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From Disaster to Dream Home! takes you inside the homebuilding process, from the ground up. In each episode, acclaimed interior designer Jana Rosenblatt brings you both the time-tested practices and the latest trends in homebuilding through conversations with leading architects, designers, and industry experts. Whether you’re building a custom home, rebuilding after a natural disaster, or renovating an older home, From Disaster to Dream Home! is your trusted source for the insights and connections you need to bring your home dreams into reality! www.FromDisasterToDreamHome.com
This is the EWN podcast network. On our podcast, from disaster to dream home, we have been talking about all the steps that must be followed to build a new house from the ground up, from beginning to moving in day. Whether you are rebuilding after a disaster or building a new home because you always wanted to, the process will include all of the same steps. Today's guests did it the hard way. They lost their home to the Marshall fires in Boulder County, Colorado in December of twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1:Join us as we talk about the creative process of literally going from disaster to dream home.
Speaker 2:Welcome to from disaster to dream home, the podcast that takes you inside the home building and rebuilding process. When interior designer, Jana Rosenblatt, had an 80 foot tree fall in her house, she saw the opportunity to create the customized home of her dreams. From Disaster to Dream Home provides you with the information and resources Jana wished she had during her rebuilding process. Now, she's sharing with you the expertise of leading architects and home builders and the newest products and materials on the market. Here's your host, Janna Rosenblatt.
Speaker 1:Welcome back, home builders and remodelers, to another episode of From Disaster to Dream Home, the podcast that will take you through the process of building or rebuilding a new home from the ground up in 52 episodes. If you are rebuilding after the loss of your home or building a new home from the ground up, each episode of From Disaster to Dream Home will help you know what you and your design team will need to do to make the construction process fluid, and your dream home can rise from the ashes. We spoke to Jeff and Sammy Kinder earlier in our series about the insurance process they faced due to the loss of their home in the Marshall Fire in Boulder County, Colorado on December thirtieth of twenty twenty one, a tragic way to enter the new year. Fueled by drought and hurricane force winds, the Marshall Fire devastated the area where today's guests were forced to rebuild their home. After evacuating their home, being homeless for one year, nine months, and fourteen days, and literally needing to start from scratch, having lost everything, Jeff and Sammy Kinder have risen from the ashes like two phoenix birds.
Speaker 1:On 10/12/2023, they were awarded their certificate of occupancy. It is number 56 of the 550 homes that needed to be rebuilt in the area. Today, we talked to them about the design and rebuilding process. Sammy and Jeff, thank you so much for joining us again today and sharing this remarkable part of your story.
Speaker 3:You're welcome, Jana.
Speaker 1:How long did it take after the fire for you to feel that you had enough of your, you know, feet on the ground to be able to gather your initial thoughts about the rebuilding?
Speaker 3:It wasn't very long. We tried we had a custom built home before.
Speaker 1:So I didn't know that.
Speaker 3:Yeah. It was, it was a beautiful home. Yeah. So we were we tried to locate the plans and then maybe the builder just you know, that was the first steps. I mean, we did all that.
Speaker 3:And we were toying with the idea of going the builder had retired, but he had some options. And then we also had gone talked to another, construction guy that was a friend of a friend said, I can build it for you, but he lived quite a long ways away. So so we kept him on the back burner. But the, community had a, like, a, fair or
Speaker 4:a,
Speaker 3:you know, a weekend where the builders like, 40 different builders came.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's amazing.
Speaker 3:It was beautiful because you could go talk to people. And, you know, our center our representative was there. The there was all kinds of community support there. And so we could talk to a number of builders. So we did, you know, like, what do you what are you offering?
Speaker 3:You know?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And, you know, it turned out that the our builder was there, and he said he was gonna build maybe five or six homes, maybe 10, because he was a production builder in Boulder County. Uh-huh. And he's been building here for forty five years.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Which is great. So he knew all the strings that you have to, go through in that community.
Speaker 3:Right. So he he gave us our choice from him was here's five designs. They fit on your lot. Take it or leave it. Here's a price.
Speaker 3:They gave us a set price.
Speaker 1:Wow. That's amazing. Well, we'll talk about all the nuances of what that included and how that all worked out. But can you remind us where you were living at the time during the process?
Speaker 3:We were staying down in Golden, Colorado, which is half an hour from here.
Speaker 1:That's good. Yeah.
Speaker 3:And we were lucky enough.
Speaker 4:We were yeah. We were we were really lucky. And I guess, Sammy, what you just described, that all sorta happened over three months, four months.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. Wow. That's pretty quick.
Speaker 4:Yeah. But so I I I guess the only thing that I would add to what Sandy was saying is is when disaster strikes, you know, the first step that you gotta do is to make sure you're still breathing. You know? I mean, remember I mean, how about dinner? Breathe.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Yeah. You know? And, and and and let I think the first couple of weeks were pretty much just survival mode and and couch surfing and what the heck is gonna happen. And and we were really lucky to to have this, friend of a friend with you know, the the in laws were going to, you know, winter in Scottsdale, and so would you like to use our in law suite?
