Wednesday, February 3, 2010

I used to design...

Before the economy crisis...I designed few houses, design few gardens. I was very good at choosing a great lot and views...
This is my house, a reproduction of a 17th century mansion around Paris. It took 2 years to build with a bad builder and way over budget.
Designing the fore plan, colors and interior was very easy for me. Finding the right Century things to put in it in Utah, like a mantle and Chandeliers....Super hard but not impossible. Most Utah houses are very Western and Country.
We have been in this house for 2 years.
And yes, it is way too big. It was supposed to be an investment. LOL.
I will never build my own home again. Too many tears. Too long....Many other reasons.
Designing for others is easy. For yourself...way too emotional.
My advice to you if you do Build. Build small and pay it off or all cash.
I enjoy this house a lot, but not the cleaning or the mortgage payments. HAHAHA.
It is sure gorgeous...


The view in back is breath taking.
Something interesting...All the ceilings have colors... Especially Aqua blue. Will post pictures later...


19 comments:

Dorothy said...

i can't wait to see the rest of your photos the house look magnificent.

Dorothy from grammology
grammology.com

All things nice... said...

What an interesting post, I was a planner before the economic recession hit Ireland. Your house is really really big, I'd love to see some interiors photographs too. I love interior websites :)

All things nice...

Stephanie said...

It's a beautiful home. I look forward to seeing the inside. Love your blog!

Karina Gentinetta said...

Hi, I wanted to thank you for posting at my blog. Your house is beautiful and you're so right about building for yourself, it is way too emotional. My little house that I rebuilt after Katrina is on my blog. You can see it is only 2000 sq. ft but since I have to clean it and vacuum it myself, I am happy that it's small. My first builder took $100,000 of my SBA loan money and never built. We are still paying on that loan on money he took. I brought a lawsuit against him and won but he doesn't have the money to return. Trust me, that is very frustrating.

Your house is gorgeous and so is your little girls and dog. Keep the faith. I want to see those aqua ceilings!!!

Karina

Lewaina@cliffsideranch said...

It is a big and beautiful Home! I know what you mean about the tears when you do any of this your self!!! LOL
Someone once told me that if you want a divorce, build a house together..... We did a remodel, and that was bad enough.....but not even close to a divorce....:-)
We are doing another smaller remodel this year.....It will be hectic....I must remember to be kind and have patience! LOL
Enjoy your day.
Mercy

Creative Coquette said...

Gorgeous! Looking forward to seeing the rest!

Julie Harward said...

IT IS A BEAUTIFUL HOME BUT I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEAN. I WILL LOVE TO SEE PICTURES OF THE INSIDE THOUGH! WE HAVE BUILT 2 HOMES IN THE LAST 10 YEARS.THE ONE WE ARE IN NOW IS MY FAVORITE...BUT IT IS A PUZZLE BECAUSE WE HAVE 8 KIDS AND WHEN THEY COME HOME WE USE ALL 6 BEDROOMS AND THEN SOME. MOST OF THE YEAR WE SHUT THE ROOMS OFF THAT WE DON'T USE. NOW WE ARE WONDERING IF WE SHOULDN'T SELL AND GET INTO A SMALL HOME. THIS ONE IS PAYED OFF AND THE SPOT IS UNBELIEVABLE! OH, WHAT TO DO...
A WHILE BACK ONE OF THE GENERAL AUTHORITIES SAID THAT PEOPLE ARE BUILDING TOO BIG OF HOMES, THEN THEY HAVE TO CLEAN THEM OR HIRE IT DONE, HEAT THEM, AIR CONDITION THEM AND LANDSCAPE THEM..WHEN ALL THAT MONEY COULD BE USED FOR GREATER PURPOSES. COME SAY HI :D

Unknown said...

Thank you for your comments...Karina, i feel your pain. Our house was 40% over budget! We had to put our savings in it. It is frustrating, surely when you work so darn hard for that money!!
Merci Otis. Yes, it will take a lot of patience. Good luck and stay away from the mess as much as you can. It would drive you nuts. We had a renovation before...I know.
Thanks for being my friends. XOXO

Unknown said...

Julie, Yes. I can tell now that it is important to be able to pay property taxes and utilities EVEN when your house is paid off. If i have to work when i am retired, it's not good. Most of my house is locked down so i don't have the kids messing with them. People bought big houses for an investment. Nobody thought the market would crash. People lost money, jobs and their houses are not investments anymore but liability. Coquette...XOXO

Pinecone Camp said...

