The foundation work has started. A lot of ledge was found which is going to change the way the way the basement is laid out. It may even change the way the house is laid out. I’m still waiting for the builder to come back with some new plans.
Day 3 – Ledge
I wasn’t going to say anything the last time I blogged about the possibility of running into ledge. Well, the excavator ran into ledge (where’s the music that announces something like this!). Not sure what it’s going to mean for the basement. The house may have to go up, since we are not at the max building height for Gloucester yet, or the basement will have a lower ceiling in some spots, maybe to the point where that part of the basement is only usable as storage. The door leading from the basement has moved from under the deck stairs to the back of the house. That doesn’t bother me.
It’s now Saturday, so no more work on the site until next week. I’m still recovering from knee surgery last Tuesday so getting around is difficult. That will change in time.
Day 2 – Digging out the new cellar
It’s finally started. Neighbors have noticed.
Rain Garden
As part of the drainage plan, there’s a ‘Rain Garden’ feature that is supposed to help with the water as it runs off the house. This Rain Garden will be beyond the deck in the back and I guess the runoff from the roof will go there. In the property behind us is a drain with a culvert that runs under our property (behind the old building), under the road and exits someplace after that. The builder is mentioning a cost of $5-6K to build this. Yikes.
This is what it looked like in 1947
Lots A, B & C are basically unchanged. Lots D & E were combined last year and then split in half. We bought the new Lot D, the other lot (lower half) was combined with Lots A & C.
Floor Plans
The Plan
The part of the house near the road are the 2 bedrooms. The kitchen and living area are on the opposite end, next to the deck. The 2nd floor will have another living area and another bedroom and full bath and hopefully, a view of the water.
The inside of the cabin
This is what the inside of the cabin looks like. No insulation, pretty basic. It does have electricity and a fireplace.
Site for new house
You can’t see the whole property because of the trees and brush. This tree in the foreground will be cut down and the new house will be put just beyond that, with an entrance on the street. The house will be oriented so that the deck of the house will be furthest away from the road. We won’t have to deal with road noise, since this is a private road and there’s only a dozen houses on it. Oh, it’s a dead end also.
From the deck and the 2nd floor of the house, we should be able to see Ipswich Bay.
Building A Beach House 