After 30 years of sharing ideas, viewing model homes and reading dozens of home improvement articles, Mel and I are finally embarking on our first home-building project. Our first and last – we are building a home in which we can grow old together.  We designed it to be very energy-efficient, requiring minimal maintenance and with a floor plan that will accommodate wheel chairs. We both hope we will be able to spend our last days and moments here, in our home. Some may think this is creepy or morbid; we think we are being pragmatic.

We could call this our “dream home” but we don’t really think of it that way. Around here, that phrase usually conjures images of massive log homes with perfect landscaping running down to the lake. Other than establishing a foot path and installing a short dock, we don’t plan on changing the natural landscape between the house and the lake.  We like it the way it is.

We hope to start construction in May or June. Our builder insists he’ll have us in a finished home before freeze-up this fall.