Our new house is essentially complete...or at least is completely functional. Officially, we still have to jump through the final inspection hoops...but all systems appear to be performing well. I had some minor plumbing leaks to fix, and one ceiling fan was defective and had to be replaced. All that remains now is to "make this house a home" by adding the finishing touches and just living in it. It really doesn't seem possible that we have reached the end of this segment of our adventure. It will be some time before we have finished floors and permanent cabinetry, and that just entails more time and money...and is not very different here in Hawaii from anywhere else. I'm sure that there will continue to be "lessons learned" as we settle into a routine...things that work well or things we would do differently...but those lessons would seem to more appropriately fit a new blog.
Katie and I were just talking about how and when to bring this story to a close. We decided that there will be one more post to this blog after final inspection...which may be a month or more away. Some final photos and reflections on our experience...but if you, the readers, have any specific questions or comments you would like addressed, now is the time to post them! We have already received many comments...all very positive and supportive. But I think the ones that affected us most were those that said (and I paraphrase) "Your blog has given us the information and the courage to move ahead with our dream to build a house and live in Hawaii." Certainly, I would hope that those who DO proceed will let us (and others) know about their efforts. We are truly "lucky to live Hawaii."
Stay tuned for our final post!
About Us
- Katie and David
- Hi...We're Katie and David. We met each other as teenagers over forty years ago at a county fair when Katie was visiting her grandparents in northern Wisconsin. Over the years we stayed in touch through moves, marriages, children, successes and failures. Then, in 2005, we found ourselves both unattached and living alone, so we decided it would be fun to get together. David flew to Phoenix, AZ, from his home in Prince Edward Island, Canada, and the rest is history! We spent two years full-time RVing; built a house on the Big Island of Hawai'i; and finally married each other in Surprise, AZ, in April, 2009. Now we find ourselves "commuting" between our various "homes" in P.E.I., Hawai'i, Arizona, and Colorado. We have provided links to a couple of blogs and web albums...join us for the continuing story of Katie and David!
6 comments:
Please tell me you'll start a new blog....maybe "Life in Hawaii" ??
Aloha....
I loved seeing your house go up. I am sure you have inspired many. I would love to know how you settled on your plans and house size - did you design it yourself or use a package home company?
Response: Yes, we were thinking of exactly that...just about living in Hawaii and our experiences.
Katie and I designed the house using some old software that I've used on two previous houses I have built. It's pretty simple and gives you interior views as well as exterior so you can see spaces before the walls go up. At the leading edge of the "boomers," we just said one bedroom, one bath...guests can sleep on the futon!" Katie wanted to maximize the outdoor living space, hence, the large lanai. We sometimes think we need more storage space...but then we think, "no! More space begets more stuff!" But we are eyeing the space under the house for later development... maybe a vacation rental suite.
I loved reading your blog as we are going to be building hopefully this summer north of Hilo. We just have to get our home sold in Washington state first. Do you know of any restrictions on camping or using an RV on your land as you build? Obviously you did it, but I thought I read somewhere that you could only camp for 30 days? We thought we might do the same thing as we have two dogs and it might be hard to find a rental that would allow them. Would love to hear more about your life in Hawaii. Thanks for sharing!
Post a Comment