It’s been fairly quiet on the property for a while, but a
lot has been happening behind the scenes: Our well was tested for flow and
potability (7 gallons per minute, which is acceptable, all clear of toxins),
our loan was approved, the outlines of the house have been staked, and the
engineer is hard at work bringing the house plans to life. Peter has also been
working at finding someone to harvest the trees; we put him in contact with a
friend who happens to be a timber broker, and we’re waiting to see what happens
next on that front. Ideally, the trees will be removed at the same time as the
foundation is dug so that we only have to bring all that heavy equipment up to
the property once. On the recommendation of my friend Rachel, a landscape
architect, we have also asked that, at the same time, the land be scraped of
its top inch or so of soil to remove as much of the invasive plant species as possible: poison oak, blackberries, and scotch broom, the seeds of which last 100 – yes,
one hundred – years.
Here’s the house as it is staked:
 |
| Stakes delineate where the house will be; I drew lines for clarity. |
 |
| The staked house from the east |
 |
| Orange Xs mark the doomed trees; at least one is in the middle of our future bedroom. Stakes mark the edges of the house. |
 |
| The closest stakes mark the west wall of the house; I drew lines for clarity. |
 |
| Looking through the garage toward the driveway |
