This is our 1.1 acre property, back in the days when there was grass on it - and it was hilly and uneven...

We had a dream of building an eco friendly scandinavian cottage using traditional building methods and locally sourced building materials.  

 Hello Bulldozer... Check out that angle.

There was a house on this property previously which burned down about four years ago. When they cleaned up the block back then, they didn't do a very good job, so we had it cleaned up, and a dozer came in to level it. 

Only two small trees were removed - the other 72 (including this beautiful big Oak) continue to live very happily on the property.

Leveling the house pad. Thrilling stuff, I know.

We decided to build a pole structure home. It is the way barns and older European homes have been built for thousands of years - so it is a pretty reliable and wind resistent methodology for building.


Enormous treated posts are planted and anchored into the ground on concrete cookies. Then it is backfilled with sand which prevents the posts from rotting. 

Building this way is done mostly by hand - no need for heavy machinery and is quieter on the neighbors and local animals. It is also very quick.

Our amazing builder Mark Medlin and his 3 colleagues built the structure in 4 weeks. It would have been shorter, but we had rain, storms and a heat wave. 

Insulating the slab to keep out the cold. The property is on sand so there is even more insulation in the soil itself. 

 Pouring the slab. No basement here. They leak, it would have cost $25,000 more than a slab.

According to the experts, the pole structure on the first floor is just as strong as a basement, should there be a tornado. That is why barns in the Midwest use this building methodolgy.

The first floor with all the load bearing walls. Those 20+ poles are all 5 feet in the ground anchored on concrete cookies and are encased by the slab. I defy a tornado to rip that out of the ground. 

Slowly getting its clothes on.  The second floor is built like a normal house.

 Putting on our roof. One of our builders, John, had the amazing skill of being able to wield building materials, a nail gun, and smoke a cigarette simultaneously...

There it is - ready for the cladding.  It's starting to look like some of the Scandinavian houses - both new and old.

 Insulation to keep out the Michigan winter cold.  

And insulation to keep out the Michigan summer heat.