PROJECTS
HOUSES
Maine House
Project Narrative
The American Dream
Building your own 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in 2023 for under $500,000 in 2023 New England when you are a teacher and college administrator is problematic.
•
Unless: you edit: the home is 1,373 square feet.
Unless: you edit: the home is 1,373 square feet. •Unless: land was strategically purchased for a low price in a very nice part of Maine.
Unless: land was strategically purchased for a low price in a very nice part of Maine. •Unless: the owners subcontract much of the work.
Unless: the owners subcontract much of the work. •Unless: the owners directly shopped and purchased, scouring the COVID Internet for years prior to building for items that were not selling – at greatly reduced cost.
Unless: the owners directly shopped and purchased, scouring the COVID Internet for years prior to building for items that were not selling – at greatly reduced cost.•Unless: the schedule is “flexible” – this was a two-year build, through COVID.
Unless: the schedule is “flexible” – this was a two-year build, through COVID.When you ascend to the surrounding trees and express the owner's desire for a "belvedere" aerie at those tree tops it is a triumph. Preliminary bidding revealed the cost that determined what Value Engineering was necessary:
1) No carport – BUT a screen porch.
2) PVC Trim, strategically set to reduce red cedar siding costs.
3)The framing was bay-by-bay, fully generic.
4)Roof design was one-way pitched – NO valleys.
5)Stiffening was by engineered lumber and expressed.
6)The three-story design minimized foundation costs, as did a crawl space, rather than a full basement.
7)A focal stair was completely generic in execution.
8)Kitchen cabinets, vanities, doors, plumbing fixtures, appliances, lighting were all bought on sale, online and stored, ferried up to Maine.
All credit card debt from Internet purchases has been retired in its first six months of occupancy by Air B&B receipts with the design & location leveraging 5 Star Reviews.
Huge eaves and PVC soffits prevent siding, window and door maintenance, painting, and eliminate gutters and defeat summer solar gain. A 4 HVAC zones allows for shut down of treating air in uninhabited spaces. Two-sided operable windows meant maximum daylighting and airflow in warm months. The third-floor favorably oriented roof with a one-way pitch caught sun amid a second-growth tall tree wooded lot for a PV array and the first total electric bill after full occupancy was minus$10. Maximum insulation met the State building code 2019 Maine Uniform Building And Energy Code
