So the time has come to start a new project. The workshop! this is going to be a huge project and is going to take about two years. im going to try and take you through the whole process on this project and hopfully even have some subscribers come and visit to help out. The building needs a name, so please feel free to offer some name ideas.
How goes it Owen? Ed from Ecuador here. This video made some great points. When I built my first airplane in Houston, TX as a young 27 year old (64 now) I learned something about people, that many of them, men especially are idiots. When my plane got to the point I had to drag it out on the front yard to work on it I had people driving by and it always blew me away how many guys who had never even flown in a plane would stop and start telling me how they would do it if it were them. This plane was designed my Cessna engineer.
Anyway I have just started working on a two story Hobbit house as a guest house. We have been in our first house for about 3.5 years now and love it. Lots of adventures to tell you about if you are interested.
Cheers,
Ed
Hi Ed. Please document your project and send me a few of your best pics and I’ll consider it for our blog.
Yeah, arm chair/Sunday afternoon quarterbacks are common. Most do nothing. A related group will bash any creative idea you have and try to talk you out of it.
Again because of the constraints of the building site, basically on the side of a steep hill (all we have here are the sides of steep hills) it will be another project with lots of opportunities to learn. One advantage of being old is that one does not have to live with their mistakes very long. I’m going to use the technique with the rebar cages again. Your Hobbit house, especially built as a two story will be perfect. I’m going into this one with much more confidence after building the first one. Our first house is the most comfortable, pleasant home I have ever lived in. It isn’t fancy but we have a very nice, modern condo we own in Cuenca that we stay in about 2 days a month the rest of the time we are in our “mud hut” out at the farm.
Ed, I just checked my email. I have the interior photos of your finished home but never got 1-2 good exterior views that would help readers visualize the home better. I’d love to do an update if you have some exterior photos and can email me 1-2 paragraphs of text.
I’ll get on it
Very excited about this!
My building plans are evolving (ever in the planning stage – I’m working on my Master’s thesis right now, but hope to finish in the next month > hello, Free Time!) and I’m excited to see what this process will entail.
The area that I just purchased my land is slated to have the first mall in the city built nearby and I want to be strategic about how I set up my property (was originally going to be an eco-lodge style, set in a traditional village – but now that village is likely going to be merged into the expanding urban center). I may opt for basic square rooms that share walls – more like a motel – but still maintain the traditional feel by crafting the outer walls the same way the traditional homes are made.
Looking forward to learning more!
It will be challenging to merge lots of different building materials and styles without it looking like a hodgepodge effort.