Naturally, because we're gluttons for punishment, the impending arrival of our babies is not deterring us from our drive to "complete" the house. So, here we go, revving up for Phase Three. This is going to be a really huge project, with several mini-phases within it. We may or may not be able to complete all of the things we're hoping to do, so for now I will be vague about our plans to avoid future embarrassment ;) The short description of the project is "landscaping". The much more detailed overall plan includes a significant amount of fencing, hardscaping, entertaining areas (can you believe we have not one patio, on 3.46 acres?!), and a pool. We may also possibly be able to wring some usefulness out of our barn, but we'll see--so far it seems to be financially out of reach.
So far, our progress has consisted of getting a survey (waiting for the hard copy, which should be done in about a week, hopefully), and hiring a landscape architect to draw up our master plan for the entire property. Those two things sound really simple, like they could be accomplished by a couple of phone calls, but like everything else, the process was more complicated than all that. The good news is that our survey was a really eye-opening thing, and we own plenty of property that we hadn't realized was ours. Also in the good news column, we love the company we have chosen to work with on the whole design/build for the project. We're very excited about the possibilities the property offers, and can't wait to get started! The first thing we'll be doing is installing a stone walkway to our front door, as well as some repair work on the dry stacked stone wall and replacement of the existing steps (totally unsafe now). The next phase would involve a lot of clearing and re-grading multiple areas, then the pool and patios would begin. We figure that it will probably be about a year before all of this stuff is actually nearing completion, but good things come to those who wait!
Wish us luck, it's going to be a busy year.
