Recording the journey

I am starting this blog to keep a record of a house that my husband, Mr Together-House, and I will commence building sometime in 2011. Perhaps it will be interesting to some to read and follow, or perhaps not. Just thought it'd be nice to track it all along the way.

Mr Together-House has built before. In the beautiful Blue Mountains. About 10 years ago he sold his fishing boat to purchase himself a block of land. We were dating at the time and talked about building on it and living there together but then went through a bit of a rough patch in our relationship, which meant he did the design and building part himself. He had a builder construct the house to lock-up stage then he finished the internals and all the decking himself. He then rented it to some friends for a few years before moving into it on his own. After a somewhat rocky courtship we did eventually marry and I joined him there. We went on to complete the gardens and owner-build a garage with a second storey "loft" space above it. It was a beautiful house and he did a fine job of it but this blog is not about that house.

We moved from the Blue Mountains to the Central Coast (just south of Lake Macquarie) a year ago, a few months after our twin girls were born. We had no family in the Moutains but plenty over this way so it makes more sense. Plus, I've promised him that one day he'll get his fishing boat back. Well, not the one he sold, but another one to replace it. It was quite a fishing boat, which he had pretty much built himself so it was quite a sacrifice for him. A very willing sacrifice but a sacrifice nonetheless. I look forward to the day we can get him another.

We purchased land on beautiful Lake Macquarie, 30 mins further north of where we are now and about 90 mins north of Sydney, in May. Got a rip snorter of a deal and have since then been in the process of having plans drawn up. The land is in a new development and the plans must be submitted to the owners of the development as an initial thing so they can ensure it meets the design guidelines (which are not overly stringent). Once approved they go into council. Our submission to the developers was last Tuesday (16th Nov). They have 10 business days to respond. So, I guess by Tuesday 29th they'll either tell us yes or they'll tell us something needs to change. We used a drafting company with lots of experience drawing up plans for homes in this development so if there are any issues I think they will only be small. But then of course once you change them and resubmit, it's another 10 day wait for a response. So, could be a long process if they decide to be picky. Not a worry, though, we are not ready to start digging the ground just yet anyway. Lucky because once we get through the developers we have to deal with council and that'll be another couple of months.

Anyway, this is enough rambling for my opening blog. Suffice it to say that we are both very excited to be finally building our together house...