What to build? Who to build it?

A house has never held any great expectations.  I grew up in a home where hospitality was the hallmark not architecture or design.  My parents civic devotion and political activism brought lots of interesting visitors and, on rare occasions, guests of notoriety -- the author Gore Vidal, the economist Kenneth Galbraith and the actor Alan Arkin.  Robert Weaver, the first African American to hold a cabinet-level post, was at our house when the news broke of his confirmation as the Housing and Urban Development secretary.  The Jewish High Holy Days, Thanksgiving, Passover Seders were major family and friends festivities.  That's what the modest house in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. was about.

The most remarkable feature was no mark of distinction -- the sole bathroom.  The room had three doors and, until I was entering my teens, no locks on any of them (the household included my parents, an older brother and younger sister).  Finally, thanks to my otherwise genial grandfather (maternal), locks were installed after he declared he wasn't visiting again until privacy in the water closet could be secured. What ever trauma may have lingered from those days of toilet trepidation doesn't appear too serious -- none of us today are serial killers or radio talk-show hosts.

For many, homes are reflections of personalities, graciousness and warmth in the ways we adorn them -- the furniture, the decorations, the landscaping.  For most, opportunities to shape our dwellings from scratch are, at best, limited by costs and time .  At the turn of the last century, Craftsman homes -- dozens of designs and options -- became a standard in many residential neighborhoods.  In the Midwest, places like Kansas, these homes were practical and necessary.  The treeless prairie meant there was little lumber locally available.  Thanks to Sears, everything necessary to build the house -- down to the last nail -- could be loaded on a freight car.  By the mid 20th century, with the dawn of the baby boom, the demand for housing for a growing middle class gave birth to suburbia, track homes and subdivisions   shape tastes.  Over time, these homes became
distinct for the touches of landscaping; modifications and renovations to accommodate growing families, demands for creature comforts and modernization.

While pondering a design for the Duck Creek house, what to do?  Prefabricated modular and manufactured homes might be a possibility.  Some very interesting things are going on in this area.  Blu Homes designs homes with sustainability and efficiency as a top priority.  A team of architects works with the homeowner on the design and details.  The house is build in a manufacturing facility, folded up and put on a semi flatbed.  The site is prepared with a foundation and when the house arrives, it is hoisted by a huge crane and then plopped down on the foundation.  It unfolds like a blooming flower -- it really is amazing -- and within days is ready for occupancy.  There's one in Chapel Hill -- and it was on the local Green Homes Tour a couple of years ago.

Manufactured homes long ago transcended the stereotypical "double-wide."  Manufacturers, such as Clayton Homes (a subsidy of Berkshire Hathaway), are making homes akin to the standard stick-build house.  However, many of the sales staff are, to be polite, a challenge.  No thanks.

Tightlinesdesigns offered cost-effective house plans that would be fairly basic to assemble -- since the goal was to provide sustainable and affordable housing and the concept has been tested and proven in revived neighborhoods in North Carolina and post-Katrina New Orleans.  But who would build it?

Other than some relatively modest home renovations, we've had no direct experience in construction.  As a journalist, I'd covered multi-million-dollar projects, including a facility in Tallahassee, Fla., plagued by design problems, political mismanagement and construction cost overruns.  I was designated the Nieman Foundation's liaison with Harvard University's construction offices, the architects and contractors on an addition and thorough renovation of the foundations home in a residential neighborhood adjacent to the campus.  That project came in on-time and on budget.

As with the public project, the building program for Harvard included putting bids out for the design and construction work.  Obviously, that wasn't how a small residential home gets built.  How do you find a good builder?  Where do you start when it's a community 125 miles away?  Ask those you know who are in the business how they'd do it.  "Go to the Lowe's or Home Depot, talk to the folks in the building materials department, they'll know." Was one bit of advice.  It was good.  "Check with lawyers who have real estate practices," was another piece of advice.  This was good, too, since lawyers would probably know who to avoid or facing lawsuits for bad work.  Talk to friends and family in the area.  With two brothers-in-law and a sister-in-law who've lived in the area since birth, they know everyone who's worth knowing and aren't shy about saying who isn't.

Bath (N.C.) High School in the early 20th Century

 We did all three and one name came up across the board: Anthony Singleton.  He's a Bath High School graduate -- a vanishing breed since the small school (Nancy's graduating class had 55 students)  was closed 25 years ago when Beaufort County consolidated its high schools.  His work is on display throughout the area.  The N.C. State Employees' Credit Union -- the folks financing the venture -- had worked with Anthony.

We made an appointment to meet at his office, located near Beaufort Community College on US 264 on the east side of Washington, N.C.  Prior to our meeting, we'd send him the house plans.  As we talked, it was clear he'd reviewed the materials and understood them and asked a lot of good questions about our expectations and desires.  We went to the site and walked extensively through it, discussing the roadway into the property, the specific site where the house would be built and several critical issues -- the high-water point, septic tank location and right-of-way for utilities.