If you got a 2nd chance

Wow

- coming in with such a loaded question and you haven't even uploaded a profile pic yet 😉....I'll bite.

Thank you for the kind words, we feel the same way about our home and find ourselves pinching each other daily in disbelief.

While there were some learning curves, the standard building formula for us did not apply and the problems for us were really solutions. We didn't know it at the time but our style of construction was very permaculture based. Back then we just thought it was common sense but having lived like this for awhile now and studying up on permaculture, it's easy to see that those two elements go hand in hand.

I can tell you honestly that we would not like our house if we had handed the plans and all the money to the contractor saying - build this. We laugh when reviewing our earlier designs...

I'm only going to share an early design and mid-design as we have about 20 different ones 😂.

In this design, it was clear we wanted spacious outdoor space and rooms that capitalised on the views - little did we know that the Sky Lounge would soon be born!

In pic above, you can see we are getting closer to the current structure but its a third wider, the kitchen is outside, the big dining room and bathroom view windows are missing and the lower level does not exist. Not to mention that sunset is the bedroom side and sunrise would be the Sky Lounge. It was my amazing wife

that pointed that one out so we inverted the design.

In a similar scenario, we were contacted by HGTV prior to construction for an amazing opportunity that we were very excited about. They wanted to document the whole construction process for a TV documentary show that was 90 min long. I will always remember lying on our backs where the home was to be built with the film crew looking up into the sky discussing how we were going to create this awesome show and home....that's how close it got to actually happening.

Unfortunately or rather fortunately the show did not go on, they didn't have enough money in the budget to pay Finca Bellavista to come onto the property to shoot. At the time we were rather upset but just like the first scenario where had we had the money to just build what was put on paper, we would not have liked the end result.

So, why am I blabbing on about everything that has nothing to do with your question 🤣. Well, I guess for us and especially me, everything happens the way it should. I wouldn't take a 2nd chance or a do over on anything, and believe everything that has led up to this point got me to where I am today (a loving wife and MJ, a beautiful life and home) - I wouldn't risk it.

One of my favorite mottos (if not favorite) is quite simply: 'restrictions create creativity'.

Side note: (Hypothetically speaking) Let's say someone threatened to disconnect the water to my house so I started thinking about ways to make sure we have water. Well, something like that can lead to me researching rain harvest collection which in turn may turn into a rain catchment swimming pool that requires a balcony and gabion rock wall...

Hopefully this will lead more into my point. By not having the money or the ability to do the show, we had to:

1. accept that the build would take longer and

2. get more creative in finding solutions

Even with the final design, we changed several things while building (that's the beauty of managing your own project) -- the projector room nearly didn't exist!

We moved in long before we had power, a kitchen, cupboards, gardens, etc and have been extremely blessed and fortunate enough to let the rest of the design develop organically - the house and grounds speak to us and show us what works where - no jokes.

So in closing this very brief response, I wouldn't change a thing or do anything differently - it all happened the way it was supposed to.

P.S. :

A) What, if anything, would you have done differently:

I would have used 8 x 8 galvanised, slightly thicker steel instead of the 4 x 4 steel for the corners of the home so we didn't need to double up at the end.

B) Any material choices you would make now that wasn't available back then?

Can't think of any material changes (it may be because I spent months researching and am too proud to say otherwise 😂) but aesthetically speaking I would change the bathroom wall tile to black to give them a more modern feel and replace the current cameras we have around the home (not for protection but rather motion sensored to capture the wildlife) to these new battery operated ones.

?

Man, I could have just started with that and called it a day 🤣