Mother's Low-Cost Home-Building Contest: The Winners

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The closest our six judges could come to consensus was to agree on which of the seven houses they'd like to see among the top five. And so it is: We've picked five winners and two honorable mentions. The five will each receive $200 in cash and will split the following contingency prizes by lottery:

Buck Horse: a self-leveling sawbuck/work platform/sawhorse, by Cosco Inc.
Jacuzzi RM2 Jet Pump: a 3/4-horsepower submersible pump, by Jacuzzi Brothers Inc.
MD-400: $100 worth of construction adhesive used for building decks, patios, and other outdoor construction, by Macklanburg Duncan Co.
Step Deck: a step stool/work platform, by Cosco Inc.

In this issue we're going to give you a glimpse of each of the five winning entries, as well as the two runners-up, and describe one of the winners—James and Laurie Kennedy's 3,200-square-foot modified saltbox—in more detail. Then, in the following four issues, we'll proceed to elaborate on the Finley, Fletcher, Marquardt, and Mason homes.

It's safe to say that every one of these houses is a tremendous value, and you may even be able to pick one that, for you, is a clear winner. Sit a half-dozen people of various backgrounds down and try to get them to agree, however, and you're likely to get a hung jury.

The winning designs we picked represent everything from cordwood to post-and-beam to log to double-wall superinsulated construction. There's an interesting lesson in that diversity: No single construction method is inherently superior. The most economical building system is the one that's most appropriate to the owners' resources and needs. Stick with us and find out how five success stories in home building came to be.

James and Laurie Kennedy's 3,250squarefoot, three-bedroom home is perhaps the most ambitious, and certainly the largest, of our house contest winners. Not surprisingly, with features such as a solarium, a metal roof, butcher-block countertops, a walkin cedarlined shower, and separate wine and root cellars, it's also the most expensive. We think you'll agree, though, that at a materials cost of $11.85 per square foot, the Kennedys certainly did get their money's worth.

The couple designed the three-story building themselves, and Jim contracted the job, mostly to three craftsmen from nearby Carthage, Maine. Most of the wood used to build the passive solar, modified saltbox was cut on the Kennedys' property and milled and planed at a local sawmill. All of the fieldstones for the chimney, patio, and retaining walls were collected nearby.

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