Well, thus far only my friends and family know about this project, but I think it's time I wrote a little something about this milestone project for me. I am originally from Alexandria, Louisiana where the climate is hot, humid... The best thing I know there are family and friends.

One day in 2005, I decided to move to an area where the scenery was beautiful and inspiring with the goal of building a dream home. Well... I am quite spontaneous at times, so Wendy and I packed the bags, hopped in our 2 automobiles and off we went to Asheville, North Carolina, which is a hot spot we had visited in the past. It's a nice little city in the blue ridge mountains with great people, fun culture, and amazing mountain views.

We moved into a small 2 bedroom apartment and began looking for the perfect land to build on. We soon found a great lot and began construction on this dream house in July of 2005. To make a long story short, there were good times, and there were stressful times. Not because of the simple process of building a house, yet the size and magnitude of this house. This home project is right at 6,000 sq. feet, which to me, this is the size of 3 average homes. So the project felt like I was building 3 houses at once. The project involved many different factors I was not used to when building a house. A steep mountain slope, high labor and material cost, and harsh harsh weather during the winter months. In 2005 this was the real estate boom peak in most of the United States and I think that was one of the factors of costs. So during the next 2 years, we would work day in, day out on this project, making it the most perfect home you could ever imagine.

In 2007, as most people know, the real estate boom started taking a dive all across the U.S. causing many home owners foreclosures and financial strife and in 2008 this is still getting worse. My website company sites began losing steam and revenues had fallen, so the big decision was to put the house on the market and sell it, which at the time was a tough task for any real estate sale.

So after completion of the home, the house was listed on the market for $1,500,000 and my hopes and dreams of a getaway home had faded away. 3 Months after listing this home and many potential buyers later, she was sold to a very lucky couple. And they absolutely love the house. I get to go up there and help them out maintenance wise on little cracks in the trim, and adjusting doors, those types of things. They have the house decorated magnificently and I am very happy for them.

I now live in a small 1800 square foot house and I am very happy with it. The house is not very expensive to maintain and I am grateful for what I have. 

Here are some photos of the project:

The inspirational view of this project	First floor plan / blueprint	A shot from the back of the house during the winter
Another view from the back snowy weather	Back of the house under construction	House almost complete with no landscaping
Front of house complete	Main Great Room	main Great Room again
The Dining Room	Main Kitchen Area	Master Bedroom with 3 window view
Our Master Bathroom	Second Kitchen in Basement	Library Study Area
Great Room and Kitchen	Example of the bedrooms	Back Veranda View