Speaker 4:And and that's really
Speaker 1:That's great.
Speaker 4:I think where we got grounded enough. Is that does that sound right, Sam? Once we were kinda grounded there and we knew we were gonna be able to be there for a couple of months that we really started to catch our breath, and and and Sammy, really led us bless you. Sammy really led us through the process from there on.
Speaker 1:Very good. So so having built a custom home before, you guys knew how to read plans. And so when your builder suggested some different models, you really knew what, you know, what you were looking at. Were they very different one from the next, or was there a specific style?
Speaker 3:They're completely different.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow.
Speaker 3:One story, two story, bigger, smaller. You know? A lot of the same amenities inside.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:And that's what it originally had attracted us, this builder to begin with.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. And so with the plans in set, did you actually need an architect in involved, or, or they just already had these plans that were approvable?
Speaker 3:Almost. They hadn't built this house this model before.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:So it was kind of like building a custom house in some ways, but, they had the plans drawn. They had all all this everything was completed. We did do a few modifications. We had a very our basement before was, like, 2,200 square feet, so that's a big hole.
Speaker 1:That's twice the size of my house. Exactly.
Speaker 4:It was a it was a
Speaker 3:it was a big house.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:And so, we they did they had a crawl space under our bedroom, and we chose for them because there's a it was a huge hole. And so we said, why don't we just make that, you know, a storage room? So that was a change that we made because it just didn't make sense to buy a bunch of dirt and fill it in. You
Speaker 1:know? Yeah. When in doubt, I always say store things. Yeah. Me too.
Speaker 1:I can. And then if you don't have, you know, enough stuff to put in, I'm happy to bring over some of ours.
Speaker 4:Well, that that was, I guess, the one spot where I might have had a little bit of input, into the whole design process. You know, it is just the fact that yeah. I mean, if you're gonna have a crawl space and you've already got a big hole, just go ahead and put a real foundation all the way around, get a full basement, you know, be able to use, you know, all all the rest of that space. But I think one of the things that, you know, we came up with pretty early on is that we didn't need, you know, our time of life or whatever whatever it it was. I mean, we didn't need to have that big of a house again.
Speaker 4:You know? So so we kind of reorganized our priorities. Let's you know, what can we do more with the backyard? What can we do more, you know, with features and benefits, like Sammy said, that, led us to this one builder anyway. We already like their fit and finish and their basic designs.
Speaker 4:So what a what a great way to start. Because if you are gonna get an architect and then remember the architect has to get an engineer and the engineer has to, you know, it goes on and on. That that part of the design process is is it it takes time. It takes Well It takes money.
Speaker 1:And why you were number 56 of 550 homes. You know, there are many things, and we'll, you know, we'll talk about all of those hopefully today. But, yeah, that was amazing. And so you had already seen some of this builder's work? You had been in homes he'd build or Yes.
Speaker 1:That's great. Nothing like the ability to see the work. So so what, so did you already have to have an agreement with them before you could see the, the model options that you had to work with, or was that part of their selling tool?
Speaker 3:We didn't have to we I think we gave him a small deposit to see if it would fit on the lot. Uh-huh. We we kinda look we had the options. We knew which one we wanted because we had a deck on the Second Floor, and that was what I wanted desperately. Yeah.
Speaker 3:And, so we just had them go to the back and see how it would, you know, work with the lot lines and the setbacks.
Speaker 4:Needed a deck on the Second Floor.
Speaker 1:Oh, got it.
Speaker 4:Yeah. That that was definitely one of one of the design features that we both kind of thought about at the very beginning.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And this house, as the builder presented it, didn't have one. So that was one of the first, changes or upgrades, you know, that that we suggested and and got a chance to work in. But, you know, essentially, we like their fit and finish. We like the basic design concepts, and then Sammy really just kinda took it from there to make their house our home.
Speaker 1:So at the beginning, you know, having gone through the fire, were there any specific things that that having gone through that in were there any ways that that influenced your design in terms of materials or, any, you know, safety factors or any you know, this is your time to do it again from this you know, from scratch? Any specific things that it affected you?
Speaker 4:I think from a materials point of view, I'll just talk about that for a second. That that was pretty much baked into the pie right away. I mean, there was a a kind of a public consensus, if you will Uh-huh. You know, where people said, holy cow. This has has happened to us.
Speaker 4:Right. It wasn't supposed to happen to us, and we wanna make sure it never happens again. And they talked about all kinds of things. You know? Some of it made sense.
Speaker 4:And so from the very beginning, you know, we started off with, you know, with the with the siding that that the cementitious, whatever that word is. I mean, basically, the, you know, the the siding was all fireproof. The Yeah. You know, the shingles was all fireproofing. We have well, we have stucco, and we have a couple of different panels.
