Status updates

December 7, 2013

Orrville house

Our house is under land contract! Monday is the final inspection and the house will cause the inspector to walk around with his mouth hanging open since Dennis is amazing at keeping a house well-functioning. When we stopped during Thanksgiving travels, he even cleaned out the eves. We've signed the contract papers.

The weekend of December 13-15 we'll pack the few remaining things and bring them to Goshen in Maynard Miller's truck. We'll vacuum and clean toilets the last time and wonder how to say good-bye to a structure that has been a great home for 24 years.

Where we are living

We've moved to a sunny,  incredibly insulated (for being over 30 years old) duplex in New Paris. We're renting from warm and welcoming Lois and Jim Kauffman, who live in the other half. We share papers, laundry, extra frig, their garden surplus and many conversations. Two bedrooms, bath, living area upstairs, and a spacious room downstairs in the walkout basement for desk, exercise, etc. I still have some boxes to unpack.

I'm rather embarrassed by how much I enjoy being surrounded by the things we've accumulated over the years and how comfortable the familiar is.

Property permissions

Unofficially, our contact from Army Corp of Engineers has said we can go ahead with the driveway. Other permissions are nearly complete. If we get all the paperwork done in the next few days, we might begin the driveway before Christmas. Timing is rather tight, which is why there are no !!! or an expectation that we'll actually begin. I hope for a light winter so that progress can be continual, rather than slowed for cold and storms. I continue to vacillate between anticipation/acceptance and raging frustration at how long it has taken to purchase the land. The first contract was written for July.

Any ideas for how to celebrate the beginning of creating the driveway or digging of the foundation when temperatures are below freezing?

House plans

Our builder, Thomas Mast, is creating initial building plans from the main floor design Ann Graber Miller helped with. (Dennis did a huge amount of initial work.) This may yet take several weeks. We're quite anxious to see the elevations. Ann has also created an innovative design for the walk-out basement. Since we can't build the Journey House, we hope the basement can be useful to many people. It includes a large multi-purpose room, an efficiency apartment, a bedroom/office for Dennis and storage. Ann created ways for the space to change sizes dependent on needs--quite amazing!

We're beginning to choose exterior colors for the metal roofing, siding, etc, and will then begin flooring for inside.

November 2, 2013

Where we will be living:

We know where we are moving after leaving the grand Meyer Reimer house! This house has been good for me: I've learned to live with and care for cats, what it is like to live in the city, to have close by neighbors, to bike most places, to have 500+ children trick or treat, to have many pieces of original art on the walls, to work in the kitchen on my tiptoes, to sweep off a porch, to admire a house over 120 years old and to slip into the environs of other folks. What an amazing gift and privilege Kathy and Paul have given us these months!

November 19 we will move to a duplex owned by Lois and Jim Kauffman. It's in the woods on five acres near New Paris, about 8 miles from the land we're getting much closer to owning. Although unfurnished, it has appliances, including a washer and dryer, and a bit of furniture, including beds and a dresser. Soon we'll head to Ohio to bring back a truckload, especially kitchen items. We'll also make our first new house purchase: any recommendations about a microwave?

We can stay in the duplex until we move into our own home. (Sigh.) That gives me some sense of place security.

We are enjoying Goshen. Last night Dennis and I again wandered downtown during First Friday after an eccentric meal at the South Side Soda Shop. Who would have dreamed that we could have foil pouched Lake Superior white fish and venison stew in Goshen? (Especially when the chain groceries sell Pad Thai noodles but not Pad Thai sauce.) The First Friday theme was local artists and Dennis purchased an amazing ceramic plate by Eric Kauffman. I will soon begin orientation so that I can volunteer at Ten Thousand Villages. We're enjoying having friends over and biking both for transportation and exercise. And, yes, we are taking life very easily.

Property permissions:

We think we took a leap or two ahead this week, but it's complicated and uncertain, so I'll wait for more information before reporting on that. Bright spot during a grey season!