Your home looks lovely, and the setting is magical. Wish we had a little snow;)

bellaboo said...

WOW,your house is HUGE!!How lovely to have a house totally suited to you.
I'd love to see some pics of your retriever sometime.


Bellaboo :)

Ronda Laveen said...

Your house is lovely. As are your children and your dogs. I hope yo have help cleaning it. Boy what a job but, worth it I'm sure.

Unknown said...

I do clean by myself...LOL
It was not the plan to start. OH well. I will post more on Teddy boy. Yes.
Thanks for your warm comments. It makes me smile :)

Anna said...

Wow, that is a beautiful home.

Obee Designs said...

Hello to you!
Funny, back a few months ago I started as one of your followers:) The world is so small sometimes. I love your home and understand everything you are saying about it. It is such a shame you feel overwhelmed by it. I think a home should give you great joy and be a source of comfort to come home to. You shouldn't feel stressed in a place that should be your soft spot to land. I'm sure in a way you wish you could sell it and be able to get rid of that stress, but it sure hasn't become the right kind of market for that. The good news is that is probably gorgeous inside, especially if you put that kind of time in the details. I would love to see more pictures from the inside, I'm sure my jaw would drop. I have a baby version of your home. Stone and stucco country french style home with lots of great features. It is still very costly. I live in the state with the WORST and highest property taxes so I understand your pain. Sometimes people overextend themselves on the price of the house and forget things like taxes and maintainence. Heating and cooling prices for these big homes are ridiculous too! My father in law always ingrained in his sons to never buy more than they could afford especially with those other expenses added in. He was so right. He has been gone ten years. If he could see the direction the real estate market has gone he would flip!! I guess it's a good thing he never witnessed it.

Thanks for sharing your lovely home from the outside. I can't wait to see the inside.
You definitely have a blog friend...and have for a while:)
See you again soon!
XoXo
Gail

Unknown said...

Obee. Your father in law was a wise man.

Every Mom Has Her Day said...

Wow, beautiful. Love your blog and your pictures, very pretty to look at :) Aloha

Unknown said...

Hi,
I'm coming over from Coastal Charm. I spent way too much of my morning reading about your spectacular home. Lovely. Now I'm a follower so I won't miss out on what you're doing next.

Thanks for sharing,

Lisa

Susan said...

We have a OLD farm house, we've been working on for almost 24 years, still not finished. My late MIL insisted on putting on an addition so she could live with us. She said she'd give us another Bedroom and bath upstairs, so we agreed. we thought she was just going to add a large combination sleeping sitting room and a bath downstairs for herself. NO-she had to have the WHOLE MEATBALL!!
LR, Kit. BR Bath and a small 2nd BR for her "storage"...she paid for it, that was the only consolation. The addition cost over 70K. Our taxes went from 1K a year to over 3 in the first year alone. we still had a mortgage on our part of this now monstrous 14 room village! After 9 years of her living here, are ailments and age took her to a point where the state pulled her drivers lic. and she was making many trips to the hospital. For those reasons, she asked me to quit working and be there to take care of her, and she paid off our mortgage with what she had left in the bank.
over a year later when she died, and I went to move all her furniture, and clean her "apt" and decide what we were keeping and tossing etc. We found a HUGE leak in between the outer wall and the inside wall, in her LR. after extensive investigation, we found a lot of structural damage. (we found there were screw-ups on the builder's part before she died also...but this was something else) anyway we had to re-mortgage the house to get someone in and fix it. they fixed the structural damage but not the source. we went through 2 more builders. and our mortgage is now back up to more than it was when she paid it off. like 40K more. The main reason for the leak was the original builders fault. that is a story in itself.

but I will NEVER buy a house that needs work again, unless it is merely cosmetic. PERSONALLY, I do NOT even want to OWN another home, the upkeep, maintenance, etc. I think I'd rather pay rent and have someone else be in charge of all that!! I had so many dreams for this house in the beginning, and hubby talked me into it, and made all these promises, then the $$ ran out and he got older and now, it is a monkey on our back. We bought it before there were mandatory home inspections, now...I am sure there would be lots of issues with selling it.

Good luck
Susan

Contact me at: isafrenchy@gmail.com