Speaker 4:Yeah. I think that's where Sammy really did very well as they took their design. You know, you could you could get do you want it as a farmhouse? Do you want it as a as a traditional house? Do you want it as, like, a modern alpine slope house, incline house?
Speaker 4:So, you know, Sammy picked, I think, a very modern, looking incline home, but, you know, as far as the the shell goes. And then, yeah, I worked with the builder because they had some fireproof panels that, you know, they looked kind of slick and nice.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. But then
Speaker 4:when you got up close in the installation, the I mean, there was just you know, there was back and forth. And so, yeah, we we definitely changed it. But but to have multiple textures that all had that fire resiliency
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:It was nice to be able to have that available to us. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Into consideration.
Speaker 1:And what about roofing materials? Were there specific options that, you know, with the the had the community narrowed down those options so there were things that you needed to be, you know, considerate of?
Speaker 4:Yeah. I mean, you you either went with the, I mean, it wasn't over the top or anything because a lot of roofing materials are kind of moving in that direction anyway. You know? So, you you know, you you obviously aren't gonna go back to a a 60 shape look or anything like that. You know?
Speaker 4:But Yeah. Yeah. But it you know, it's it's a it's an engineered, asphalt shingle, and and it has it has its own fire ratings. The Mhmm. You know, they were also very much more conscious as far as the the ratings for your insulation and and the r values and on on everything.
Speaker 4:So, you know, end of the day, we have a very it's not fireproof, but it's very resilient. And and it turns out, very efficient home. Energy wise.
Speaker 1:So the having seen photos of your pre of your prior house and now your new home, they're very different. Can you describe your, your original home? And so you that's the house you built is the one you were living in? Oh, no. So this so you bought your house.
Speaker 1:And so was it that attracted you to you know, it was more traditional. What attracted you to the home in the first place?
Speaker 3:We wanted a First Floor master bedroom.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:Because we didn't want to be buying too many more houses in our life. And we were looking for something that we could, you know, age in place.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. So it was a house that it wasn't overwhelmingly a style you were looking for. It was a house that fit your needs, and you bought it.
Speaker 3:Right. It was very open concept. It was Yeah. Had huge high ceilings. We had just remodeled the whole backyard.
Speaker 3:Oh, no. We put in, you know, pavers and landscaping. And we've done quite a bit of work as well as well as putting solar on the house.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. Right.
Speaker 3:And updating a few bathrooms. So, you know, we'd spent a a lot of money very recently, so that was a little bit sad.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And how long did you live there overall?
Speaker 3:With four years. We were in our fourth year.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Yeah. A little over three and a half years.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Not that. But we love the neighborhood. Yeah. And it's very convenient to I mean, it's very convenient place to live.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:I think the kitchen was
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 4:There were I was just gonna say there was a lot of other features that, you know, attracted us, and it wasn't the reason we bought that house. Right. I mean, because Colorado real estate, especially when we were looking, things are so hot. We were just, oh god. We finally got one like everybody else.
Speaker 4:You know? You you you keep making offers and keep making offers till one hits, but, you know, there was a a lot of features in that original house that that burned down that we liked. You know? The, you know, the open floor plan flowed into a very usable kitchen. You know, both the appliances and the counters, the and the island space that the kitchen had really, really made it work well.
Speaker 4:It was, but It was nice. Windows. We installed skylights to even bring more room
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 4:More light into the into the, main living area. So I and I think those are some of the concepts that that carried into this into the house that we built too was light light and openness.
Speaker 1:So you had customized to a pretty good degree?
Speaker 4:Yes. You did. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Made it in the house. Yeah. Something you really wanted it to be.
Speaker 3:Unfortunately, we moved in the house. It just they just had redone the kitchen. It was gorgeous.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:That was pretty nice.
Speaker 1:And you enjoyed it for a few years. So how would you describe your new home?
Speaker 3:It has lots of windows.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:It's very light. We have a a lovely kitchen that we because we cook a lot. And Yeah. Do you both
Speaker 1:cook or or just one of you? We both cook. That's nice. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Together. That's a lot. One is a sous chef. One cooks. One's got would be.
Speaker 1:You alternate. Yeah. We do that too.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And, so and it's a big open space. The dining room, living room, kitchen is all one big space. And that's something that we actually like because I don't I know a lot of people have gone to single rooms, but we like it all open. Yes.
Speaker 3:You can just have one space that you're in. You have a master bedroom on the First Floor. That was important.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So that so you you put that in for sure. But here's a two story.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 4:And
Speaker 1:so what's the total, bed you know, bedrooms, bathrooms? What's the description?
Speaker 3:Let's see. We have three four bedrooms, two offices, four bathrooms.
Speaker 1:No. It's still a big house.
