronze (the color almost everyone around here goes with), I have chosen a reddish-brown or brownish-red color (they call it "ICI Brown"). All I have is a sample swatch, but I sure wish I could see it installed in a house somewhere! Great idea you had for kats, by the way...

When did you break ground? Sept. 19, 2006

When is your estimated completion date? Well, we are hoping in August some time. We have to be out of our current house Aug. 1. They are getting close, but we could be at the Holiday Inn for a few weeks!

What is your square footage? 1-1/2 story house, mostly finished walk out basement, total finish about 6000.

What stage are you at now? Interior is coming together! Finishing trim work, tile, railings. Exterior is slow going on the build and still waiting for concrete patio, deck, and driveway.

When did you break ground? June 11, just this last Monday.

When is your estimated completion date? It's possible that we could be in by Christmas, but we're not pushing it.

What is your square footage? Two-story, just under 2600.

What stage are you at now? Big hole, pour is to happen Monday. I haven't seen any of the work yet; the sight of all the devastation comes very close to completely melting me down. DH has hung out every day to answer questions, our knowledgeable friends have pretty much camped out there, but I'll wait until the concrete trucks are gone. It's not like I could contribute anything anyway.

Here's a view from the edge:

When did you break ground?
-October 2006

When is your estimated completion date?
-October 2007

What is your square footage?
-6600

What stage are you at right now?
-Drywall complete, hardwood floors almost done, next week - ceramic tile floors.....

Here is a link that might be useful:

Just like Brutuses we started 3 years ago (August 2004). Can't tell you how many times we've heard "you haven't moved in the new house yet?"

"Hope to finish before we die" ... my sentiments exactly Brutuses LOL! We hope to move in before the end of the year. We have a small mortgage and decided to keep it that way so we try to pay for things as we are building.

Square feet - approximately 2700 finished sqft

Stage right now. I'm mid-way through painting the interior though no progress last 4 weeks as busy with work. Actually the break was from the house was good for me and needed. Will be getting back to painting this coming week. DH continues to work on landscaping.

happykate, what a SPECTACULAR view!!! What state is it in, Washington? Postcard-perfect...

Anyone care to vote on who finishes their home first, brutuses or liketolearn? :)

leilani, if I was a betting woman I'd put my money on liketolearn. HA! HA! It's refreshing to find someone else going at a snils pace also. You haven't even broken ground and are building a huge house and I bet $10 you'll be finished before I am. LOL Since we've purchased our land we've watched 10 houses go up in our neighborhood.

Oh the "when are you moving in" make me crazy. For the longest time all we had was the raised foundation that looked like a hellicopter landing pad. I started telling people that's what we were building, not a house!! Everyone in the neighborhood knows "that house" as they call it. All you have to say to anyone is you know that house and the response is always oh yea, what's the deal? We actually had someone trying to find us to offer to buy it from us. I think they thought we ran out of money and couldn't finish. Well, that was true about running out of money, but we always intended on finishing it. Then Katrina came along and that slowed things down. The city officials actually called me a year ago and asked "are you still building that house?" I told them yes, it's just slow going. Thank goodness it's a little city and they aren't strict on enforcing their laws governing timelines on building. The law says you have to have a house built in that subdivision within a year. I think because we always kept the property clean and neat as we went along no one really cared how long it took.

Now that the outside is actually looking like a real house people pass by and blow their horns and shout "beautiful house" or "good going." I told my DH we'll have to have an open house so all the people who've been waiting for the house to be built can actually see what it looks like. HA!

Liketolearn, you sound like you are almost there. Can't wait to see photo's.

When did you break ground?
November 2006 (signed contract in August 2006, though)

When is your estimated completion date?
End of July 2007

What is your square footage?
2200 living area, 3850 under roof

What stage are you at right now?
Everything is happening at once! The tile guy is grouting the floor tile today. Cabinets and trim next week. Preliminary painting done. House is finally secure because garage door installed. Going to pick out stove and dishwasher today. This is the time I was waiting for when absolutely NOTHING was happening out there.

