A Handmade, Debt-free Home

(Page 5 of 6)

February/March 2007
By Steve Maxwell 
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Another thing you should consider is the orientation of the house relative to the sun. Our future plans include enclosing the south side of the veranda with windows to capture solar heat. We realized too late that having our bedrooms facing west means we miss glorious morning light. East-facing bedrooms are definitely worth the trouble, even if it means flipping the floor plan around end-for-end to make it happen.

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I laid that first limestone block of the basement foundation on July 4, 1987, and the house was livable and comfortable by the spring of 1991. I’m still building today (finishing a four-season attic loft and completing exterior stonework). This sounds like an awfully long time, but we’ve never had a mortgage looming over our heads, thanks to modest help from family and the ability to live rent-free with my grandfather during the winter months as we worked for the funds necessary to continue our work.

Building your own house is a big commitment. But don’t be discouraged. If you give yourself time and keep working, the results are definitely worth it. And always remember that consistent hard work and a vision worth sweating for can prevail against whatever challenges you encounter.

FEATURES AT A GLANCE

  • 2,500 sq. ft. on three aboveground floors
  • 34’ x 44’ footprint, plus 6½’ veranda all around
  • 2x6 stud frame exterior walls, insulated with fiberglass batts and 1½” of extruded polystyrene foam applied to the outside face
  • 24”-thick hand-cut limestone basement built on bedrock marked with glacial striations
  • Exposed, locally harvested pine timbers in kitchen, living room and second-floor family space
  • Four bedrooms, two full bathrooms with low-flow toilets
  • 1,000-gallon septic system
  • Artist’s loft on third floor
  • Limestone masonry heater
  • Locally quarried limestone exterior facing
  • Out-of-pocket costs to build: about $35 per square foot

— Contributing editor Steve Maxwell (see photos in image gallery) writes many of our “Do It Yourself” articles, such as “Build this Cozy Cabin” and “A Blueprint for Better Building.” You can read all Steve’s previous Mother Earth News articles by searching for his name at www.MotherEarthNews.com.

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