I've just finished reading a book passed to me by a colleague of Martin's. It's House by Tracy Kidder. This is an non-fiction book but reads like a novel. It covers the various perspectives of building a house - the client, the architect and the builders. It pulls no punches on the complexities of building and explores the equally complex relationships that build between different parties. It's the first book I've read about building your house which gives equal weight to the rational and emotional dimensions of house building projects.
This isn't a tale of a cowboy builder, a demanding client and an overly artistic architect. It's a story of people's passion for building the best house for the location at a price they can afford. Inevitably this means compromise for everyone. I found the book quite inspiring and I hope to learn some lessons as we move forward with the development and build of our new home in Kaitoke.
Having found our ideal piece of land we're now curbing our frustration whilst the wheels of rural development grind on slowly. To access the land, we need a bridge across the Pakuratahi Stream. This will then enable an access road to our plot. After weeks of delay and just in the nick of time before the trout spawning season construction is now underway.
It's this bit of developing a house that most of the programmes and magazines completely ignor - and in reality its often the longest and equally stressful part of the self-builders journey. Weather permitting the infrastructure work on the rural plot will be complete within the next 4-6 weeks and we can see inside the metaphorical tunnel. The light won't start shining until we've got through the consent systems and processes with the local council. Oh deep joy!
In reviewing Kidder's Book, The New York Times said "The making of a house is a strange blend of dreams and mundane work, of heaven and earth".
At this pic shows, we're off the starting blocks for our house dream with plenty of mundane work to come!
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