Speaker 3:It is a big house.
Speaker 1:Yes. How many square feet?
Speaker 3:33.
Speaker 1:That's a nice size house.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And then we have that nice story, Drew. Yeah. The other
Speaker 1:Of course. Which I'm having which I could retire and rent from you. I we'll just move Your storage room. Our house is 1,100 square feet, but on purpose. But
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yes. That's great. Let me take Take us on a little tour. You walk in your front door, and so we we've established it as as kinda contemporary. And and then where do we go from there?
Speaker 3:Well, I think you first wanna notice notice the front door that it's violet.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah. That's beautiful.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And, actually, the builder had that color. I it's like, really? You have you have that color. I want that color.
Speaker 1:That's amazing.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And so you walk in and then to the left, is Jeff's office. Uh-huh. And, where you you can see he where he is there. It's, and there's lots of
Speaker 1:beautiful light room.
Speaker 3:It's lots of windows. And it could have been a bedroom, and that was a choice. Right. And then and he also has, like, a sliding we have two of them in the house. They're sliding, like, barn doors, but they're glass.
Speaker 3:Oh, uh-huh.
Speaker 1:It's set into the room?
Speaker 3:Uh-huh. Oh, nice. No. It can shut the door by or shut the room off.
Speaker 1:Bound, but you still have the vision and light. Correct. Lovely.
Speaker 3:And then you walk in and there's, the I think I sent you a picture of Corva.
Speaker 1:Yes. You did. Tell us about Corva.
Speaker 3:Well, it was one of the first pieces of art that we bought. Uh-huh. And she's basically called a doll, I guess.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:But but she's just amazing and, She's a spirit. Yes. Yeah. And so we just figured that this is what we wanted by the front door. She was gonna be guardian angel there.
Speaker 1:You're a greeter.
Speaker 3:Yes. Love it. She's a beautiful piece of art.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And, then there's a bathroom that's a full bathroom, actually. And we chose to do all glass enclosures so they are brighter and cleaner, I think. Yeah, I think so. Then you have the stairwell to go up, and then and then you can go or go to the mudroom, which is off the garage. Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:And there's washer and dryer off of them, in the laundry room off of the mudroom.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 4:So that whole group grouping sort of creates that, the hallways. You you know, sort of the entry hall. So as you come in the front door, you know, you really are coming basically up an entry hallway. And, you know, so the the office, then the bathroom, those things are on your left.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 4:You know, the the wash machine and the other entry are on the right. But it also creates you know, that's where a lot of the wall space is, and that's where Sammy, you know, put Corva to be our
Speaker 1:So it's Angela. Our breeder.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Our our breeder. And and, you know, it's where she kinda found the next right the, you know, the this is, I mean, she shops that you know, for all of you who are who are interior designers and and everything that you do, Jenna, you you know. I mean, for Sammy to take this on, that girl shopped and shopped and shopped and shopped, and it was a lot of work. But she found the right piece.
Speaker 4:That's the right piece to go in the hallway, that little buffet piece, and the and the right mirror to go and then the nice piece of art that goes with it. So that kind of then you you come in that hallway with those features, and then you come into the open space.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. Yeah. It's, life affirming to take the time even in in the regrouping that you have to do from, you know, everything you lost to to find things that will build new traditions and new you know, that are loved and, and, you know, more creative, not just a placeholder.
Speaker 3:Yes. It was very important to me that artwork artwork was probably the hardest.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You can move it around. You can do whatever. But artwork, they have to have it has to have something personal. Yeah. You know, touch you or it's not doesn't want I don't want it on my wall, basically.
Speaker 3:Uh-huh. So it's
Speaker 1:important. Do you have communities of resources? Like, is there sort of the crafty neighborhood and the, you know, appliance and and, and plumbing fixtures areas? I mean, how how long and far did you have to go to be looking for the things you needed?
Speaker 3:Fixture wise in the house, we well, that was easy.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. Would you like
Speaker 3:black mats, or would you like, you know, you know, would you like modern traditional? I mean, there's some choices, and I was fine with that. I mean, eventually, some things will change out. Uh-huh. But, it was that part was easy.
Speaker 3:I mean, it's more of the personal stuff. How do you want it to feel? How do you want it to look? That's more important to me, I guess. Everything else in the in the end could be changed, but we I think we're very happy with the, you know, the doorknobs and, you know, light fixtures and that kind of thing.
Speaker 3:We're very happy with that.
Speaker 1:A little icings on the cake. Yeah. Yeah. I mean Yeah.
Speaker 4:And and that was again one of the advantages about going with a production builder, you know, because they had their design team. And and so, you know, if you wanted the traditional, you know, this is how it looked. If you wanted the European classic, if you wanted the European modern, you know, and and so they had essentially, we used their professional designers to to
Speaker 1:Oh, that's great. Okay. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah. To get it started. You know? We didn't we didn't have to go through every pull on every drawer and and which Sammy has done before. And so the the thing that one of the things that attracted us to them is that we already appreciated the designs.
