I've never thought of myself as much of a planner. So, perhaps it's ironic that my first blog post would invoke the subject. And maybe it's somehow apropos that it should begin with Plan B rather than the traditional Plan A to suit my more meandering style. Or maybe I'm more linear than that for which I give myself credit. The truth of the matter is that I've known all along that I should be writing about the project. Several people have admonished me to do so, as well. However, I happened to be learning construction for the first time and am not a multitasker by nature. The end result is that I am now faced with re-greasing the bearings of my rusty literary wheels and off to a creaky start in the middle of the story. So, to give some context...
I spent the last five-and-a-half years building an 8'x16' house on wheels. The project landed in my lap, suddenly, via casual proposal of my friend, John (my building-coach-to-be). It was one more of a string of serendipities that brought me to the the Island and seemingly set me up for this very moment (see Tiny Origins story for more details). Since I had never considered building anything before, I had no resources to allocate toward such an endeavor. I had received my internal marching orders and jumped in while still struggling to find financial footing for basic needs on the Isle with only the spare time between housecleaning and odd jobs. Sometimes the day jobs took up the spare time, or my client load would lighten, leaving time to build, but little money for materials. Did I mention I had no prior construction experience, don't yet own my own land and had to move four times over the course of the project? Excuses... excuses...
I spent the last five-and-a-half years building an 8'x16' house on wheels. The project landed in my lap, suddenly, via casual proposal of my friend, John (my building-coach-to-be). It was one more of a string of serendipities that brought me to the the Island and seemingly set me up for this very moment (see Tiny Origins story for more details). Since I had never considered building anything before, I had no resources to allocate toward such an endeavor. I had received my internal marching orders and jumped in while still struggling to find financial footing for basic needs on the Isle with only the spare time between housecleaning and odd jobs. Sometimes the day jobs took up the spare time, or my client load would lighten, leaving time to build, but little money for materials. Did I mention I had no prior construction experience, don't yet own my own land and had to move four times over the course of the project? Excuses... excuses...
In any case, folks now admiring the results of my efforts have asked if I had
fun doing it?
"Sometimes," (with a smile) is my standard reply. I call it my labor of love and agony. Though I never gave in to failure, neither did I always know how I would succeed. So it was with a sense of triumph that I put the house up for sale last July (Plan A), alongside the road on some friends' organic farm (www.ravenspadefarm.com) and waited to see what would happen. It is now October. The house remains unsold, so... Plan B: Inhabit.
fun doing it?
"Sometimes," (with a smile) is my standard reply. I call it my labor of love and agony. Though I never gave in to failure, neither did I always know how I would succeed. So it was with a sense of triumph that I put the house up for sale last July (Plan A), alongside the road on some friends' organic farm (www.ravenspadefarm.com) and waited to see what would happen. It is now October. The house remains unsold, so... Plan B: Inhabit.
In some ways, Plan B may, more accurately, be dubbed Plan C, since I had initially thought I would keep and live in the wee house, myself. I even moved in for 6 months (under the radar of the general populous) when it was a simple tar paper shack on wheels with no finish details (still a step up from the tool shed), but I rapidly decided that I wanted to build more wheely houses and, eventually, teach others (particularly women) how to build. Given, this expanding vision and my limited resources, it seemed a good idea to generate the resources for the second from the sale of the first. However, in the course of numerous conversations with people who came to admire/inquire, three things became clear: 1) for many, this was a completely new concept they didn't quite know what to do with 2) the price tag was dear enough that the house would likely (and sadly) sit vacant for, at least, the winter, and 3) one way to inspire is to set an example. Inhabiting the dream was the next logical step.
And so after the third time that Brad, one of my current hosts of the wee house, asked,
"Why don't you move in, yourself? You could live here." I stopped replying with,
"Because I want to pay off my car," (loan payments being against my religion). Instead, I entered into land rental negotiations with Brad and Camille.. The decision was confirmed on October 4. I'm moving by November 1 to the corner of Camille's garden (The Raven and the Spade), and I have to admit, I'm ending up with practically everything I've wished for since I relocated to Whidbey--community vegetable garden, a place to work with onsite mentors (Brad is a boatwright with the shop next to Camille's garden), my own house on the same property...
Let the downsizing begin!
And so after the third time that Brad, one of my current hosts of the wee house, asked,
"Why don't you move in, yourself? You could live here." I stopped replying with,
"Because I want to pay off my car," (loan payments being against my religion). Instead, I entered into land rental negotiations with Brad and Camille.. The decision was confirmed on October 4. I'm moving by November 1 to the corner of Camille's garden (The Raven and the Spade), and I have to admit, I'm ending up with practically everything I've wished for since I relocated to Whidbey--community vegetable garden, a place to work with onsite mentors (Brad is a boatwright with the shop next to Camille's garden), my own house on the same property...
Let the downsizing begin!
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