Here are a few pics:

Back of house:

Tile

Future movie stars:

Part of front:

I'm so glad we are almost done. Now if we could just sell this house we are living in....

Springbabes, Oh another dark cabinet stain. I LOVE yours. What kind of floor is that and will it be just a clear coat on top? Seems similar to my Teak but maybe not?

Loving everyone's house photos! That's the best part about the Roll Call threads! Keep 'em coming! Gorgeous homes!

Lindy

Lindy,
Thanks, I'm really happy with those build-ins. It's an espresso stain on cherry. The floor is actually hickory in different size boards, we are staining a medium brown.

I love looking at the photos too!

Tara

When did you break ground?
tbd- hopefully July 08

When is your estimated completion date
depends who you ask! me--April 08(probably a little too optomistic) my husband 1 year from breaking ground

What is your square footage?
4900 + 3500 walk out basement + upper and lower 1200sf garages

What stage are you at right now?
We just got out building permit last Tuesday! YEAH.. after 2 1/2 years of planning/designing/2 ex architects/
firing our builder/ NEW architect/ NEW LOT/ NEW PLAN!.. and now we're subcontracting ourselves

brutuses, based on your photos, it doesn't SEEM that you're that far away from completion...and I'm not a betting woman so I'd keep that $10 if I were you! To my newbie eyes, it just doesn't seem that you have that long to go prior to move-in (but let me also disclose to you that I am a natural optimist!)

gardencpa, every time I see those "future movie stars" photos ('specially the second one), I can't help but grin...they look like they're having such a good time!

marciab10, sorry to hear of all the roadblocks you've come across these past 2 1/2 years, gosh...but CONGRATULATIONS on finally getting your building permit!!! Yay!!! Anyway, I think you meant that you'll break ground hopefully July '07, right? So we'll both hopefully be going through the building process together (if WE can get the darn building permit soon, of course!) What state are you in, if you don't mind me asking? Do you have photos of your building site? If so, I'd love to see them!

Everyone, let's keep those photos coming!!! :)

Yes.. I did mean 07!

We are in Illinois.. far western burbs of Chicago. We first submitted for permint beginning of May, they came back with 42 things that needed to be clarified. Took about a month to get all that done. We thought they would come back with at least a few more items, but NO! We were good!

Sounds like we are about in the same place. Good Luck! Hope your 2nd round goes as well as ours..

I can't figure out how to get a picture inseted here...

When did you break ground?
-August 2006

When is your estimated completion date?
-Fall (by Thanksgiving hopefully!)

What is your square footage?
-3400

What stage are you at right now?
-Not much happening here stage. Our builder had a brain tumor and is recuperating. I told him we had waited 15 yrs to build this house, we could wait a little longer. Plus Oklahoma is in a perpetual monsoon season right now. I'm not a really big fan of hot weather, but I'd even welcome that just to see the sun.

Here is a link that might be useful: Susan's House

Yes, bobleilani, we're in western Washington; good call!

DH is out there to meet the cement truck today, and after that I don't THINK there'll be any big trucks for awhile. Am I desperately off base?

bobleilani,

My future movie stars were doing their "in another month I won't have to share a bathroom with my sister" dance. They were just cracking me up. Too bad I could not have added audio and video because they were singing, too. Like all teenagers and pre-teens though, they can switch to surly in a second.

Since I took that picture Friday evening, the interior doors were all hung, the tile grouted and more paint went on. I have NEVER seen three trades at work on a Saturday since we started this project. Actually now that I think of it, up until now I think only one crew ever came in on a Saturday at all.

mlauder...I'm feeling your rain pain. We are in southern Oklahoma near the Red River and are waiting for things to dry out too.

Broke ground: May 3, 2007

SQFT: 3994 (including bonus room)

Estimated completion date: January 2008

Here is a link that might be useful: Hanna House Blog

I've been lurking around for months and have finally gotten around to learning how to post pics!! To everyone- Your homes are beautiful! I can truly imagine how excited you are. Well,here goes-wish me luck!

OOps! forgot to post stats!

