Testimonials

"The house that we were renting was sold, and in the process of looking for a pre-built home to buy, we couldn't find anything we liked. We then decided to build a new one.

My husband and I, along with family and friends, have built this home from the ground up. It has taken a lot longer than we anticipated, but this is one family project we will never forget.

I love everything about the house. The bedrooms are all a nice size. The kitchen is great and has turned out to be my favorite part of the house.

After deciding to build the house, we built the shell of the home out of beetle kill pine logs. Since our family business is logging, it seemed like the most economical thing to do. After picking out and measuring every single log, we peeled them by hand. My husband and my father then carved every notch with a chainsaw or by hand. After several months the shell was complete.

We then finished the roof and the internal walls with regular framing materials. Almost all of the finishing lumber inside the house came from my uncle's sawmill. My husband is making all cupboards and vanities out of the beetle kill pine. This is also a very long process, but they look great with the rest of the house.

The house is not quite done yet. We started building in May of 2009 and will be complete by May of 2010. This sounds like a long time, but since we only work one to two days a week on it, but I think we are making good progress.

We're very happy with the way our home is turning out and would DEFINATELY recommend House Plan Gallery plans to anyone..."

House Plan Purchased:
The Morgan Ridge - HDC-24002-1

Jodie D.
Walden, Colorado

"We had been trying to sell our small house in town for over a year. We had found 24 acres in the country, with a beautiful view from the top of the hill. We bought that property in September 2006, and my wife got pregnant in October. We weren't sure what we would do if the baby came before we sold the house, as we were already pretty cramped in 950 square feet with all of our stuff, and our 100 lb chocolate lab. In December, we got an offer on the house, and we closed in February. We had already been looking at house plans online and new houses in the area to get an idea of what we would want to build. After we accepted the offer on the house, we got serious about putting together the house of our dreams.

After weeks of poring over plans online, we selected HPG-1752, because we loved the layout and the classic, simple roof line of the house. We also liked the fact that, while the garage is at the front of the house, the door is on the side, so that it's not such a prominent feature that you often see on newer homes.

Some of the features that drew us to this plan were the open floor plan for the great room/dining room/kitchen, along with the master suite being separated from the other bedrooms, and we worked with our builder for several weeks after selecting this plan, to turn it into our dream home. After all the changes were made, the plan had grown to roughly 2000 square feet on the main floor, with a full unfinished basement underneath.

After we closed on the old house, we moved into the in-laws basement, excited about starting the new chapter in our lives! My Uncle Michael was the builder, so we were able to work very close with him throughout the build. We broke ground in March 2007, and the rain delayed us from making further progress for almost a month. After that, we were able to make quick progress, and Michael was able to tweak our changes on the fly. When it was all said and done, we moved into the house in August 2007, just five months after breaking ground. We had a big moving in party, and dozens of family and friends came to help us put the finishing touches on the house, hanging decorations, putting furniture together, and christening the place with our first cookout. We’ve had several get-togethers here since, and the open floor plan allows everyone to be together in our huge great room, or the big, open, unfinished basement. The ceiling in the great room is even high enough to fly mini R/C helicopters around!

Our location is wonderful, on the highest hill in the area, with a great 360 degree view. The large yard is great for playing with my son and our dog. Over the last few years, we’ve been slowly making improvements to the place, getting the front yard reseeded in 2008 and improving our landscaping over the last 2 years. We’ve planted an orchard behind the house, with apple, persimmon and pear trees, and hope to add many more trees over the next few years. We also planted a garden last year, built a deck on the rear of the house, and a swing-set in the back yard. Future plans are to continue to improve the landscaping with flower beds all around the front of the house, stepping stones from the front door to the driveway, finish the basement and add a patio to the walkout.

House Plan Gallery has been a great design team to work with and I would recommend their plans to anyone!"

House Plan Purchased:
The Remington - HDC-1752-1

Steven C.
Bloomfield, Indiana