May 2024:

“I’m committed to believing in myself knowing that I can do the easiest things required to build my dream home at the Hutt. I can’t wait to enjoy the private views of the river and the forest and all the precious moments with the people I love every season of the year.”

To be honest, for a long time, I’ve been waiting for my Mom to make my dream home happen for me. I relied on her my whole life to get things done for me, but now it’s my turn to take the lead.

It’s scary and sometimes lonely because not everyone agrees with this choice I’m making to build my dream home but I’m not giving up. It’s something I’ve dreamed about since I was a teenager and I’m not letting other people’s negativity hold me back.

The “nay sayers” think it’s a waste of money and stress because the land needs to be developed from scratch and it’s too far from the road for winter access. My Dad is a mix of “be happy with the house you have” and “why spend all that money and cause yourself so much stress?” I love the house I have now but I bought it with the intention of selling it when I was ready to build. I’m so close…

I have no idea what I’m doing and I don’t have anyone guiding me but I’m ready for the challenge anyway. I’m ready to take on this goal and face all the fears that come from such a huge undertaking.

Will it be a waste of money? How many setbacks will I face? Will I find a good contractor? What do I do first? Can I finalize a design? Will I regret this?

I’m thinking my steps are, pick a design, finalize the square footage and get my architect to create it so I can get the estimated building cost.

Then, I can get the land surveyed and landscaped, get the easement for temporary power, fix our retaining wall and find someone to build me a crib for my dock.

I’m being very indecisive when it comes to a plan and it’s driving everyone nuts, including myself. Loft/No Loft, Attached/Detached Garage. Wow, those are really the only 2 questions plaguing my mind and I think we decided on the attached garage yesterday. Oh, it’s also the aesthetic look on the outside that is slowing me down as well. I want it to have an interesting design in the front with a chalet style roof. I don’t know if that’s possible or not.

The good thing is that I’ve been taking small action steps to make this dream a reality. I have a little book with all the contacts I’ve accumulated and everything I’ve learned about the cost, septic, well, surveying, permits, power hook ups and water levels.

Before my self development journey, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of the research I mentioned above. Talking to strangers was hard for me, especially if I considered them an expert. I put them above me which made me feel like I wasn’t smart enough to talk to them.

What I’ve learned is to become my own expert first. I learned that from my Mom. She didn’t tell me to do what I did but I watched her my whole life. She does her research before talking to experts.

Before I called the septic engineer, I researched septic systems for clay soil and shale rock. After talking to the engineer for 5 minutes, I noticed his demeanour change when I started asking him pertinent questions in his field of expertise. He started to take me more seriously when he realized I’d done the research.

As a female taking the lead on building her dream home, I do notice that it takes a minute for men to take me seriously.

Honestly though, there’s no better feeling than showing a man your confidence and the only way to have it is to be prepared.

I’ve faced many setbacks so far but I’m not giving up.

I’m going to continue to take the steps to make this dream a reality and I’m not going to let fear or other people’s discouragement slow me down.

I’m going to finalize my plans and decide on the steps I need to take this summer to get started.

If I can build a home without any help from family and friends, you can too.

It will be done.

-Dawn Rochelle ♡