homerebuild1

In March 2005, we began the long awaiting remodel of our home. The old
place was barely 1,000 square foot, which was barely enough for the four of
us, the pets and all the things suburban life brings with it.

We had been planning to add on since we bought the property, as the lot is
1/4 an acre (something of a rarity in Los Angeles). After spending years
waiting for the property market to take off (and allow us to sell our rental unit),
the crucial time to sell arrived in Summer 2003, and by early 2004, we were
meeting with architects, contractors and city planners, trying to hammer out the
myriad of details associated with a project of this size.

Not content to just write checks and wait for the finished result, I had to be my
own general on the project. While that means more BS to deal with, ultimately
you have an intimate understanding of the project that will eventually be your
house. Along with my neighbor, Ed Maxwell, we began mapping out the steps
and time required to complete the project.

So, if you've nothing better to do, follow along with us as we catalog the
various phases of destruction to construction for the new home! We will
include video links for the demo, wall and roof raising and eventual pond and
pool placement.

Use the links on the right to follow along.

Changes to the House Since 1998
We did some limited changes to the house since arriving. A vague remodel of
the only bathroom (with hideous wood paneling and theatre lighting around the
mirrors. Below are a few pictures of the most notable, including the living
room & dining room (if you could call it that) repaint and the office repaint.