As Completion Nears, Thoughts and Pics

As the house nears completion I have been focused on finishing enough work to secure a 30-year fixed-rate loan at 4.38%. However that loan rate lock-in ended Friday and I may be able to extend it by paying more points. Meanwhile the construction loan is costing $85 dollars a day and while we’re ahead of schedule (I think) it would be nice to use that money for things like, furniture. I never realized how much window coverings could cost.

I might also add that at 4.38% the monthly payment makes a possible early retirement offer at my job even more possible.

So my focus on the house is toward stuff like that. However, after I walked through the house today with my friends Tony and Todd I went back and was able to reflect at how far I’ve come.

It was one thing to realize the house on paper—a process that took three years before I was satisfied. It’s another to flesh it out with colors, materials, finishes. For these details I waited, or changed my mind as the house took shape. It’s been fascinating to watch and have decided that overall, I am quite satisfied.

Probably the most important decision was how to site the house on the lot. It may have seemed obvious--“take advantage of the views!”-- but with raw unlevel land that needed grading, it wasn’t obvious how the view would turn out. It’s turned out great.

Despite having worked in the City’s Construction Services Center for 17 years as a supervisor, I found the process daunting. The part that I supervised was fine, even though I missed an embarrassingly simple deadline causing me to undergo a second public hearing and 6-month delay. However, the rest of the permitting process was, frankly, almost overwhelming. It was only my familiarity with the personnel and their functions that got me through it.

But as I viewed the almost finished results today I found myself satisfied. It works. I designed the project as a mini-resort, a great common space with fabulous views, bedrooms that give it’s occupants privacy, and architecture that is pure, clean, unpretentious, and functional.

And I have so many people to thank, but that’s in another blog . . meanwhile, there is a landscaping plan to revise.