The Adventure begins...

Today is a beautiful April day here in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, with temperatures in the 60’s an clear blue skies. The buds are about to burst, and grass is starting to green. Loralee and I are in “go” mode on the house. In March, we cut the wood line for the driveway, wrapped up our permits, and made sure everything is lined up. One thing I need to get done before construction is cut the access for power across the Fergus property, and last night I figured out how to get that done.

Tim Baker owes me $500 for a trailer he sold last year. Due to his eye problems, he got deep into a financial hole, and has been unable to pay me back. However, he’s an honest guy, and I believe has every intention of making good—when he can. So, I called him last night, and offered him an opportunity to work off the debt by cutting out for our power line. He jumped at the chance, and I’ll be meeting him this Sunday at the property to go over what needs to be done.

Lor and I are very happy with the house design. It will be a post-and-beam saltbox, with a very…organic… feel to it. We want an efficient and environmentally friendly house, and some of the core features to that end include:

- Extremely tight, high R-value (R-42) construction using Stress-skin panels.
- Primary wood heat using a Masonry Heater.
- Use many Vernacular wood products, including lumber from Fed Bishop in Wheelock, and Quarter-sawn spruce siding.
- South facing windows that maximize passive solar gain.

In addition, the design is very efficient, with the core living area coming in at 1800 square feet, and possible expansion into a walk-out basement. Our front porch extends the living area into the surrounding landscape. This is ‘not so big’ house construction at it’s best!