For years now friends and family have said that I must put down in writing the story of our home, ‘StoneHouse’, so that it’s not lost to time and memory. I’ve designed and built many homes over the years, mostly by myself with very few sub-contractors being involved. I like it this way as I would get really bored if I was only lining ‘subs’ up on the phone or just being a framer or finish carpenter. Just about when I’m tired of carrying and cleaning concrete panels the lumber arrives and the excitement begins of actually creating the home to be. Each piece to be measured and cut, the air filled with the fragrance of new wood. But, a month of carrying, nailing and climbing up and down is enough. There are always problems with the design that have to be solved and since I was the one to draw it up, I have only myself to blame. With the building finally framed up there’s the filling in the ‘guts’, the plumbing and electrical. Like following a map in your head, each section of pipe and length of wire following the last piece till you arrive at the end destination. Drywall, paint, tiles, all the details till you have it….a house. I’ve always liked learning and overcoming new challenges and working by myself so it was a good direction for me in life, to be independent. Independence has been the key word for our lives. My wife Lydia spent many years as a singer-song writer running her own label, the two of us touring with her band. Together we had raised two daughters, built a beautiful home and traveled whenever we could.
Years pass and the great economic downturn of ’08 arrives finding us with having just purchased 10 acres, our timing could have been a little better… Now this wasn’t just any acreage, this was the piece across the road from the home we were presently living in, a ‘Cape’ shingle home that was my trade mark style. Here’s where I need to describe what we had gotten ourselves into. Squalicum valley was slow to develop due to the fact that just up the mountain was an animal rendering plant, which no one except the countless black bears were happy about, due to the stench that filled the valley. Just before building our present home, it closed and miscellanious items from this plant ended up on this 10 acres where the owners lived. Having bought this property it was all ours. The two old ‘single wides’, one old house and barn, a pole barn/shop and a myriad of other buildings scattered through out, including ‘Joe’s Shed’. If we were ever to sell our house that we were in across the road, this all had to go…