Speaker 1:They're aesthetic? Yes. Yeah. And I'm sure when that's the case that in choosing the model of the home that you chose, there are sets of things that would be logical for them to bring to you and and help you, you know Right. Give you those options that are gonna really work with that architecture.
Speaker 4:Right. Exactly.
Speaker 1:We walk through, this gallery with the, with Corva. And, and then and what do we see? What are we walking into?
Speaker 4:You know, what's
Speaker 1:is that the, you know, the sort of open space ahead of you?
Speaker 3:Yes. Yep. And there's a dining room on the left. I have a I can put 10 people there.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:And, it'll be crowded, but eight's okay. And it's near it's a narrow table. I got that was probably one of my most expensive buys was from, Restoration Hardware.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:But it's it's it's well, it has divots and holes and Yeah.
Speaker 1:It looks like it's older than brand new.
Speaker 4:Right. Right.
Speaker 1:Exactly. And so built in.
Speaker 3:Yes. Yeah. That's right. Which I love. And then, it's a narrow table, so I didn't take up a lot of space there.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:So that was good. And then if you keep, then there's, the kitchen. If you walk a little further in, there's the kitchen's to the right. And there's a big Island. And, then you're seeing the back door, which is all three panels of glass and
Speaker 4:two windows.
Speaker 3:There's a lot of light there, too. And the ceilings are 10 foot or
Speaker 4:10 foot. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Had you had high ceilings before? Yes. We have.
Speaker 4:So you
Speaker 1:you really knew that was important. I mean, the ceilings here, I've talked about a lot in the series, just get higher and higher and higher. I mean, I I was into 12 foot and higher in our last couple of, new home builds.
Speaker 3:Right. Yes. We had ours or, the house that was here when it burned was stories of high. Yeah. It was a community that was kinda coming over.
Speaker 3:So it was very loved the big, you know, big open space.
Speaker 1:So Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:So we have office
Speaker 1:Go ahead.
Speaker 3:No. You're fine. This you know, I just want the impression is it's a lot of glass Yeah. In the high ceilings. We have a, like, a glass gas burning fireplace
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:And, like, a quartz countertop kinda clean looking kitchen.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. And so the the kitchen opens up into a family room or great room?
Speaker 3:Nope. It just well, it opens to the living room. So it's like there's a dining room.
Speaker 1:Got
Speaker 3:it. And then there's a Yeah.
Speaker 4:The dining room just flows straight on into the living room. So it's really just furniture placement
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Because it's it's all one.
Speaker 1:So that's your open space. Yes.
Speaker 3:And then and then
Speaker 1:you have the kitchen. And then is there also a separate sort of family room or den?
Speaker 3:Downstairs.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. Oh, one of you said no, and one of you said downstairs.
Speaker 4:Well, there's not in the upstairs, but, yes, there is one in the downstairs.
Speaker 1:Got it. Yeah. So you have that separation of space and your two offices.
Speaker 3:Correct.
Speaker 4:Correct.
Speaker 3:Right. Right. Yeah.
Speaker 4:So and it from the from the kitchen then, you know, it it flows on back to the right, and that that goes into the master suite over in that corner.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 4:And so that then creates, you know, the space for the patio as you as you go through the sliding glass doors, you know, out into the backyard and the and the patios there. So bedroom wall and and the sliding glass wall. And that's the main level.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. That sounds lovely. And then and how big is your closet? What was your closet priority?
Speaker 3:We didn't really get a choice. We got the closet they had. Oh, oh, yeah? And guess what? Jenna, we didn't have very many clothes anyway.
Speaker 1:Right. Yeah. So had you had, you know, larger closets before that you're now, curtailing?
Speaker 3:No. I think No.
Speaker 4:This is still pretty big.
Speaker 1:Yes. Okay. Good.
Speaker 3:Good. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So, alright. So then upstairs, you have, I'm guessing Sammy's office is upstairs?
Speaker 3:Yes. It's like a you walk up the stairs. It's a loft area.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:And, you know, you could have closed it off to make it a bedroom, but we chose to keep it open. And that's where I put my my office studio, and it looks out over the deck
Speaker 4:that I
Speaker 3:talked about. Beautiful. And I see mountains from my office.
Speaker 1:That's lovely.
Speaker 3:It's very lovely.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And then there's a then you go up the stairs to the right. There's a bathroom. Uh-huh. And then there's a bedroom. The bedroom has, like, 16 foot ceilings.
Speaker 3:It's so beautiful. It's so beautiful.
Speaker 1:A second, master suite, or is it just a
Speaker 3:It's just a nice bedroom with a big walk in closet. But I love that room because it's just all glass. You know? It's just so beautiful. And it faces so the sun does it actually get so much sun in there, so it's really a nice room.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. So it's more ambient light. Yeah.
