Building a Low-Cost Country Home in the Ozarks

By Frank D. Spaun
Published on September 1, 1985
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Diagram: Blueprint of the Ozarks country home.
Diagram: Blueprint of the Ozarks country home.
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Giving up the security and promise of my career and taking complete charge of my life were the hardest things I've ever done. But Thoreau's claim that
Giving up the security and promise of my career and taking complete charge of my life were the hardest things I've ever done. But Thoreau's claim that "the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation" had struck home for me: I felt like one of those men.
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[1] Post-and-beam construction was chosen for its simplicity, low cost, and adaptability to a sloping site.
[1] Post-and-beam construction was chosen for its simplicity, low cost, and adaptability to a sloping site.
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[2] 2 by 6 framing was toenailed between the posts, then tar paper and reverse board-and-batten sailing were applied directly to it. Vertical framing was used at the gable ends to support horizontal shiplap siding.
[2] 2 by 6 framing was toenailed between the posts, then tar paper and reverse board-and-batten sailing were applied directly to it. Vertical framing was used at the gable ends to support horizontal shiplap siding.
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[3] Here you can see the purlin ties connecting the 2 by 12 rafters to the 2 by 10 purlins.
[3] Here you can see the purlin ties connecting the 2 by 12 rafters to the 2 by 10 purlins.
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The living room's brick floor and south facing double pane windows help keep the home warm in winter.
The living room's brick floor and south facing double pane windows help keep the home warm in winter.
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The bedroom loft provides plenty of space for sleep and play.
The bedroom loft provides plenty of space for sleep and play.
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Chart: Ozarks home building expenses.
Chart: Ozarks home building expenses.

This city-turned-country couple combined high hopes and hard work to create low-cost country home in the Ozarks. (See the Ozarks home photos and diagram in the image gallery.)

In 1982 I quit my job as a research engineer in Tacoma, Washington; my wife and I sold our home and many of our belongings, paid off our debts, packed everything into a 12-foot trailer, and with our two-year-old son–and only $10,000 in savings–moved to the Missouri Ozarks to build a new life in the country.

Giving up the security and promise of my career and taking complete charge of my life were the hardest things I’ve ever done. But Thoreau’s claim that “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation” had struck home for me: I felt like one of those men. I had all the trappings of success, but somehow happiness had passed me by. When Jacob, our first child, was born, I suddenly realized that I had forgotten how to laugh, and that I rarely could enjoy the moments that make life precious.

Thoreau’s advice was to simplify the outward circumstances of life, reduce needs and ambitions, and learn to savor small pleasures. For us that meant making a complete break and beginning a new life–one that would be slower, more basic, and (we hoped) more fulfilling and enriching.

We were an urban family; we had no idea how things would turn out. But deep down, I knew we had to try. Like Thoreau,” I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

Building a Low-Cost Country Home in the Ozarks

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