Deciding to Build and Day One of Construction

John Thomas and Caroline checking out our lot on day one- June 22, 2012.

The Walker Family is finally getting ready to settle down permanently in Auburn. After living in Auburn for the last year in a small rental house and later in an even smaller apartment, we decided that we should build our dream house. We searched Auburn real estate listings for close to a year for the perfect house, at the perfect deal. But no luck, it just wasn't out there. I always dreamed about building a house and had kept a house plan page torn from a Southern Living magazine for around 15 years with what I thought my perfect home would be.


One Friday afternoon about six weeks ago, Brian came back in town a little early after working in Columbus and he decided he wouldn't go back in the office. I convinced him to drive around just to look at lots. We drove into one of our favorite, and I think,one of the most beautiful, subdivisions in Auburn. Although we had been in the neighborhood many times, we really hadn't looked at anything too seriously.  We spotted a lot, one of only a couple that had yet to be built on. It had a sign for a builder and Brian decided to call to ask about it.  The builders said that they owned the lot and wanted to build on it either as a custom home or a spec home. They asked if they could meet us at the lot to show us the house plan they were planning to use. I was hopeful, but since I had held onto a house plan for 15 years, I was not expecting their plan to compare to my perfect home plan.

In less than an hour, we were meeting with Craig and Maribeth Wolfe, of Landmark Builders right in the middle of the lot. They are both Auburn alums and are close to our ages with a young daughter. We immediately felt comfortable with them and with their ideas for the house. When Maribeth showed me the house plan she was suggesting, I couldn't believe it. The layout, rooms, square footage and special features were exactly what I wanted. I've always wanted a butler's pantry to house my many sets of formal china and Brian has always wanted an outdoor fireplace. Plus, it was a two-story house with a large bonus room- both on John Thomas's and Caroline's wish list.  It also had a formal dining room that was separate from the living area, a mud room, a stairwell in the entry, a large bar in the kitchen, and two covered porches. And for our many out of town friends that are Tiger fans, there is a guest bedroom large enough to host weekend visitors and still hold all my crafting/sewing supplies!


After that initial visit, it still took us a few weeks to make up our mind about building the house. We debated and crunched numbers, debated and toured more existing houses, debated and decided yes, then, no. Finally, we decided that yes, we did want to take on this opportunity. We closed on the construction loan on June 22, 2012.  Hopefully, with good weather, we will be in the house by Thanksgiving.  In the mean time, I will be writing this blog to have a record of our home build and to share the progress with our friends and family.