I'd keep saving.

This is too much of a project to build yourselves unless you can do it full time. Even then I would advise managing the project and not physically building it yourselves. Hire the subcontractors, keep them organized with the supplies they need and watch the money.

You could also look into pre-fabricated housing. There is some pretty decent stuff out there.

As Cooks Kitchen said, keep saving and rent for now. If your max budget is $250,000 that means your actual max budget is $215,000 because you always need a contingency budget too.

" . . . and the quote I received from a contractor was . . ."

Keep looking for a contractor.

Thanks Mark :-) I asked around some more and learned there are indeed some contractors in town who can hire locally. So I have some calls to make.

If anyone would be willing to check out the floor plan we have picked out in the link below and tell me if there's anything in the design that is particularly expensive, or anything we could change/ cut out that would save a lot of $$ I'd really appreciate it!

http://beaverhomesandcottages.ca/Model/Dorset-II

No comment on how to save money - but just wanted to say that i think the house looks really cute!

I would do what the Chinese do: Finish the first floor in a multifloor shell until I had the money for the rest.

This can cause bank issues in the US, so an alternative is to live in a temporary manufactured home while building more slowly. Do everything you can yourselves and outsource the rest.

Do everything you can to make the house cheaper to build by having a simple shape, modest roof, and sizing things following 16" OC, etc.

I looked at the plan. I think not having a "formal" mudroom/vestibule in Alaska is nuts. :) I would enclose the porch into a mudroom in front of the main door and add a coat closet and move the window into it. Add a covered porch later, when I had more money. I would totally reconfigure the vestibule with the foyer/WIC because there's lots of wasted space.

Do an instant gas/propane water heater so you have room in the laundry room for linens, folding, hampers.

Move the door to Bedroom 2 down the wall so you have more furniture options. Corner doors kill furniture placement. Given the small rooms, I would keep the door to Bedroom 1 closet where it is because you can't put furniture against a closet door. In a bigger bedroom, I'd want to avoid the door conflict.

The master bath and closet wastes huge space. I would turn the orientation 90 degrees clockwise. Door in center of wall so you walk between two U-shaped halves of the walk in closet (6' wide is sufficient for this because clothes don't stick out as much as you think--we were forced to do this and it's totally fine), with 1' wide shelves on back. This gets you 1' on each side for hanging out of season clothes (4' total) beside the shelf, a 2' wide shelf to ceiling for shoes and sweaters, and a fraction over 3' on each side for in-season clothes. Continue through to the bathroom. 3x5' walkin shower at one end, toilet--in its own closet if you want!--at the other, and you still have a 5 to 6' double sink vanity in between. This also lets you add a sitting chair with a floor lamp in the corner next to the dresser shown--a crucial retreat for me, at least.

Money savings:

No deck for now.

Stub out fireplace.

Stick down vinyl flooring for now.

Rough in one bathroom for a while.

Ikea cabinets with cheap fronts

Eliminate existing living room French doors. They make the room less useful and seriously affect furniture placement. Change one of the fireplace windows into true French doors and the other into fake French doors. This will save big on heating too and will be more attractive, too.

Save on light and plumbing fixtures by doing Lowes or HD house brand. Save on interior door hardware. Choose standard, inexpensive doors.

Eliminate private outside door for master bedroom. It's going to be leaky and probably won't really be used much. It also keeps you from having 2 dressers. Instead, make it a long window starting at 3' with a long dresser (without mirror) under it, matching the one over the kitchen sink, but wider. Eliminate other master bedroom windows entirely. They don't add anything a picture wouldn't.

Eliminate WIC window. It's a very poorly used space.

The most expensive details are the living room windows and ceiling, but they make the house--and will do it better with the small changes I suggest, for a little less money.

Spec everything you can, with prices! The more you spec, the better your bids.

And get more bids!!!!!

How rural? Can materials be trucked to the site or is a boat/helicopter necessary?

From looking at that plan, it seems possible to build it in stages. The center to start, then a wing on one or both sides.

You should consider SIP construction, Structural insulated panels

That can reduce construction costs. The major cost/problem is the crane to install.

I built our ICF home pretty much single-handed, but did hire out excavation, concrete, and drywall. I have never worked in the building trades, and many of the tasks were my first time. BUT- I'm very good at building things, and am unusually determined. It took me the over 3 years working full time (there were many delays). I'm in my 60's, so it would have been better to have done this when I was younger. My wife worked while I built the house.

Building a house is hard, physical, and sometimes dangerous work. In Alaska, weather would be a huge factor. I'm not trying to brag, but I imagine a good many people simply wouldn't be able to complete this huge task. It all depends upon the individuals involved as to whether they are up to the task.

Have you read Ana White's website? If I recall she's in Alaska, and she and her hubby handbuilt TWO homes (first tiny, second might be a bit bigger) due to similar challenges! If you haven't read her blog, give it a try!

(I'm bulding with ICF, as she did, so I had a few other ICF'ers point her out to me :) )

http://www.ana-white.com/tiny

WOW thank you so much for all the incredibly helpful responses!

On my way to work so I can read them and respond more later.

that high ceiling in the living area is gonna take a lot to heat it all those months you need to run some sort of heat, and even in Texas if I ever built a new home it would be ICF

Milly.. some AWESOME ideas. Thanks so much! Anyone know a simple floor plan creating software or website where I can play with this customizing the plan as opposed to trying to sketch out the changes?

-We were thinking of replacing the covered porch on top right with an extended foyer :) and adding an arctic entry to that at some point. We HAVE lots of hunting/fishing/winter gear to store.

-Love the idea of starting with the center portion and left wing and leaving off the master bedroom/bath/closet in the "right wing" to start. That is definitely livable and the right wing could be added later.

-We were planning on starting with all "fake wood" vinyl flooring which is so durable with kids and dogs.

-Love your other suggestions too. Need to find that software to play with. :)

new-beginning.. cathedral ceiling is one of my "must haves." It makes a small space seem so much bigger, especially in the dark winter when cabin fever sets in. We have lived in similar houses before (rentals) and really liked them. Good insulation + a heating fan work well to keep the place warm. We are in SW Alaska so it doesn't get super cold here. That said, it could be lowered a bit but we also want the roof to be steep enough to shed snow.

lookintomyeyes83.. I'll check it out! I love her furniture projects, didn't know she had house building info!

HandyMac.. materials would be barged in from either Anchorage or Seattle. It's quite expensive. I'll ask around about SIP. I don't think there is a crane in town.

Sarah--I use Sketch Up, but it's not super easy. :). It is free, though, for most use.

I used SketchUp as well, both for 'doodling' and all of my final drawings.

Thanks!

Milly has given you some good ideas to consider, but I would caution against the store brand plumbing fixtures--they are not always consistent in parts and can be difficult to impossible to repair. You are better off with the Delta, Moen or Koehler from the bb stores.