A Big Step

Because Torrey will become our home, one of our guiding principles is to work with local people (our future neighbors and friends) and to use local products. So we spent this week in Torrey talking, talking and talking with anyone who might be willing and able to work with us...plus stay within our budget.

We also realize, given the limitations of living in Logan but building in Torrey (a 5-hour commute) and taking into account the challenges of contruction in the winter , we'll only be able to build from approximately late April to late September. If all goes well, that means we'll be working in phases over a three-year period. Here's the plan:

• First season: put in road, raise yurt, rearrange fencing and irrigation pipes, build garage, lay foundations, begin work on timber frame
• Second season: complete and raise timber frame, construct roof, raise straw walls
• Third season: plaster interior and exterior walls, lay stonework under porch, complete interior detailing

So, who did we meet? All local people who expressed enthusiasm in alternative construction and thought our time frame could be compatible with theirs. This included a backhoe operator and road builder, a general contractor (foundation work and garage builder), the owner of a sawmill. two plumbers, an electrician, the county assessor, the building inspector, the man responsible for getting electricity to our property, and our friend, Pat, who keeps her horses on the property and makes sure it gets watered . We also knocked on the doors of our neighbors (Mike and Sherry, and Shirley and Wayne) to reintroduce ourselves and to let them know what this flurry of activity meant.

As we left town on our last day, Scott took this photo to document the first of many really big steps. Yes, we have actually begun!