Shake your Groove Thing, Yeah Yeah

Groovin' loose or heart to heart

We put in motion every single part

Funky sounds wall to wall

We're bumpin' booties, havin' us a ball, y'all

Shake your groove thing,

shake your groove thing, yeah, yeah

Show 'em how we do it now

Shake your groove thing, shake your groove thing, yeah, yeah

Show 'em how we do it now

We are really shakin' it now, probably building more houses than anyone else in the county (definitely more well-designed houses than anyone else). It's an amazing thing to say since 1, we are in an historic recession, and 2, we thought we were just a small little boutique business with a good taste. Well, what did we know? Obviously, not a whole hell of a lot. Or else having good taste is rare these days.

Here's Cottage #9 - the only house we have under construction that is not spoken for and reserved. In fact the first house in more than 14 months that we've been able to secretly construct so some deserving person or family could buy a nearly complete home. This house has been kept more secret than the Republican VP pick, and hopefully, more fully vetted and thought-out.

Cottage #9 is a lot of fun, since we have no constraints or limitations on our creative bents, and this house is really going to be perfect - 6 acres, 1300 sq ft, 2 huge bedrooms, fireplace, big ass deck, front covered porch, walk out frickin basement, security, whole house audio, and a dozen other things that make a house perfect. And yes the land is included for the offering price of $338k. And so are the 120 yr old stone walls, the perfect setting, the circular driveway, and brand new everything.

The whole house has been wired, plumbed and heated and we are just waiting for the windows and then off to the races.
And the stone wall I was braggin about, seen from the house's rear.

And now some pics of houses in motion -

Dean's Cottage 13, just a wooded lot 3 weeks ago, just a foundation 2 weeks ago, now nearly a beautiful cottage on 6 acres, tucked nearly perfectly in the trees, rocks and ledges.

And the last cottage in our small project named Highland Farms.


Here is Cottage 14, Deb and Jeanne's house, on 5+ acres, outside of Yulan, NY. Foundation in, lumbered delivered, retaining wall of huge stones selected and placed pretty perfectly, and we are off to the races on yet another pretty perfect home.

I mean seriously - 1350 sq ft, 2 bedrooms, fireplace, 2 porches, wide plank floors, picking out colors and stones and faucets, and vanities and kitchens and colors and stains. 4 months from lonely piece of wooded land to sleeping in the bedroom and bringing your laundry up from the city for some clothes washing in peace.

Lumber load delivered, ready for the framers tomorrow.

And then up to the top of the hill, on 10 acres, sits Farmhouse 10. This house, modeled after Farm 9, which was modeled after Farm 8, has been really a favorite - so much so that I had to turn someone down the other day who wanted a similar design.

Foundation in, lumber ready, sun setting. On your marks, get set, GO.

And then lovely Cottage 15, just taking it's first baby steps. First come concrete, then comes frame, then come the roof in a baby carraige. This house has it all, except waste, redundancy, and boring spaces like a 'bonus room' 'grand foyer' and all those suburban nonsense terms.

Now, if you want to do a little test, track back a few blog posts and you will see how quickly we really do move - how we really do 'shake our groove thing'. It was just 2 weeks ago that none of these foundations even existed, and now, within 10 days, all of them will be framed and roofed in.

I mean, no wonder people hate me - that's a lot bullwhippin', slave-drivin', no nonsense, no excuses, no bullshit, take no prisoners approach to building homes. How else do you build 40 country homes in 4 years in the middle of nowhere with no selection or depth in vendors/subcontractors/suppliers, and introduce over 100 adults to country living at its best?