In sight of our goal, a feeling of accomplishment

When Randy and I started to discuss “retirement,” the image that popped into each of our heads turned out to be very different. For those of you who know us well that is no big revelation. Randy wanted to have space around him to allow him to enjoy the outdoors that he loves and I wanted a comfortable home that really suits our lifestyle, which for me meant near my friends in the city where we currently live. We could not see how what we both wanted could be achieved. We visited many different homes to try and find the one level home for our older years but really we were just swapping one location for another with not a lot of change. That was until we stumbled across quite by accident our property we now own.

We found a property in the same zip code where we live; it is 3.5 acres with a small lake and more space than we can deal with, also a view that is tranquil and relaxing. We are excited to be building a house based on our own unique plan for our family and our lifestyle. I hope it’s a happy image for us, because I believe retirement should be just that – happy, healthy, and content.

Randy and I have both spent the majority of our years planning, saving, and making money by working hard in our careers, but now is the time to seek out new challenges and opportunities. The first of those challenges is building our dream home.

The story so far.............

We made the purchase of our land that came with a house on March 24th 2020, just in time for the Covid Pandemic to get in full swing. The house had been abandoned for the last 15 years, and was boarded up so we never saw inside the house until we owned it. On our first visit after the closing our excitement was dampened when we found that the house was fully furnished down to the family pictures still on the wall and it had massive holes in the roof and the floor with extensive water damage. It was the refuge for local wildlife and also previous squatters. Our idea of using the house as a base to build from was looking less likely and we started to realize not only did we have to clean out the house but then plan to demolish it.