We are loving our new Harrisonburg office on the edge of downtown. This was such a great move for our firm. We still feel connected to downtown – walking distance to the holiday parade. We now have a reserved parking lot for our clients. We get amazing sunrises over the building. We have enough space that we have now grown in size to 5 people in the Harrisonburg office.
We can now host First Firday art gallery openings, which we have each Friday since moving into the building. Our friends, potential clients, and past clients all visit to see the new art work on display and hang out. It is a great chance to build community right in our own office space. We have artists signed up for some months in 2017, but do not have the entire year booked – let me know if you want to be in our space.
We get to share space with the creative minds at Estland and the construction experts at Herr and Co.
We also get to have fun making the space our own. This month Rebecca decorated for the holidays.
She found this tree at Mercy House along with a few other decorations.
She made these decorations.
We also got the guys downstairs at Monger’s to join in the Holiday fun and they hosted Santa in their space.
Of you put new Marvin Windows on your shopping list – he was checking out the details while at the space.
My little elfs also stopped by to put their mark on my office. I like where this Xmas list is heading!
Of course my annual Harley Davidson tree made it to the new office to complete the decorations!
Christmas at the Chesapeake Western Depot is wonderful indeed. Stop by this week to see the decorations or just to say hi. We love having visitors to our space!
As the weather changes and we are all looking for ways to stay warm, small changes around your home could make a big difference. Look for those forgotten places where insulation is missing or air is leaking. Think about your insulation line between inside and outside. This is the barrier keeping your energy bills low and your home comfortable. Remember to insulate your attic access, it is an exterior door that should be sealed and insulated. This is often an overlooked area in a house. Insulating your attic can tell you if your house is energy efficient, so keeping your attic properly insulated will also keep your home healthy and comfortable.
Don’t forget to look at our projects on houzz.com. If you are looking to update your home’s efficiency and have a “green” way of living, give us a call and we will help you through every step.
I had worn these boots for the last 15 years. They fit. They were comfortable. They did the job. These Timberland Boots were the best shoes I have ever owned. I thought many times, maybe I should find a new pair of boots, but why replace something that was working so well? I ignored the treads that were wearing out. I ignored the appearance. I ignored all the ways the boots were falling apart. “…Because that is the way we always do it.”
Until I could not ignore the problems – the tread on the bottom finally failed and a hole was created. Now my feet were wet. The old boots no longer worked. I was forced into a new pair of boots.
The new pair of boots are water-resistant, well insulated, and way more comfortable than the old boots that were past their prime. They are clearly a better solution and probably was a solution that I should have used years prior.
So why are we so resistant to change? My boots were what I knew and I did not want to risk moving onto something I did not know until I was forced to take the step. This happens often in the construction industry. We don’t ask questions and we overlook the small things that are not working. Because that is the way we always do it has become a reason for doing something the same way vs questioning if that way is the best solution. Just because you designed or built something a particular way in the past does not justify doing it that same way in the future if new technology and information is now available. Sustainability or green design is remarkably still considered new to some in our industry. We have new knowledge and new technology, this makes it possible to design new solutions and do not have to fall back to “because that is the way we always do it.”
If you have never built a new home, you most likely don’t know where to start. You have probably heard that you can find plans online. You have probably heard you should talk to a builder. You have probably heard you need to be careful because you might get taken advantage of in the process. There are a lot of questions and you really do have to trust a lot of people to give you good answers. So what questions should you ask when getting started? Who should you trust?
Harrisonburg farmhouse
I realize I am biased in this, but you should talk to an architect first. Call or email me your questions, seriously. Everyday we guide people through the process in an organized fashion to help you know who to trust, what questions to ask, and how to protect yourself. The most basic and first question that you should ask is – do you want a custom home or just a new home?
Soapstone kitchen
Your goals with a custom home should be different than just a new home. A new home is probably designed first with “re-sale value” in mind. A new home probably has a “few features you don’t need, maybe don’t want” but will be marketable in the future. A new home probably is not designed specifically for you with your life goals, habits, and preferences in mind. A custom home however, has specific features, room sizes, and layouts that you need to enhance your way of life. Rooms are right sized for how you live. Conversations during design for a custom home revolve around your life, not just how big, how much, what color. A custom home will cost you less to build per square-foot than a new home of equal quality. A custom home is adapted to your needs, budget, habits, goals, and future.
Harrisonburg farmhouse
If you are thinking about building and you are searching online for a plan, perhaps take a step back and decide if you want just a new home or if you want a custom home. Don’t spend money on “less design” to save money, it only costs you more during construction. Spend time planning out exactly what you want, in other words – Design Matters.
We are slowly building the content of the Chesapeake Western Railroad History collection that will be on permanent display at The Depot. This display is to honor the history of this railway that gave us this beautiful building we get to call our office. Each day people stop by to enjoy the building and tell us stories about their experience with the railway. I often get to give tours and tell them the history of the renovation. In addition we have many folks that have experience with the building and railway stopping by the office to add to our display. I have a stack of burnt documents in my office that a retired engineer from Winchester is letting us copy and display. I am not sure yet how we are getting this done (budget or technology) in a way that preserves the history. He was an intern in the building early in his career and was able to pull some drawings and ledgers out after the fire. Neil Menefee has loaned us photos and negatives of the trains from the railroad that we are getting scanned so we can display them. Again, this is a labor of love and budget will determine how much we can display. Also, the grandson, Charles Byers, of Tinky (Walter P. Bryan), has sent me items to honor his grandfather who was superintendent of track maintenance. Tinky loved the rail line and worked until he passed away on July 3, 1973 (three days after I was born, just as an interesting connection).
If you have pictures that we can scan, stories to tell about the railway, or any other artifacts you want to share, let me know. If you want to help support this effort in any way, please let me know. Over time we will keep adding items, come by and visit to see what we have so far.
