"Yet, another wonderful day in Winneconne".....that should be their slogan. Life is good here. The pace is slower, quieter, and more relaxing. We were talking about this last night, and we had two different takes on this new perspective. Is it because we don't have a mortgage looming over our heads that makes us more relaxed?, Is it the water that forces you to be outside more thus less noise?, Is it being without a T.V?, or is it because I'm getting a break from school?
We decided to call it the Lake Winneconne Artist/Fishing residency. I'm back to work in my studio (gosh that feels good to write this), and finished 3 pieces since school has been out. We don't have a lot of noise in our lives right now and it makes us both reevaluate on what is important: making art, making lures, going for a boat ride, having a healthy family (godspeed Kurtie and family!), going for long walks, playing guitar, reading, listening to music, eating good quality food, loving the cats, and taking care of each other.
So, you are probably reading this and wondering is the build done? have they started?...the answer to both is no, and no. It's been an interesting roller coaster this past month. Everything has ran very smoothly from the posting and selling, so we assumed that the build would be easy. Lesson learned don't assume anything.
We got the bid back on first day of summer break and it was not good news. Our architect, Matt, looked very defeated and said the bid was way over priced. The bid came back at a whopping $246,000! You would have thought we were building a mansion, which we are not. The general contractor had $67,000 of added charges that could not be explained.....hmmmmmmmmm. It was not a good experience, thus the melt down. Matt left with the final words, "I want to see this built". He has so much invested in this project, but we told him we have to build smaller. We have run the gamut of selling the property (and pay off my college loan, finally) and finding a small home and be debt-free! This is so enticing, but we are still holding onto hope. We believe in the notion we CAN build small (1000-1300 sq. ft), smart and on a tight budget. We believe it can be done we just need to find the right person, and not like the first contractor who was only concerned about the almighty buck.
So, back to the concept of space. How much does two people really need? Currently, we live in a 900 sq. ft. home, and are happy (minus the questionable craftmanship). We both work in two working studios. My studio measures at a whopping 88 sq. ft and Paul's 105 sq. ft. and we are still making art and lures without a hitch. The house that we used to live in was 1600 sq. ft and it was too big, and all my time was spent cleaning and putting all our "stuff" away. Yet, that is another point to be made we have a storage unit that measures 10'X30' and it is filled with stuff that we don't even miss. Time to pitch, we say!
I just realized we have less stress based on two components: we have less stuff and space, but more time to do what we love. Until next time...enjoy the view!
The quote above eloquently states what I've been feeling as of late. The word perspective comes to mind; perspective from a physical and emotional point of view. So, so, so, so, much has happened, since I last blogged. We closed on May 17th and said goodbye to a beauty of 130 year old house, packed, moved, had a funeral to attend of our wonderful belated brother-in-law, Marty Stahl, who passed away from a rare spinal caner that he courageously battled for 4 years.
However, the house is in GREAT hands. The first offer made (yes, in 6 days!) was offered by a phenomenal, young, cute, smart couple that loved our home the first time they laid eyes on it..yes, it was love affair and our house was finally ready to let us go. Paul and were so please with the Valley By Owner (KUDOS!) organization..from nuts to bolts the process went pretty smoothly. We had one small glitch and it worked itself out. We paid our lawyer 600.00, instead of a realtor 6-7 thousand. Overall, we are so appreciative of the people we came in contact with: from the new homeowners, Drew and Emily, to Valley By Owner, to the lawyers, inspector (not the appraiser mind you), the title company, and our AMAZING architect, Matt!. All in all it was a great experience. Paul had the chance to show the house to Emily and Drew with one final walk through and told him the "secrets" of how the house worked. In the end we left a home we loved, but fostered a new friendship with a young couple that will take as good of care of the place as we did...toast to Emily and Drew's new house (they said they wanted to keep in touch with our new endeavor...they will be first on the house warming list for sure!)
So, here we are in Winneconne, Wisconsin, and it's a life-changer for sure. The pace is so different and the small town environment is quite wonderful, yet it feels like a vacation, since most people who own property around here are from Chicago...tee hee. Our new landlords are from Chicago and they are quite wonderful I must say. VERY easy going and on the spot said..."don't worry about it!" (I had to put that in there..gotta think of a Soprano affect in all of this...). Really, they have been great...from the yah..."cats are fine", to..."sure month to month is great just give us a 60 day notice"...."to were just happy we have someone responsible renting the place" (but then again I don't think they have many financial worries!). While, the handiwork around here is quite questionable (boy oh boy we wouldn't want this person to build our new home), it's clean, it's small, it's perfect. We have 900 sq. ft with one bedroom, 2 small working artist studios, a bowling alley for a kitchen, and water view - what else could you ask for?!?
Winneconne allows us to be without the noise. No TV...mostly sitting on the back patio, on the channel drinking in the flopping fish, the run of minnows, the many casts, the making of art (yes, I finished a piece..yah me!), Paul's amazing lure work, and the sunshine. Thus far, we had the boat out 4 out of 7 days this week. The water is transformative and it takes you away, I get why rich people buy land on the water. So, we are happy as clams in Lake Winneconne.
As for the house all is working out as it should. Our architect contacted us on Thursday and stated we are on the homestretch. 2 out of 3 bids are biting and we'll get their bids this Thursday (fingers crossed their price is matching ours). One bid canceled due to work load, however, we are pleased as punch with the people that Matt, our architect, chose both who do phenomenal and quality work! So, why do you hire an architect? Let me count the ways: 1) they listen to how you use space 2) they are incredibly smart 3) they know how things work 4) crappy work won't be acceptable 5) really, you need another...ok, they know what they are talking about. While, the cost, initially, is scary we would do it in a heartbeat, again. Matt is our bodyguard in the world of building, he will NOT leave a stone unturned. His work ethic and attention to detail is impressive. He even said that the builders will not get paid until it matches the plans to a "T" (I'm sure contractors love working with an architect, but if you do great work you shouldn't worry, right?). Matt is really enjoying the process and even said that working on our project "relaxes him and makes him very happy!". We couldn't be happier, either. We feel very fortunate. Like Paul said the other night, "this is his baby from start to finish HE thought of how it would look and once it's done how can you not be happy!?!". How often can you design a home that is small, unique (unlike most houses in the Fox Valley area), and using sustainable concepts? Yes, the home includes radiant concrete flooring throughout, no basement, south facing wall of windows (not optimal, but this created the most privacy), small footprint with every space in consideration, 2 studios with optimal light with sky lights (so we can preserve electricity during daylight hours), wall mounted water heater, and flush mounted plaster around windows (no trim work anywhere in the house), and lp square panels on the house (they are an alternative to vinyl siding and eco-friendly...we will wait on the cost the following Monday...fingers crossed since we decided that the outside is as important as the inside, so if that means laminate countertops so be it they have the most cost effective ratio than any other natural material combined).
I will end on the note that if all goes well we should start building early to mid July. Stay tuned to the progress of Paris Street. The following images are a east facing view) of our house. Top image: this shows my studio to the far left, Paul's studio right behind mine, with bedroom to follow. Below images include attached garage (north facing -most privacy) and the final image is south facing of our future living/kitchen area to the left (with all the wonderful light space) and to the right my art studio with french doors and ample skylights (east facing). The south end faces the water!
Until next time...keep in mind what Abraham Lincoln said, and we'll all have a much better perspective!
Toodles,
K
