The Journey Begins

Welcome to my first installment of Building a German Farmhouse.  As I mentioned in my FB Post I have had a passion for architecture and design my entire life.  I fondly remember sitting in my fathers’ recliner with a drafting board and a T square across my lap.  Mom and Dad encouraged both my brother and I to go to college and earn our degrees with a focus towards business or science.  My mother never graduated from high school and my father was a graduate of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard Apprentice Program in Mechanical Engineering with a few classes at a local community college and Old Dominion University.  Education was very important to them.  When I expressed interest in becoming an Architect or an Interior Designer – this lovely couple who had lived in the same area their entire lives – said “Well you can’t do that – there is no money in it and you’d have to MOVE AWAY from home.”  Home and family were very important to them both.  No one ever thought of moving away from our hometown – except me.  Well at 17 years old I wasn’t confident enough to move away from home.  So I was off to Longwood College where I earned a BA in Marketing/Management and later attended the University of Maryland where I earned my MBA. 

The irony is Andy and I have moved over 17 times in the last 25 years, chasing quarters in couches as we like to say.  At each stop we have renovated or updated almost every home we have ever lived in from VA to NC, to MA, to TX, to AZ and now back to TX.  The passion for home design has never gone away. Many thanks to my mother and father for their love and support.  They instilled in me a solid work ethic and without that college degree I would not have had my long career in the Defense Industry that has allowed me to begin this new journey documenting our next big project in the Hill Country. 

I am seriously trying to find my voice (for those that know me you are laughing right now) and figure out how to even post a blog.  My goal is to post weekly on our progress and talk about building a home during a pandemic.  As you will see from the renderings this home is made to look aged and in the Texas German Architecture.  Many thanks to Scott Asher Construction for their insight into this design.  

This compound style homesite will consist of 4 buildings, the main house, the guest “haus”, the car barn, and of course an old fashioned cook house for Andy.   This design will transport you to days-gone-by using traditional materials such as reclaimed barn wood, large block cut limestone, exposed rafter tails, a zinc colored metal roof, and a 30ft windmill to round out the design.  

Join us next week when we talk about the Hidden Springs Community and the concept of an Agrihood.  

Until next week,

Lori