Framing Begins

The Casa rises at the ridge of the highest hill in Glassell Park. The garage will be below, connected by, budget permitting, an elevator. Early designs called for a long driveway to get up to the house (read expensive retaining walls), who wants to haul groceries up this height. Eventually it dawned on me to get rid of those walls and use an elevator instead (duh).






Excavation for the 3-car garage.









A marking on this column is used to take height measurements for the various levels of the lot.








This area, behind the garage, is where the pool will be. In order to keep the hill from falling in prior to building a retaining wall, after a 5 foot rise, it has to be cut back a half foot horizontally for every vertical foot. Or was it the other way around? All these numbers, as well as observing the excavated dirt, are per a soils engineer's report, part of the permit, and indicated on the plans. A great learning experience for myself.





Did I really specify the lower end of the great room to be nine feet tall?












A frame with a view.

(rear bedroom)

The center of every house -- the kitchen.











The rear bedrooms.










The front door.

The Plans, the Plans

Pre-Construction History

2000 - 2003 Reason and Design I don’t recall exactly why I wanted to design and build a new house but perhaps it was nothing more than the fact that the property was vacant and had terrific views. Or was it the fact that I have an architecture background and seeing this lot made me want to put my background and job experience to work. I work in the City of Los Angeles Construction Services Center and have never known anyone, either in my department or the building department, to have completely gone through all it’s processes.

This house was also going to be for myself.

It seemed poetic, and I said that more than once to my therapist, as I struggled to get it off the ground.

When I bought the two lots I lived around the corner from them in a house with a great view. One of these lots had twice the view so when it came on the market I went after them. I didn’t get it because the sellers, living next door, changed their mind. A few years later they put it back on and I snapped it up.

Thus began more than a three-year period of designing. At one point I commissioned a world famous artist to come up with a design. A friend also came up with several designs, one of which to this day is my favorite, but in a meeting with a contractor when they were discussing how to connect the walls and windows in this innovative design, and how to teach a tradesman how to maintain it, I decided it wasn’t going to be affordable or practical. Just like most great architecture.

If there were computers when I was in architecture school I might have been an architect. Not being able to draw a straight line helped put an end to that idea so instead I dragged my friend Edel through months of Monday afternoons while we designed together.

Every possible way to do this house was considered. I’ve heard that a vacant lot—a veritable blank canvas--is more difficult to design on than a lot with topographic or zoning restrictions. This wasn’t the case with me; it was the best and most fun part of the whole process.

All the designs, except for the renowned artist’s, incorporated the same siting in order to take advantage of the view and hide the adjacent house. This was my only requirement that almost mandated the house be configured in a “T” shape. However, it still took literally countless designs and re-designs for me to feel satisfied.

And now, as the first earth has turned, I am wondering how my vision will turn out. It is one thing to get down on paper, another to see it in all dimensions.


A WORD ABOUT DESIGN PHILOSOPHY -- Being a good Berkeley graduate I could never approach the house design without first developing a design philosophy. I wanted the house to blur the boundary between inside and out, landscape vs. interiors. I chose a design which I believed reflected this approach: lots of glass, minimal ornamentation. However, as I began to think about costs and my finances, the design evolved into a different philosophy of mine: a house is a machine for living and therefore can be absolutely minimal. Variety comes with furnishings, don't lock into a style because they change.

July 2003 – July 2007 The Entitlement Processes

This is what I do for a living, advise people on how to get through it. I’ve been training and supervising staff in this for 18 years. It is incredibly involved, complicated, and throws for a loop the most experienced architects and attorneys, let alone single property owners.

It threw me for a loop.

Rather than bore everyone with the details, let me summarize, in order of chronology, the applications I filed for in my office for only the lot I am building on:

--a project permit per the specific plan in the area
--an environmental assessment
--a lot line adjustment to move the property line between two lots
--a zoning administration hillside determination

And because I missed filing a simple time extension in my office (the loop I missed):

--an environmental assessment reconsideration

--a second zoning administration hillside determination

December 2004 -- December 2007 The Building Permits

One of the great things about having gone through the entitlement and building permit processes is that I can look at customer's in the eye and say, I do know what it's like to go what you are going through. In fact I can usually say I've gone through much more than they have.

July 2006 -- A Tortuous Sale

Somewhere the idea struck that rather than build two houses, one to live in and one to sell, it would be easier to sell the second lot with entitlements and building permits, ready to build. At least selling was worth a try, certainly easier than building, so I tested the market and got two interested buyers.

