One Vote for a Modern World

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All around, society is creating a built environment that is planned by ignorant zoning boards, narrow-minded traffic engineers, and myopic developers. The houses now being built are designed and built with two main goals. First, to be cheap. Second, to impress during a 20 minute visit. My family is trying to take the road less travelled. This is the story of our house.

The roof, the roof, the roof is on... — by Jeffrey Rous — posted on 07-28-2007 23:03 — 4 comment(s)

...the house, we don't fear no water let the rain continue down. Ok, here are some pics of the roof going up and the atrium hole (or, as the Romans called it, the Compluvium).

"The great thing about SIPs is..." — by Jeffrey Rous — posted on 07-23-2007 22:57 — 5 comment(s)

"... they really cut construction time, saving you tons of money on construction loan interest." After trying to assemble the house for eight weeks, let's call this myth #1.

Cutting steel with fire — by Jeffrey Rous — posted on 06-20-2007 09:57 — 2 comment(s)

Is there anything cooler than cutting steel with fire? Perhaps a bit surprisingly, the structural steel has gone more smoothly than any other part of the project thus far.

No turning back now... d*** it. — by Jeffrey Rous — posted on 06-18-2007 22:22 — 10 comment(s)

It's been a while since the last posting. Partly because we've made little progress, but also because the story so far has been depressing enough that I don't care to relive it. Then again, we started this project over three years ago so why should our luck be changing now! Here is the latest.

We broke ground, but... — by Jeffrey Rous — posted on 01-22-2007 15:38 — 6 comment(s)

...then the rains came. Now we wait. I think it has been about a year since the last posting. It has been a very slow process that would go about 3x faster if I started today. In any case, here is a first look at what is going on.

new images — by Jeffrey Rous — posted on 09-02-2006 08:20 — 5 comment(s)

After the cost saving revisions were made, this is what we hope to be left with.

Take Two — by Jeffrey Rous — posted on 08-31-2006 23:15 — 12 comment(s)

It was about a year and a half ago that the builder's bids came in so high that we were forced to step back, regroup and re-evaluate the situation. After a few false starts, steps sideways a a few steps back, we are taking another shot at our house. Here is where we have been for the last 18 months.

SIP Odyssey — by Jeffrey Rous — posted on 03-16-2005 08:25 — 17 comment(s)

SIP price keeps rising!

SIP bid in — by Jeffrey Rous — posted on 01-28-2005 22:52 — 8 comment(s)

We just received the bid from Thermocore. Here is the breakdown.

Gingerbread House — by Jeffrey Rous — posted on 01-15-2005 22:00 — 0 comment(s)

I may never become an architect, so this may be as close as I get to designing and building my own modern house... and talk about affordable! I wonder how long Necco Waffers would last as a roofing material.

Mirror Unit Prototype — by Jeffrey Rous — posted on 01-15-2005 21:59 — 1 comment(s)

I have never found bathroom lighting that was good looking, functional, and affordable. As usual, when the market fails you, you got to build it yourself.

Let's meet the contestants! — by Jeffrey Rous — posted on 01-14-2005 22:13 — 0 comment(s)

We interviewed the first of three builders today.

New Colors — by Jeffrey Rous — posted on 01-10-2005 22:44 — 2 comment(s)

I have taken everyone's suggestions and tried to incorporate them here.

What color should our house be? — by Jeffrey Rous — posted on 01-02-2005 19:27 — 40 comment(s)

We have gotten to the point where we will soon need to decide on the color of our house. Here are a few choices we are considering.

I love building officials (WAY!) — by Jeffrey Rous — posted on 12-13-2004 10:19 — 2 comment(s)

So I called up the Plans Examiner (his official title) and explained that there were other houses in the neighborhood with stucco chimneys. His response...

Guess what I saw today? — by Jeffrey Rous — posted on 12-12-2004 13:23 — 2 comment(s)

So I took my son to play in the park across a creek from the neighborhood. We parked at the lot and were going to walk down the street and across a footbridge to the park. As I waited for him to get out of the car and onto his tricycle, I stood there dumbfounded, staring at...

I love building officials (NOT!) — by Jeffrey Rous — posted on 12-10-2004 20:47 — 12 comment(s)

Zoning Ordinance: "Exterior must be masonry: brick, stone or stucco." "Chimney must be masonry." In April: "So, can the chimney be a steel tube wrapped in stucco?" "Yes." "Really, just a tube wrapped in lath and plastered" "Yes." In December... well, what do you think?

Exterior and Floor Plan — by Jeffrey Rous — posted on 12-03-2004 07:58 — 6 comment(s)

Finally, a great image of the house (from Mark Meyer) and a (rather crude) image of the floor plan (colors of stucco not yet finalized).

How we (may have) beat the system. — by Jeffrey Rous — posted on 11-16-2004 21:48 — 3 comment(s)

The special zoning ordinance is pretty strict, but we found ways to work within it... Or, at least we think we did.

The Basic Design — by Jeffrey Rous — posted on 11-13-2004 22:58 — 2 comment(s)

Case Study #8, the Eames house, is my favorite house in the US. But why? And how can I encorporate those characteristics for our house?

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