Speaker 4:It's beautiful. It's it's lighter windows, but it's north face, so you don't get cooked.
Speaker 1:Yeah. You know what's gonna happen is is that your guests are gonna stay longer.
Speaker 3:I know.
Speaker 4:Yeah. That's a problem.
Speaker 1:Would bite. Yes. And then it
Speaker 4:Basically, it takes it takes advantage of the of the the alpine what do they call it? The inclined roof look
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Of the modern house. And so you you've got that, you know, the the big slope on the roof going up. And so that's what creates the 16 foot ceilings in those bedrooms.
Speaker 1:Well, I imagine side. That you had the option if you wanted to. That could have been the primary suite upstairs.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4:But we wanted it down. So
Speaker 1:Yep. I get it. I totally get it. Alright. So how long did it take for you, to get enough clarity from the insurance company as to what the budget that you'd have to work with would be.
Speaker 1:And and you're looking at your own resources. How hard was it to, you know, figure all that out?
Speaker 4:You know, Sammy did a very good job articulating what it was that, you know, we were trying to recreate. Uh-huh.
Speaker 1:And,
Speaker 4:you know, the going back to blessings again and gratitude again, the the insurance company, you know, the good hands of Allstate, I guess, because they're good. And we could ask the right questions, and they gave us timely answers. It really wasn't that long before we knew, you know, within, I think, six weeks, we were even starting to ask the questions about what are these other buckets like.
Speaker 1:And Right.
Speaker 4:So, you know, how do I get the additional $10,000, you know, for the lot stabilization, and how do I get the the, you know, the 5% or the 10% increase for code changes and all of those things. So, you know, working very closely with the insurance company, I I I think within the first couple of months, which is really how long it took us to to get through that process of looking at our building options. So Uh-huh. You know, have what a two or three months, Sammy? Does that make about right?
Speaker 3:Yeah. It was.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Where where we went through the building options if we use this builder, if we used our old plans, if we use that builder, the old plans, the new house. Right. You know, that that whole process kinda happened at the same time as the insurance company processed. And I I think within the first three months or so, we knew how much we were gonna have to come out of pocket and how much it really did damage our our, you know Yeah.
Speaker 4:Net asset value and and our balance sheet because it took a hit.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I'm sure it does as it it it is likely to do in this kind of scenario. But you're you're lucky that it that there was it did seem to be like there was a continuous momentum and that the information you needed, you know, was forthcoming. The the worst case people can find themselves in is that paralysis. I mean, I know with my own rebuild when we were at our house for fourteen months, there was a period of about six weeks where we were waiting for all kinds of information, and we were ready to move, and we just had to be treading water.
Speaker 1:It's very difficult.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Yeah. It it is. And and, you know, again, the the horror stories that we've heard from some of our neighbors where, you know, this they're waiting to hear back from the personal property adjuster who's still waiting to hear back from the outside building adjuster who's waiting to hear back from the main building adjuster. And it's just, you know, we were really lucky, but they all of those pieces were were put together under one central adjuster, and and, you know, we could beat on Margaret, as often as we wanted to, and she was very timely getting it back
Speaker 1:to us.
Speaker 4:So it really did come together probably within the first three months. We knew which way we were gonna go.
Speaker 1:Very good. Yeah. So the last time we discussed, that you added a considerable amount to the budget to build the home you really wanted, was that due to specific features and choices you were making? I mean, could you have built a house on the amount that you of your coverage?
Speaker 4:No. I don't think so.
Speaker 3:I mean, maybe, but it would have been
Speaker 1:bare bones. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah. It would have been bare bones and, you know, it it would certainly not have been this model and this design, you know, even even for just the shell. And and, you know, that that's the tragedy of, you know, the fact that the insurance companies say, this is what it's supposed to cost you to rebuild your house at the time you write your policy. And and if you aren't thinking ahead and buying those extra inflationary riders and and those code change riders and and, you know, the so that you make sure that that your insurance policy covers some of that stuff, you know, because real estate and construction, those are two things that are going up faster than just about everything else that Yeah. I mean, that inflationary period.
Speaker 1:Cautionary tale is, you know, you're even if you have a proactive insurance broker, they're not gonna contact you as often as you might wanna look at, what your coverage covers. And, you know, you're reminding me, I haven't done it in a while either. And I'm reminding everyone else that, you know, that is the bottom line is is staying current and and to not rely on the least expensive coverage to get you through. Because if you need it, it's gonna be more than you have paid for.
Speaker 4:Yep. Yep. We had we had enough money from our insurance company to rebuild this house five years ago, but certainly not last year. You know? Not even close.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. And so then once you had the budget that you knew you were gonna work with and the construction was in process, how did you manage the budget for the rebuild in terms of keeping yourselves in check, or, did you face any unexpected cost that you couldn't have even imagined?
