The site prep work got pushed back a bit from the original projected late August start (through no fault of yours truly!).  Something about limited availability of gigantic earth moving equipment on the island.

House Location Change

One of the benefits of doing some site work the year before beginning construction is being able to adjust the location of the pond if the first site is less than ideal.  Sam dug some test holes and found some gravelly areas that aren’t great for a pond.  In order to make these areas hold water they have to be covered in clay which requires more time (and more money).  So a decision was made to dig the pond farther to the east to an area better suited to pond building.  It was also decided to forego the dinosaur track pond design and go with something a bit more conventional (and practical!).

The original dinosaur track pond shape is in the foreground. The new pond location is to the east.

Moving the pond means moving the house.  Not a big deal at this point.  John staked out a spot near the tree line slightly skewed to the SW.  The trees provide some protection from the prevailing winds out of the NE during Winter.  The view is just as nice from the new spot as the previous one.  I don’t know about John, but I think I like this spot even better.  Of course, with such a beautiful piece of property it’s tough to go wrong no matter where you put the house.

Driveways, Roads and Utilities

With the huge amount of soil being displaced by the pond excavation, we had to come up with some way to utilize it.  There’s no place on the island to truck that much material- and besides, it would cost a fortune to truck it away from the site.  Instead of removing it, we used it as road base for the driveway and as an opportunity to prep for ‘service roads’ in order to drive equipment around the perimeter of the property without disturbing the pasture.  Between the roadways and a mound in the NE corner of the property (another windbreak) we were able to put the pond spoils to good use.

To prepare for construction in the Spring we wanted to get the utilities trenched in (the excavation machinery was already on site so we saved on mobilization expenses too).  We ran power from the transformer to the building site, plumbed water to the house site and along the roadways for future agricultural endeavors and completed the installation and hookup of the septic tank.

Some serious machinery needed for this project

Julie being swallowed by the pond

With the site work mostly in place our attention is turning to finishing the home design.  Coming next, we’ll talk about the home design process.