A Long Trip And a Nice Visit

[pajoube]

Very nice David, but I don't see the barn anyplace on those plans. The new tractor, attachments, workbench, welder, etc. need space of their own.
PJ

 

[bbabineau]

Beautiful home and it looks like lots of PT uses with retaining walls etc... However, I don't see the six car garage for the toys. Assume the foundation for the barn will also be built to store the toys. I may have put my barn too close to the house because I seem to be always getting oil on the block drive.

 

[MossRoad]

... I don't see the barn anyplace on those plans. The new tractor, attachments, workbench, welder, etc. need space of their own.
PJ

Here's one rendition. If I go with 10' walls it will look something like this. It is a similar distance from the house as your carriage house, maybe a little more. One wide overhead door. One double door for the shop area. 4' wide stairs to the 2nd floor. I'm also thinking of putting in a small loading dock to the right side of the garage, since it is set into a small hillside. Could be handy and would cost nothing extra but PT seat time and gas. I have plenty of locust timbers that will last a long time if treated.

So if you come in off the highway, there is a small S curve right, then left, then about 250' straight back up a slight incline. A left turn will take you past the front of the barn and then a sweep to the right will take you to the house, about 150' away. If you would have gone straight instead of left towards the garage, that will take you to the house as well. I want a circle road that sweeps past the house. We had one when I was a kid and I loved it.

 

[pajoube]

That is perfect. I can just see the PT owners reunion in the back 40, each digging his own area, testing those attachments. Then to the new garage to use the welder and bench for repairing the damage from the test area. Then back to the play area to test another attachment. Hey, do you think PowerTrac would send a rep. to talk with us and bring a few new attachments for us to review.
David, I can see your place becoming very famous as a meeting of the owners each year.
PJ

 

[BillCroasmun]

We are questioning friends about the builders they have used and we have sent preliminary paperwork to some financial insitutions to see how much $$$ we can qualify for. Then we have to hold our breath and jump in.

Great story MR and fine financial planning. Not many today seem to care about the amount of debt they carry as long as they can make the payments. That approach doesn't do that well for unplanned expenses or family emergencies.

Before we built our home the wife and I took a couple trips out to Bristol Indiana to visit Pinnacle Homes and we were very impressed. We were actually just about to commit with them when we switched to a local builder due to some issues with the local site manager who would of been handling the modular build. Not sure if you've investigated todays modular structures but they are not the poorly built mobile home of the past. These homes are built to your states stick built building codes and can be built to custom plans as well.

The wife and I actually have regretted our decision to not work through the issues we had with the site manager because we could of had about 15% more sq ft for about 8% less in cost. That missing square footage had a couple features we now wish we had. Mind you we are still very grateful everyday with being blessed enough to live in a new home on a few acres in an area that we really love.

 

[MossRoad]

Not sure if you've investigated todays modular structures but they are not the poorly built mobile home of the past. These homes are built to your states stick built building codes and can be built to custom plans as well.

Yes, there really are some nice manufactured homes out there now. Just like built on site, but built in a factory instead. They are attractively priced and by looking at the finished product, you'd never know it was built somewhere else and moved there. It is a huge industry around here and supports much of our local economy.

However (isn't there always a However?), they do not offer some of the features that we want that will have to be built on site... sunken living room, higher ceilings in a few places, and long spans so there are few supports in the basement. We need to frame out the roof with trusses to get the inside ceilings that we want in the living room, dining room and kitchen. Maybe the master bedroom, too if we have the $$. I like vaulted and cathedral ceilings in a ranch style house. We had them when I was a kid. Really opens up the room. Put a nice ceiling fan and/or a chandelier up there and it really looks nice.