gnortonhouse

Well its time to put the driveway in. I met with Tim, Keith, and the person that we thought was going to clear the property and build the driveway back in March. Well, when we received the bid lets say we were all in shock. So Tim started looking for alternatives. And he was successful! He found this company that could just mulch every tree and bush on the property and do it quickly. We thought we were set. Then no contact, nothing. Now we couldn't delay because we had already placed the order for the floor joists. We placed them in advance because of the required lead time. There's a building boom in Florida such that the east coast suppliers are doing jobs for the west coat builders because the west coast suppliers can't meet the demand! Which means my little job doesn't mean a lot to them. So we are trying to get things going the best we can. So Tim found another company to root rake (remove any plant/tree parts from the driveway) the driveway and to pull up the tree...

Ever since I purchased the property all I had was the plot of land with an identification number. And finally I was issued an address. 13185 S Indian River Drive Jensen Beach, FL. 34957 First time since 2000 that my address will be for my house. I'm so excited. Its really going to happen! And guess what else, the construction sign went up!   Very cool! I guess people will know who I am now. :-)

Here are some 3D renderings of the house. Pretty cool. I can't wait to actually see this in person!  Birds eye view. North East View South East View North West View South West View  Interior View (from the kitchen area) View from Loft The following are renderings for the kitchen. What's missing is the hood over the stove. I realized that even though I don't cook now, I will when I get to the house since I won't be across the street from a grocery store! The stove looks like electric but it will actually be gas. This is kitchen only and not any of the house.

After the tortoises were removed the black silt fence had to be installed in order to isolate the construction area. That is to prevent the tortoises from entering the building area. Here are a few pictures. I had a video but I think the file was too large and it just wouldn't work. I'll keep trying. Tim and his crew did a great job of getting the fence up quickly. Apparently every build site has to have the construction area bound by the black silt fence. And this is inspected before you are issued the permit to clear and to build. Keith told me that he's doing a commercial job down south and even though its in the city and surrounded by a chain link fence, on the interior of the chain link fence they had to install the black silt fence. Building code. Sigh. Beginning of driveway Continuation of driveway  Still more driveway  The driveway is a little over 270 feet long. The red flag marks the North Eastern edge of the porch.  Lookin...

So its now October of 2017. I have contacted Keith and asked him for a bid on building the house. His response was totally different than builder number three. I emailed the bid set of plans to builder number three and never received an answer. Keith on the other hand apologized when it was taking him longer than expected to get numbers from his subs. He was in nearly daily contact with me. I was getting a good vibe from him. Now remember I'm in NOLA and he's in Florida. I've never seen him. But we're working well together long distance. I was really pleased. He would tell me what information was needed in order to move forward. We needed a site plan so that we could deal with the tortoises and so he could submit for the building permit. So now was the time to get moving on this part of the project. I had been in contact with Drew Gatewood since August of 2017 concerning the tortoise issue. We stayed in contact but he couldn't do anything until I had a builder in p...

In 2016 I decided it was time to start looking for either a builder or perhaps a company that provides a modular or pre-built home. I knew the type of home I wanted and below is an example. Its a pole house. The poles are buried about five to six feet, massive girders are attached to them the floor trusses are attached to the girders. The poles actually go through the house. Then the roof girders are attached to the top of the poles and the roof trusses are attached to the girders. There are no load bearing walls. To me this was a perfect type of house to have built here. And its so unique. And there is a wrap around porch. So as I was investigating these pole houses, there used to be a company that sold kits. That is, they supplied the poles, fasteners, everything you needed to have the house dried in. Ok I'm thinking this is great, just what I'm looking for. Now all I need is to find a builder to take on the project. Well this particular company went out of busines...

These were taken in July of 2015. Neil and I went to the property to bush hog it. I'm not sure what I was thinking. I guess I never really thought how much property I have. We worked half a day and did not knock down very much. I came back on my own and using a chain saw cut down some Pepper tree limbs etc. But there's so much property it didn't look like anything was done. Now you could tell that Neil and I did cut down the high grass and small trees and bushes but really all we did was to allow the grasses and bushes to flourish! But nonetheless it was great fun and just being there knowing that that piece of property would one day be home, was a wonderful feeling. Every time I went to the property and to Florida in general, it was harder to leave. Florida was getting a hold on me again!  After Neil and I bush hogged. Neil after - Let's go to Conchy Joe's! The big tree in the first photo is a Strangle Fig. In the center is a Cabbage Palm Tree. Bel...

When I returned to New Orleans, I found the phone number for the realtor who listed the property. I kept looking at it and kept saying to myself, its only a phone call. So I called the number and inquired if the property was still for sale. It was. I asked for the particulars, which a received fairly quickly. I called back the realtor and asked why such a low price for nearly 3 acres of land. She told me it was a couple getting a divorce. Fair enough. So I did what I thought was due diligence, checking on the taxes, any liens on the property, zoning etc. Called the county and checked to see if I could put a dock out front, yes you can but you need to watch the protected sea grass, ok great. So everything checked out. I told the realtor I was going to the bank to secure the loan and she told me no one will loan you money for the property. Really, then how do people buy property or houses? I went to the bank and less than a week I owned the property. Actually, on June 29, 1015 I owned t...

I found this property pretty much by accident. I lived in Ft. Pierce as a kid, from 1958 until 1968. But once I left, I rarely went back. My Dad lived in White City for many years before moving to Lake Okeechobee and finally to the pan handle area (Port St. Joe area) of Florida. My Son moved to Wellington, Florida and it was during a visit to see him that I decided to drive up to Ft. Pierce. I had been looking for a place to retire to and I was searching from the Alabama shore up the east coast and of course Florida. On this particular trip I traveled first down the west coast of Florida looking at property and then across Alligator Ally to south Florida up to Wellington. Once I left Wellington I headed to Stuart and then got on the Indian River Drive heading north to Ft. Pierce. I remember the area from my past as it looked much the same, Old Florida. I remember going to Francis Langford's "Outrigger" restaurant as a kid, traveling down the "Drive." Good memor...