John and I bought a 'packaged home' from a company in British Columbia called Pacific Homes Building Systems from Cobble Hill on Vancouver Island, BC. We designed our home with a local Pender Island designer, Heath Lansdowne. This creative young man was able to help us to design our house plans together via the internet over a period of months, and a couple visits to our retirement property with him on site. We wanted to save as many large trees as possible but also take the most advantage of the fabulous view. With conservation in mind, Heath helped us to make decisions concerning the type of heating and water saving systems available locally. He had the blueprints made up and registered. Working with Heath was a pleasant experience as he was very patient with our many changes and ideas. He is also an experienced cabinet maker and carpenter so he was able to tell us what would work best on our property. Since Heath was building his own home on Pender Island around that same time, his knowledge concerning local building codes made our task easier when we presented our blueprints to Pacific Homes.
Our Pacific Homes agent, Keith Vickers, has made our first ever experience in building a new home enjoyable. His excellent communication skills in explaining each process as it proceeded has helped to alleviate much of the stress involved with this new experience. Keith makes himself easily available to answer questions or make changes as needed. He studied our plans with us together as we selected the insulated 'smart walls', prefabricated floor joists, windows, doors, siding, metal roofing and skylights. Keith offered many color samples and helped us coordinate materials to compliment each other as a West Coast style home. Pacific Homes built our home 'parts' in Cobble Hill, BC and delivered them as ordered by our contractor Paul Stephenson. The following are photos showing how the house is materializing during a Pender Island winter through cloudy days, rain, wind and yes....even a little ice. Our building construction workers, Mike, Brendan and Matt are phenominal. As John works beside them he is learning and having a great time... although a wee bit tired at the end of the day trying to keep up with these younger guys. I act as the "clean up crew" and photographer when I am on Pender Island. Some of the photos are shadowy but full sun is a rarity, the rain and mud are a given on most days. Also remember that I am NOT a photographer. I have an old floopy disk digital... one of the originals. It is beginning to make humming noises so let's hope it hangs in there for a few more months!