Today is the day! We had a little ceremony with the girls to thank the part of the house that is being torn off for 3 years of shelter and good times. We are sad to see the sun room in particular go, but we are going to build a similar feature into our newRead more about Partial house demolition[…]
(As an aside, we designed the house so that the minute you step in the front door, you have a clear view all the way to that beautiful fireplace above, which will be perfectly lined up with the front door. The fireplace was once part of the original house.) So here we are, at longRead more about Starting deconstruction[…]
Once the historical report was complete, we had to go before the Historic Landmarks Commission and get the HSSR approved. Getting it approved meant that the HLC agreed that there was no significant historical value to the house (other than the wall out front) and we were clear to tear it down. Now, here isRead more about The Backstory: Planning & Permits[…]
We initially thought it might take a year until we had permits in hand. Boy was that naive. First, for any uccoructure older than 50 years, you have to get a historical site & structures report (HSSR) done. This is intended to uncover whether there is anything historically significant about the house or property (inRead more about The Backstory: History[…]
In looking at older houses we stumbled upon the property we bought- a large half acre with an older house that, while interesting, was somewhat of a Frankenstein house that was built in 5 phases over about 80 years. For example, take a look at this nonsensical meeting of roof lines. The house was alsoRead more about The Backstory: Building the new while living in the old[…]
It all started when we were looking for a house in 2012. At the time (and it continues today) there was very very little on the market, especially in the area we wanted to live, the Upper East neighborhood of Santa Barbara. We wanted to live somewhere that was walk-able, and close to things, likeRead more about The Backstory: In the beginning … we just wanted to buy a house[…]