Speaker 4:Yeah. I think every project, has its has its unexpected costs. And and, you know, part of part of them were was because we had so much dirt that had to be brought in and and the over x on the lot. Colorado has a lot of expansive soils. And so you know, anytime you're inside the dirt and and actually have to start reengineering your lot, that turned out to be more expensive than than what we anticipated.
Speaker 1:And not something the builder had anticipated. Well, that you could
Speaker 4:Exactly. So it was obviously not part of that set price that we talked about having had earlier.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 4:And, you know, you really can't blame anybody but, you know, anybody for that matter. And and I guess the other unexpected, costs were were just ourselves. You know, where you finally realize and again, maybe having it having a designer, I'm sure, really helps with these things. But, you know, certainly, Sammy had her vision and her design too, but we would get to the point of saying, oh my gosh. You know, that's that works so well, and it would be just, you know, that that studio that you have up there in that loft now is perfect.
Speaker 4:It's got the windows. It's got the west view. You can walk out onto the balcony. It really needs a wet bar. You know?
Speaker 4:So
Speaker 1:I get it. Yeah. I see. I see where
Speaker 4:So sometimes our our own worst enemy would
Speaker 1:decision making. Yeah. Yeah. So it was a combination of things you couldn't control and things that your heart were you know, was tugging at you.
Speaker 4:Right. Yeah. And,
Speaker 1:and expanding your vision.
Speaker 4:Yep.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I mean, and, of course, you know, the things you can't control are the things you don't see. So if you have a choice, you know, it's not like you have a choice between your soil, being exactly as it needs to be and the wet bar. You're gonna have to do the soil and you wanna do the wet bar.
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 1:I get it. So then usually the builder has, created line items for all of the things that you are supposed to, you know, then make choices on, like, the flooring and the tile and the countertops and the appliances and the exterior services and the doors and the windows and the light fixtures. There's an endless list. How accurate and realistic were those numbers? Could you have made choices within them that you chose not to or, you know, were was there any base of reality?
Speaker 3:They were pretty set as far as, like, here's all of the carpet choices. Here's all the, you know, they have a big gamut of things to pick from, but they're very specific. Yeah. And, also, how would I go? We, you know, worked within that parameter, but there's always upgrades.
Speaker 3:Like, if you wanted more of a gourmet kitchen, you could get a gourmet kitchen, which included, you know, different kinds of appliances and and that type of stuff. So there was choices along the way that they had already figured out how much it was gonna cost if you wanted it.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:We were we built it, and they were cost 25. So every time we made a change order, it was 25% on top of that. So it got kinda pricey. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And and is that because you couldn't have possibly, you know, made all of your choices ahead of time? You had to you there were choices you have to make as you go through the process, so, therefore, it became a change order?
Speaker 3:Correct. I mean, like, we the basement, we didn't you know, that was a add on.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:But but, you know
Speaker 1:wild. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yes. And, like, I mean, there was a we I guess we didn't think of everything, you know, as we You can't.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And, we, you know, added on a purple on the back because we realized the sun was gonna be pretty intense and those just little things like that, you know. So it did add up in the end. But
Speaker 1:I mean, so their team tried to anticipate a certain amount of that by creating options,
Speaker 4:set
Speaker 1:options, you know, but a certain amount just evolves.
Speaker 4:Right. And and, you
Speaker 3:know, it's like, do you want hardwood floor? Do you want, you know, the vinyl, you know, the what do you collect?
Speaker 4:Luxury vinyl. That's yeah. Yeah. And and, you know, flooring, there's there's some great advances in flooring and then great options
Speaker 1:in flooring. Did you choose for your flooring?
Speaker 4:Hardwood. Hardwood. White oak. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I I I I knew that answer was coming just from getting to know you and as I have already. So so it's hardwood throughout?
Speaker 4:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:So for up here
Speaker 4:The main the main level is hard hardwood throughout. Upstairs is, engineered flooring upstairs.
Speaker 3:Oh, exactly. I might make a make a mess, and so I didn't want the hardwood of here.
Speaker 1:Yeah. If if you get a little crafty, you don't wanna worry about it?
Speaker 3:Correct.
Speaker 1:Very good. It sounds like a perfect resolution. And so, so I know that you guys went rogue and and didn't hire a designer, and it sounds like they did have some good you know, there was some good teamwork with the designers that they have on staff, which you you don't always get that kind of package. So, you know, what how did it work between the two of you in the in the decision making process?
Speaker 4:Between Sammy and I or between Sammy and the design?
Speaker 1:I usually as an interior designer, I'm the referee, and I try to keep that unofficial by hearing what both sides are saying and then interpreting it, you know, and, you know, I I have occasionally had to say, okay. Wait a minute. You're saying this and you're saying that. Now let's think about it. So how did you guys, you know, work with your decision making process?