My realtor suggested one over the other so we opened escrow and soon I met Manny—one of the most difficult persons on earth.

I recall many long and arduous meetings with Manny, one over 3 hours at a Denny’s, where we discussed fine points of plans, soils, and construction. Manny was a construction estimator who was reviewing the plans with the hope of building the house for the buyer. He wasn’t getting paid to torture me; he was doing it on spec.

The issues Manny was torturing me were over were how much detail needed to be put on the plans. I admit that I learned a lot but eventually I had to tell him that he’s jeopardizing the sale and his chances of getting work if he kept up the torture.

2007 Contractor Issues

In my current house I worked with a contractor rebuilding the foundation after the 1992 earthquake. Before that I lived in a house where the same contractor helped me re-design and re-do a problematic hillside deck that also covered an accessory living quarter. With all this experience together I fully expected to him to build this house.

But it was not meant to be and we ended up separating. Break-ups don't come easy, and it is often said that while construction one is married to their contractor, so it was a decision, that didn't come easy. It took months for us to realize we weren't communicating well.

2007 Spring - Summer: The Dirt Pile

318 cubic yards of dirt were piled on my lot before I started construction. It was put there over a year earlier without permission by the owner of the adjacent lot, after I sold it to them. I spent that time angsting over how to address it.

In contrast to the difficulty of breaking up with the contractor, the issue of the neighbor's dirt pile was intractable. It was the first time I needed to talk to my therapist about the house. I was in a corner. In order to continue with the project I removed it myself.

2008 Contractors and Loans

I received my building permit in December of 2007, the same year I left go of my contractor, so in order to get construction started by summer and avoid the fall rainy season I needed to find a contractor and loan.

I was scrambling. Everyone I talked to had a contractor that should be interviewed.

Meanwhile the mortgage industry was imploding. I wasn't sure how it would affect me until I settled on Mateo and applied for a loan. And so at the last minute it imploded on me but my mortgage broker was able to come up with an alternative loan. Not the best loan but in order to keep the momentum going (and my building permit) I went ahead.

Upon Return from Vacation

July 22, 2008


I've been gone from the site for exactly two weeks. I feel like a father who has missed watching his baby's first steps. While I was away Mateo sent me this picture of the wood forms and rebar put in place prior to pouring the concrete slab. When I got there today it had all been poured except for one bedroom.

Underneath the slab are footings that follow the outlines of exterior and interior walls. While away I missed the concrete getting poured for the footings.




You can see some of these footings in the bedroom that has not yet had concrete poured on it. Honestly, I didn't realize the baby footsteps metaphor when I first started writing this.





This picture gives an idea of the house's main room; a great room consisting of a kitchen, dining, and living area. I'm standing in the spot where there will be a high kitchen counter that looks over the rest of the room. In planning this room I wasn't sure how large to make it. I took into consideration that both of these sides will be almost all glass. Works for me!
The three car garage for the house is not only detached but at a level that is 18 feet below it. This is that area.

And yes the tractor appears precariously balanced. I watched in terror for ten minutes while Arturo tried to balance things out. There is a metal cage on top that he says will protect him but he also says he's never tipped over.

The dump truck saved the day.

Anxiety at Sea

July 16, 2008 On the Baltic Sea aboard the Constellation


Mateo has been busy. Through e-mail he’s communicated details of inspections passed for the trenches dug for underground plumbing, and the laying of steel and rebar that supports the foundation. The structural engineer is scheduled for tomorrow to be on-site to observe how a part of the work is being done. From what I understand he has to be there to certify it’s accuracy.

Meanwhile the ship’s newspaper and CNN report on all the bank failures and rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. IndyMac was my original construction lender and the bank I also have money in. I have 10 months and 19 days before my loan is due so despite being on a cruise, right now I feel my hives breaking out and my left lip swelling.

Where’s the bar?

The Dirt Gets Moved and Relationships Cemented

July 9, 2008


At the site work was proceeding nicely. I met Alphonso who was laying the trench for the inside sewer line. The sewer line is an issue I have with the rear property, my former lot, but which I'll get into later. I informed Alphonso that along the northerly property line, to the left in this photo, there is a sewer easement that serves both lots and that his trench needs to end up there.
I plan to lay two pipes, one for my lot and the other for the rear property.

Enough dirt had been either carted away or moved around the lot so that the bobcat could dig the trenches for the footings and forms for it's concrete placed.

This was to be my last site visit before I left on a 13 day vacation so I had to connect with Mateo this evening.