October 24, 2013

Property permissions:

The wetlands delineation company sent their report to ACE today and offered us an apology for their slow work. Well, that doesn't put a permanent roof over our heads. . .I obviously am rather frustrated. I was ready to hold some enticing smelling cookies hostage in their office, refusing to let anyone near, until the report was filed.

HOWEVER, after ACE signs off on the report, it must go to Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

After we have all the permissions and such, the driveway might take about two weeks, the foundation about one .  . .ah, well. We don't have completed house plans yet.

October 23, 2013

Orrville house:

One possible family of interest from the Open House last Sunday. Very unlikely anything sells between mid-November and February because of holidays and spending for them.

Property permissions:

Nope. Turns out Army Corp of Engineers has not yet received our request. The company we hired to do the study is waiting on an endangered species report from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. The DNR simply does a search of existing reports, not a site visit. This waiting is terribly difficult some days . . .like today, when snow is predicted. I want the basement in before the ground freezes!

House plans:

We've thanked the architect for his work and realize he simply doesn't understand the type of house we want. Dennis will draw more plans; the interior designer will perfect them; the builder will draw the final plans. The interior designer is quite impressed with the builder; she says he can draw plans from a TP beginning.

Where we are living:

We plan to leave this house by November 20. Meyer-Reimers return November 21. My announcement in Assembly Line brought two ideas: a house a block away in Goshen, on the market, that needs to be homied up and a duplex in New Paris, about 8 miles from middle of Goshen/our likely property. Having these options has calmed me, as has Dennis living here.

 

October 14, 2013

Orrville house:

Another open house yesterday. One neighbor looked to see if the house might be suitable for someone he knows looking for a house.

Property permissions:

We don't yet have permission from Army Corp of Engineers to begin the driveway. It's not clear whether they have received the request from the company doing the delineation. Perhaps the government shut down will make it more likely that ACE rubber stamps our project, since their desks are piling high?

House plans:

We met with our interior designer yesterday and with our architect today. Each is interpreting our desires differently. We anticipate that this will give us a better final project.

Where we are living:

Dennis is moving to Goshen end of this week! We're still looking for a place in Goshen to live Nov 20-end of April.

October 3, 2013

Orrville house:

The realtor has had several open houses. One couple has expressed interest, but not made a bid, perhaps because they need to sell their 50 acre place. The husband is impressed with Dennis' gardens.

Here is the ad: http://showcase.ohio.remax.com/realestatehomesforsale/11885-keener-dr-orrville-oh-44667-gid600027341152.html

Property permissions:

Cardno J. F. New, the company we hired to delineate the wetlands, has not yet submitted their report to the Army Corp of Engineers (ACE). They are waiting on Thomas Mast, the builder, to finalize the driveway path. The surveyor has been on the property the past several days.

BEST NEWS in awhile: J. F. New has determined that there is an existing driveway, and that by improving it, we are not destroying any wetlands. Possibly ACE can look over the report and stamp it okay in a matter of days . . .but they have the option of taking months. Any one know if they are shut down as a non-essential government service?

A few permissions yet to receive . . . . . and then we'll buy the property.

House plans:

Dennis spent months drawing plans. He truly enjoys the research, the thinking, the drawing. Dozens of plans have gotten increasingly better. We've decided to hire Randy Myers, of Interface Architecture, to put the final touches on the plans and sketch the roof. We see his first draft Friday, October 4.

Ann Graber, of Graber Designs, is guiding us in planning people-friendly spaces.

Where we are living:

From early August through November 20, we are living in the Kathy and Paul Meyer Reimer house, on 6th Street, in Goshen. Kathy is doing research in New Zealand. Ari and Wait for Me, their cats, live with us. Ben, a junior at Goshen High School, lived with Susan the first three and a half weeks, then joined his family. The house was built in the late 1800s and has amazing woodwork.

We are looking for a place to live in Goshen after we leave this house. Likely dates are end of November through end of April.