Ranch House; Exterior Phase 1

As we near the finish line of this exciting yet massively daunting home building project, I thought it would be fun to take a walk down memory lane and see how far we've come. It's a good reminder of how close we really are to finishing. And most of our friends and family haven't seen these, so you might enjoy a step-by-step look. Unfortunately we don't have the best photos...just a bunch of rough snapshots. But they'll do for now.

This was kicked off in the spring of 2007, about a month before Thane and I got married. Which means it's been almost exactly four years since then.


Our front driveway. The house is around the bend and up the hill. Thane's parents nick-named this area the "Enchanted Forest", because it's a deep forest with perfect rows of trees. Thane took me for a walk through it the first time I came to the ranch, the summer before we started college. And now we're building a house there. I like to think it's romantic.


This is what's "around the bend". A large section of trees were cleared out to make room for our house and yard.


Step #1: The basement. The guys hauled wet concrete all day and poured the flooring. I wasn't around to witness any of this or to have any say in the floor plan, I was still working full time in Virginia, boo!

Ah, the trusty circular saw


Once the basement was complete, Thane and his dad got right to work on the main level. This is the first thing I saw in person after we were married and moved out there together to keep building. Thankfully, Karl and Andrea (Thane's parents) let us crash in their place for those five months. Living in our house at that point would have been more like camping, ha!


Karl was a huge help! Without his building expertise I don't know how we would have done it. Notice that nail gun lying on the ground; he put a nail through his finger one day- ouch! Talk about putting your sweat and blood into something.

Look at that He-Man!


 Sitting and dining room

Hallway leading from the front entryway to the kitchen

The second story is up!

 Garage door openings

Master bedroom

 Progress!


Back of the house

So, if memory serves me right, this is about where we left off when Thane and I moved back to the east coast in the fall of 2007. Our blissful summer months on the ranch had drawn to a close and it was time to get on with his army career. He headed to Fort Benning, GA for a couple of months to complete a course, and I moved back to Virginia.

Construction didn't wane for long though...phase 2 photos coming soon!

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