Hey Everyone, this post is a submission to 
Our homestead resolution for 2018 is to build our home! It's pretty hard to homestead without one and we need more room for our growing family.
As some of you may know, Aimee and I are currently living in a tiny house that we built ourselves and we also purchased a 50 acre homestead property in 2016. We were originally planning on building a small house out there the summer of 2017. Even knowing we had a child on the way, I thought I could handle this project but our lives got a little more complicated when we found out we were actually expecting twins!
The extra stress and time requirements for two newborns really took a toll on us so we decided to postpone one more year. After building a tiny house, we knew that having ample time to plan, organize and execute was important; I really don't want to make any major mistakes on this project.
There are a lot more details, and backstory, I will get into in future posts but for now I will just summarize the basics of this project.
We will be building a modest house without a basement on our 50 acre property.
Floor Plans
As you can see from the plans above, we have chosen a 896 sqft. house. With no basement, the stairs in the center of the house will be removed leaving room for a wood stove. We will most likely be building an addition, less than 100sqft., to the side of the house as well that will act as a mechanical and boot room. We can build up to 1000 sqft. for this house to be considered a "garden house." Keeping this status will give us the option to build a larger house, with a basement, in the future on our property.
While we are using a set of standard plans, we will be making key modifications to the house to make it more energy efficient and off-grid capable.
I don't have the hard numbers for the total cost of the project yet but it will likely exceed $100k.
Building Location
As for the location of the house I think a few pictures are in order.
The house will be approximately where the dilapidated shed is currently sitting. We will have to remove some trees in that area to make room for the house.
This image gives a bit better idea what the property looks like and what the view from the house will look like.
This aerial shot shows approximately where the yard site will be in red and the driveway in yellow. The trees within the red outline will be removed.
With the construction skills I learned building the tiny house, I am fairly confident I will be able to do a lot of the work myself. I also have friends and relatives who work in key trades who can help with tasks such as electrical, heating, and earth moving. Contractors will be hired as necessary for tasks such as digging a well, and pouring the foundation to speed our progress along.
During these winter months, we are working on applying for permits and making arrangements with contractors. Earth moving for the yard site and driveway will start on the May long weekend. Following shortly after will be the foundation for the house. We want to be moved into the house before the start of the next winter, even if there is finishing work left to do.