Broke ground: 2/2007

Square ft: 2980

est completion date: 10/07

Started: October 2006

Completion: August 2007 (we're just hoping to be in before the kids go back to school; we were supposed to be moved in by May!)

SF: 2600, 1200 walkout basement

nhkate--Your home is lovely and the view looks fabulous. I love your garage door. Can you tell me something about it? It would look great with my house. May I copy???
Susan

When did you break ground?
-May 8, 2007

When is your estimated completion date?
-Late August/early Sept. 2007

What is your square footage?
-2850 (2-story) + 2080 sf unfinished walkout basement

What stage are you at right now?
-Basement completed and floor joists for first floor being installed; hope to start framing at the end of the week.

Sorry I don't know how to insert a pic!

Susan, our doors are from Fimbel-Paunet. They have two (soon to be 3) showrooms here in NH, but they are manufactured in Whitehorse, NJ. This is the second set of garage doors we have purchased there. This door is from the 'Roaring Twenties' series, and the model is RT-318, Detroit. They are fully insulated, with a wood frame and composite material (similar to Trex) for the facing. Total price: about $4800 installed, but not painted.
Website: www.fimbelarchtecturaldoor.com

Hope this helps, and thanks for the compliments!

leil, we're not that far away from completion, but with my husband having to work on the house on weekends it will take a while to complete. We are looking at fall of 08. I could rush it to Summer 08, but would rather not deal with the intense heat of summer when I move into my new home. Just the heat stress could kill some of my elderly animals. I want the move to be pleasant and easy going. We don't need to hurry because we outright own the house we live in now so it's not like we're under double mortgage payments like some people are when they move from one home to another. Believe me though I would love to be able to move in tomorrow if that was possible!!

The work has slowed right now because of the oppressive heat. Heat index the other day was 105 degrees. My husband is not a young man so he's not physically able to do what some 20 something could do in this kind of heat. I told him I want him to live to move into the house so take it easy.

marciab10, our first round of "comments" came back on May 9th and was a total of 79 and it also took our designer a month to address them...today, we just checked status and we're only waiting for the building division to finish their review (the engineering and planning division have approved us!) It'll be fun to go through the build with you at the same time! BTW, here's the code for posting photos (if they are online with a URL, e.g. an account like photobucket.com):

(img src="http://yourphotosURLaddressgoeshere.com";)

Now if you replace the parentheses above with you will see the photo when you click on "Preview Message". The most common mistake happens when your photo upload account is not set for "public" viewing. Feel free to e-mail me privately if you still have questions...

happykate, I would like to save your beautiful view photo to my computer's screensaver slideshow...if you don't mind, of course! Western Washington (sigh!), DH and I have been wanting to plan a trip up there in the motorhome, but it looks like we'd better wait until AFTER our home is completed. We'd hate to get sidetracked by finding a gorgeous piece of land up there! :)

gardencpa, I totally understand their joy now that you mention it comes from the excitement of having their own bathroom! I grew up in a 3-bedroom, 1-bath home so I know how it is...and I don't even have any sisters!

nc_sandyfeet, I'm glad you finally felt comfortable posting here and you did just fine with the photo! I love your woodsy setting and can't wait to see more progress update pics!

nhkate, your view looks TREMENDOUS!! Do you have a photo of it that you can share, taken from the back your home? Trees, trees, trees...I LOVE trees! :) I also love the traditional color scheme you chose.

mollymcb, if you need more help on how to post photos than the quickie tutorial I gave marciab10, feel free to e-mail me privately as well!

brutuses, I understand...you are indeed lucky that you're not faced with the double mortgage or rental situation that a lot of us have to deal with and it's wise that you're moving at a pace that's comfortable for you both. I wish you a very pleasant and easygoing move!

{{gwi:1461050}}

THANKS Leilani! I tried to figure this out a while ago, and I'm usually pretty good at that.. I don't remember mention of it having to be on a hosted site, I always was trying to post from my picture folder. I think I've got it now!! (I just need to figure out sizing better!)

