I love my house! I had fantastic builders. They are high-caliber builders in a Minnesota lake vacation area, and they were willing to take on a much smaller project than normal. They were wonderful! They listened carefully to my vision – which was to create a small and unique design that would fit my modest budget. It also needed to carefully fit the property. They did it beautifully. They let me work on things that I thought I could tackle in order to save money, and in turn, I was able to have a house with much more character than I normally would have been able to afford.

I’m a single 60 year old woman, and with key help from some family members along with friends, I was able to tackle all of the painting and staining, along with putting in the hardwood floors, and deck railings, and many other smaller projects.

The biggest challenge was to place the house properly on the property.  It is located on Kimble Lake and is on what is considered a bluff lot by the county I live in.  I couldn’t build exactly where I would have liked to, and zoning requirements dictated that I needed to be set back 30′ from the top of the bluff. I also wanted to protect a large pine tree on the back side of the bluff and wanted it to become a focal point in the landscape. My builder/designer had several obstacles to overcome with the design in order to complement the property. I never intended to end up with a two story house with a walkout basement, which essentially turns it into a three story; but it works beautifully, and the more I’m here, the better I like it. It has many private spaces with beautiful vantage points, and you don’t notice the neighbors as a result of the carefully planned placement of spaces. Even though it very small, with a footprint of only 24’x28′, one never seems crowded or lacking of space. 

I enjoyed it all, and had so much fun; I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.