My Mountain Cabin

[poppycorn]

I am ecstatic! Here's the story: In spring of 2001, while in the midst of a nasty divorce, I bought a lot in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, an hour 45 minutes from my house. I didn't have much in the way of money and had no clue what my financial situation would be, but I did it anyway. Within a year, comparable lots were selling for 10 times what I paid. Having little cash to work with, and no experience doing anything of the sort, I asked a lot of questions and read a lot of books and designed and drew up plans for a cabin that would make the most of the steep lot. A contractor did the framing, rough plumbing, exterior siding and installed the main electrical panel. I've done everything else myself on weekends and vacations. Except the insulation. I hired that out (then had to reinstall each piece to make it right). Since I do so much of the work myself, again asking questions and reading books, it has been pretty affordable to build, buying supplies a little at a time out of the grocery money.

Well, this week I passed my sheetrock nailing inspection. There's only one inspection left, and that's the final. There is still a huge amount of work to be done to get it finaled, but this is major milestone in the project.

Here's some pictures. These are older photos, I don't get icicles anymore now that the insulation is in and of course the sheetrock is all up now. Gotta love that polka dot wallpaper! I'm going to use my tax return money to get someone else to do the mud & tape this spring, from the little bit I've done, I'm slow, incompetent and hate doing it. But I thoroughly enjoy doing the electrical and finish work.

We call it the Moose's Treehouse because of the view and my fondness for moose.

[Becky]

That is so incredible. I hope I get to do that someday. Its always been a dream of mine to have a "cabin in the woods", and to almost build it yourself....awesome! Beautiful pictures as well.

[Piper]

WOW!! It's absolutely beautiful!! Congrats on the tons of hard work you've put into it. It's certainly paid off!! I love the name

[Joanna]

WOW! That looks incredible! What a gorgeous retreat and you must feel so proud knowing that you did all the work yourself!

Congratulations!

[hardwired]

That is so beautiful! Congratulations on a job well done. I can only imagine how much you have made for yourself with this project in the long run. Your story is very inspiring as well. I am glad to see that life after a "nasty divorce" is not always so cruel. I am also glad to see that you used your energy constructively. That speaks well for you. I hope that your life continues to soar!

[ballpiefun]

Congratulations. It looks fantastic. What a clever/brave investment that turned out to be. It just goes to show you that good things are always around the corner, no matter how bad things might feel at the time, as I'm sure they did when your divorce was going through. I hope this place, as I'm sure it will, brings you years of happiness!!

Patrick

[hardwired]

Patrick... your good people!

[Joni Garcia]

Wow!!! Absolutely gorgeous. What a wonderful accomplishment.

[galenwbritt]

Marsha.........THAT is impressive. What a lovely ending to a unhappy beginning. You sure made the most out of your time and I can imagine how "high" you are riding right now knowing the majority was done by yourself, on your own.

Those pics remind me of the Ruidoso/Cloudcroft area in New Mexico that we used to frequent a few times a year. Awesome surrounding country and a nice little cabin snuggled right in the middle of it.

"You go girl."

G

[Stephen33]

Job well done. Those pictures look like they came right out of a post card. Very inspirational story. That is a great accomplishment. Way to go.