So this is our site.. out in the burbs of Chicago, not quite as exiting as many of your other beautiful wooded, mountain & water views ~ we can see cornfields! HA! But I loved Chicago!

Good luck with your review process. Hopefully you'll find out something soon. Are you ready to go as soon as you get the permit?

You'd think with 2+ years planning, we would have been! But still working on getting some final bids, and getting back to our bank with some final docs needed to close construction loan. Our goal now is to break ground in less than a month. Hopefully around the 1st of July.

nhkate- I like your garage doors too! We're going to have 5, 3 in front and 2 in back. They would go great with our style of home. Will defineately check out their website.

bobleilani, please feel free to use my shot in your screen saver rota. I couldn't be more delighted!

Kate.

We broke ground October 31, 2006

Hope to move in (without screened porches being completed) mid July 2007

2080 sf

This week they are finishing up the siding and then setting cabs. This weekend we paint, hang lights and set toilets.

East side:

North side:

South side:

West side from the dock:

Kitchen floors, newly stained:

More kitchen:

Sandy, your home is lovely -- I am such a fan of lakefront cottages, and yours is so nicely done.

Yes, we do have quite a view where we are building, and feel lucky to have found our property. Here are some more photos from the back, but they just don't do it justice:

...These views go for 180 degrees, and we have SW exposure as well. It's going to be a wonderfully relaxing place, we think!

nhkate, beautiful, breathtaking view!

sandy, your house looks great, you're really getting there...I love your pendants in the kitchen, do you mind sharing where you found them? I am searching for pendants, not emergently, just taking my time.

Amy

nkate, I feel faint just looking out from that height. So beautiful, but I couldn't look down or I'd be fainting all the time. Deathly afraid of heights. How thin is the air at that elevation? I'm noticing the tree to the right. Is that thing as enormous as it looks in the photo? Where do you live?

brutuses- it's really funny that you mention that huge tree, because I refer to it as my husband's 'Charlie Brown' tree. He refused to have it cut down. It is absolutely enormous, but due to the constant wind that buffers everything all winter the pine trees don't have much growth on their northern sides. So it sort of stands guard all by itself, with the rest of the trees below it. I am a tree fanatic, so I won't have any trouble admiring them for the next thirty years. You're right -- were are quite high (1500 ft.) and right on the edge of a big drop off -- so I don't think our two young children will be playing much kickball.

(The house is in west-central New Hampshire, but a landscape architect who came by for a consult told us that we were likely in a zone 3 micro-climate. As a result I'm rapidly educating myself on zone 3 plantings!)

marciab10, we just got back our 2nd round of comments this afternoon, all from the Building Dept. (Engineering? PASSED! Planning? PASSED!) There are 26 comments to address and unfortunately, a lot of those comments are simple things that were overlooked due to the fact that our designer does not seem to be very detail-oriented and he did not properly address them the first time. I'm going to vent a little here and just say that he better not take 4 WEEKS to get these comments addressed like he just did this last time...or else...well, I don't want to go there yet.

ANYWAY, on to happy thoughts...happykate, thank you and just looking at your view again somehow seemed to calm me instantly! :)

sandyponder, I love your window color! They look very similar to the one I picked out called "ICI Brown" by Sierra Pacific Windows. I think ours will have more of a brown tone, but they look a lot alike otherwise.

nhkate, I can almost smell the nature just by looking at your wonderful view! Thanks for posting those photos and I can totally understand how they really don't the "real thing" justice...but I enjoyed them anyway!

When did you break ground?
Dec 06

When is your estimated completion date?
Sept 07

What is your square footage?
2300 finished

What stage are you right now?
Rough plumbing and electrical finished. Sheetrock to start soon

-Bulldozed exiting house on lot in September '06; poured stemwall in October '06

-Current completion estimate is by end of September 2007; We'll be happy to be in by Christmas.

-2800 sq ft

-What's happening now: Tile installation; Trim; and Cabinetmaker is building cabinets on site.

Pictures:
Exterior:

Great Room/Kitchen:

Door Trim:

Gorgeous walnut floors:

Cute Little Detached Garage: