Photo courtesy of Shelley Martinez

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Someday our home will stand here.

Albert Winner followed my flags and built a 
beautiful driveway that contours up the hill 
700 feet to the building site.

Sixteen 24 ton tandem truck loads of fill created the base for our driveway.  Thirty six loads of crush and run limestone finished off the surface.

At the top of the hill behind the excavator is where 
our home will stand.

Excavating the site begins.

Our view to the west is Dan's Mountain.

A deer path crosses the road in Billy Goat Hollow and snakes it's way up the timbered slope to a beautiful oak forested hill with he scatterings of  reindeer moss, wild orchids and huckleberry patches.  A small stream meanders just beneath the shale cliff and slips quietly  towards the Potomac River.  A shaded hillside facing the great mountain.  Only a occasional train whistle can be heard from the railroad further down the valley. This special place is where I roamed as a child. Five hundred yards directly east, and through the pines, my parents still live. 

This small hollow is where Kathy and I will eventually retire. I'll maintain my watercolor studio in the loft, overlooking this cool mountain stream under the canopy of hardwoods.

So let's begin.

Our driveway construction and excavating broke ground in the spring of 2007.

Kathy and I didn't want a straight boring driveway, so we followed the contour of the hollow in a wide "S" shape that culminates at the building site.

Effort was taken to cut as few trees as possible to maintain the integrity of the oak forest.

[NEXT]

; ;   The Beginning
: :   Planning
: :   Foundation
: :   Logs
: :   Walls
: :   Roof
: :  Windows, Beams & Floor
: :  Rocks
: : The Fun Continues
: :   Back to Home Page