More than Concrete Was Ready to be Poured


Throughout the years it took to get this project going I always figured that the two most important factors was getting the right loan and the right contractor. Maybe because I work in the City of LA's Construction Service Center I felt confident about entitling and permitting the project, so I believe money and builder were key to making this work.

The loan turned out crappy and I had reservations about Mateo because in the year since we’d been introduced as a possible client/contractor, we became friends. I wondered if it was wise to work with someone you knew so I wanted a resolution clause in our contract so we could continue friends if a problem came up. I had already lost my original contractor on this project who I had known for many years.

I also wanted to use the evening's meeting as an opportunity to introduce Mateo to Jose, an attorney and friend with whom we all shared mutual and beneficial interests. It was a business meeting.

As I sit in Amerstadam’s Schipol airport almost 24 hours since the “meeting” ended, I’ve been trying to figure out how to write about it without compromising those involved. The meeting started at a restaurant, proceeded to a bar, and ended up at my house. Mateo left at four thirty in the morning and Jose at six. The business agenda was accomplished, some sleep was achieved, and most important of all, my relationship with Mateo is preserved.

Your imaginations can fill in the rest.

One final note; I’m going to be away from my baby and was having serious separation anxiety before I left. As I transit to my final destination the excitement of the plane ride is wearing off and the separation sinking in. I’m sure Mateo will take good care of the baby but I still can’t help feeling nervous.

The First Week of Construction

Day One, June 23, 2008

The last couple of days, concurrent with a heat wave and other changes, I felt bumps and redness rise on my skin. Mostly it was around my butt and hips and it was somewhat itchy. Having gone to the doctor for other things this year but which proved unspecified and harmless, I decided not to this time. But while eating breakfast this morning I felt my right lip and face above it start to swell. It felt like blood was pumping and I looked and felt like I’d just had a shot of Novocain.

I decided to change course and call my doctor. I got an appointment for tomorrow. While I was at it I also managed to make one with my therapist for two days later.
By noon Mateo called informing me that construction had started, a bobcat was at work excavating and laying a road, and DWP had spotted for the water meter.

After eight years, Casa de La Montana Alegre was finally rising, and like so much about it’s history, it’s birth was proving just as dramatic as it’s past.

June 27, 2008 -- Fifth Day A passageway is carved to provide access to the lot's upper level.

Men can never experience what it’s like to have a child. Morning sickness, carrying around a 30 pound weight, watching something deeply personal grow. I am drawn to this analogy when it comes to this house. I know it’s inappropriate but as a man I don’t know what else to compare it to.

I stood on the dirt that is become the slab of the house. Several feet of the hill had been removed so that the elevation is the same as that of the house. In all the years of standing on the lot and looking at the view I couldn’t foretell exactly what it would be. But now that the lot was graded at the appropriate elevation I stood and looked out.

For the first time in a long while I felt excited and exhilarated. I liked what I saw. The light pole across the street was not in the line of sight of downtown’s skyscrapers. The mountains to the north were nicely framed. For a few moments I forgot about the falling real estate market and my construction loan due in 12 months and reveled in the product.

The baby would be all right.

June 30, 2008

Grading continued as I brought Tony and Todd over to the lot. Mateo said he’d hope to have the graded footings for the house done and cleared by the inspector by the end of the week.

I was hoping to figure out how to get the construction loan to kick in. This was a short week and these men needed to be paid. The construction loan manager made an unannounced visit to the lot last week and I had previously faxed an invoice, authorization, and e-mailed pictures.

Now if I could just get him to return my calls. However, while watching the grading we got inspired to call the loan’s home office who gave us the number of a Wenda. I was able to get her on the line and she confirmed receipt of my docs and that the check was in the mail. Would that be in time?

We’ll work on wire transfers next week, meanwhile Wenda was going to be my new best friend.

July 1, 2008

Arturo, the grading subcontractor and foreman, was digging the footings for the foundation. I had met Arturo last week and liked him. In Spanish we talked about construction, building homes and working with Mateo. It seemed an odd pair, Arturo and Mateo, different in years and cultures, but they have been building partners for several years.

It looks like the pad for the house’s foundation was complete. Even though there was lots of dirt that still had to be removed, Mateo figured out that the pad could be created, a foundation laid, framing begun, and the rest of the dirt removed concurrently.

A previous contractor had figured the grading differently: he proposed to take the dirt for the garage out first and use that space as a staging area. The dirt would be taken out all at once.

There is about 500 cubic yards of dirt to haul out and most of that is not mine: 318 cubic yards of it to be exact. This is part of the drama that it took to get to this point. I’ll document that eight-year history later.