Trip to find a rental house

Garden of the Gods (Colorado Springs, on the way to Woodland Park)

Shooting elevations on the site (laser in foreground)

More elevations (the house we rented is in the background)

Rental house on left, building site on right

Pikes Peak (North face) on the road between the site and Woodland Park downtown

We traveled to Colorado last weekend to Colorado to find a house to rent while we build the new house.  We looked at several houses in Woodland Park  only to find the pickings slim, the rental market is very tight there.

Sunday Nancy Steve and Heather (our daughter) visited the site to shoot some elevations to make sure that the walkout basement we planned would work. From the curb to the back of the house measures over eight feet so with the house sitting about 18 inches above the curb, it will work out well. While there we met our next door neighbors (great folks)

Monday we still didn't have a rental house and met our Realtor to see yet another rental, no joy.
Steve submitted the Zoning Application, the first step of the construction process. Later we spoke with our new neighbor only to discover that he just took on an out of town project that will have he and his wife in Kansas for at least a year - and offered to rent his house to us!

Tuesday we returned to LA (and work) happily with a house to rent that's next door to our building site.  What luck.

Drawings

The design is a collaboration between Steve, Nancy and Eric Williams of Greatland Log Homes greatland-loghomes.com.  We started with one of Greatland's standard plans and modified it until it was what we wanted.  While we've designed a few homes before, Greatland's experience with log construction was invaluable.  We'd never attempt this without an experianced designer's help.  Eric is also a registered professional engineer so he will provide all structural engineering and will stamp the drawings which makes it easier to get a permit.

About Us

Nancy Stannard is a Graphic Designer and Yoga Teacher.  As a Designer she was the Art Director at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs.  Nancy is a Certified Yoga Instructor specializing in Yoga Therapy for Cancer Survivors.

Steve Stannard is an Illuminating (lighting) Engineer, Architectural and Theatrical Lighting Designer and, until his recent retirement, was Senior Lighting Specialist for Southern California Edison, responsible for energy efficient lighting education at one the nation's largest utilities.

We have built four homes over the years, two in the foothills above Boulder, Colorado,  one in Monument and one in Manitou Springs, Colorado.  Steve and Nancy designed these homes and Steve built them (all trades) with hired help and the occasional sub-contractor.

Our new home, chronicled in this blog is meant to be enjoyed in our retirement and is the first log home we've ever attempted.  Our plan is to share our progress with this project with our friends and all who are interested.  Feel free to make comments or ask questions as we proceed.

Site

Pictures of our site before construction, looking North across the golf course. The third photo is from Google Earth, ours is the outlined one on the right.