Speaker 3:It started with the carpet.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:Really. I we found this beautiful carpet, in in Boulder. It was Turkish. It was wool and silk, and it was abstract floral.
Speaker 1:Is this an area rug or carpeting?
Speaker 3:It's an area rug.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And it start it started with the rug.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Well, that makes my heart sing because I always have people. If it's a room where the the area rug is gonna be a major factor, you have to choose it first because they're gonna be fewer of those that you both like than, for example, the paint color, which is, you know, endless or, you know, other things like that. So so you found something to base a lot of your decisions on.
Speaker 4:That created the palette for everything. Perfect.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Perfect. I love to hear that. So so that's great. So you were led by, you know, the universe led you to something that you above and you agreed on the style of the house, right, pretty quick?
Speaker 1:Yep. Yeah. And that makes a big difference too. And so then, did you, was one of you kind of the executive in charge of watching the budget, or did did you both lead your each other down a a rose colored path to disaster?
Speaker 3:We went down the rose colored path. You know?
Speaker 1:Skipping and holding hands.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. It was pretty fun. No. No.
Speaker 3:I don't know. We didn't we weren't we knew we had to buy everything. You know? And I did did so with much care knowing that it was I needed this I don't wanna buy this again.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:I don't wanna do this again. Lasting. Yeah. So
Speaker 4:Yeah. And and that goes back to the whole gratitude thing.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I
Speaker 4:mean, if if you're gonna be a refugee
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:You know? I mean, there's so many communities in in this country and and so many other countries where there are refugees that are not nearly as well off, you know, and don't have the support around you. You know? So so we we knew that we were gonna be we, you know, we were contained by a bigger budget than what we were just gonna get from insurance. You know, we knew that we were gonna have to reinvest back in.
Speaker 4:And and for that, we were just grateful that we had both nickels that we could rub together
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And and and get it done. I mean, certainly, there were this there were decisions that were made
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 4:On overall pricing, but all the decisions were really made by Sammy, is that the one you really want? Yes. This is the one that we're gonna get.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's nice. So you were in it together. You weren't you weren't having to fight each other with one of you had an immense amount of common sense and was looking at something differently than the other.
Speaker 3:No. We did it together. No.
Speaker 4:It yeah. If if it comes down to me, you can't put common sense in the same sentence.
Speaker 1:So so so speaking of longevity and making long lasting decisions, what were your, appliance decisions? Where what are your kitchen what's your kitchen?
Speaker 3:It's all KitchenAid gas and KitchenAid.
Speaker 1:Great.
Speaker 3:Yeah. That's a a choice we could make with the builder Right. Upgrading to better appliances.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:So we did that. And, also, we you know, we had a really, as Jeff was speaking, gratitude. Almost every furniture store gave discounts.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's amazing. Yeah. 50%, thirty %. Wow. So the community was really helping you.
Speaker 3:Really helping me.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I think that's the beauty of a more insulated, you know, community that, you know, we don't always have that in California. There are bigger expanses, and so the resources can't be as as giving as that.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I was
Speaker 1:That's wonderful.
Speaker 3:Yeah. The one of the furniture stores, 50% off of it, anything you bought, and they would store it for you until your house was done.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Well, that's amazing also. Even It is. You know, you could also store it in your business.
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 1:So then, so then, normally, as an interior designer, I make sure that there's a schedule. I I go to the builders. I go to the client. I find out, you know, kind of what to expect when. Did your builder give you a kind of overall schedule at the beginning so that you knew what decisions you had to make and when?
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 4:He did. Yeah. I think that's another blessing of them being production builders. Yeah. You know, I mean, they they normally have people going through a model and looking at the various things, and then they say, okay.
Speaker 4:This is how it lays out between now and the time that it gets built. Because this was not one that they had built before. There was some engineering and and architected redesign that had to go into the timeline. But Uh-huh. Essentially, you know, you know, keep thinking about and negotiating what are some of those outside textures gonna be on the on the siding be you know?
Speaker 4:But as soon as we get the, you know, the foundation in, you can't have any more changes that are gonna affect the siding and and or or the the framing. And once the framing is done, you can't make any more decisions that are gonna affect the roofing or the siding. And once those
Speaker 1:are done, you can abreast of Yes. It was gonna be too late to do the next, you know, something different so that you
Speaker 4:could, you
Speaker 1:know, that you wouldn't regret. Like, realize all of a sudden, oops. You know, I wish I had done it that way. That's great.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And so what was the the process like? It sounds like it was a pretty good process with your builders and their team.
Speaker 3:Right. We had a a lovely construction manager
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:That was, you know, realizing that we've been misplaced from our beautiful home and was he was advocate
Speaker 1:for us.
Speaker 3:So he would always give us a timeline. He goes, you might wanna come in and take pictures here. This is when it's all everything's just studs and wiring and stuff because we're gonna put drywall up next week. So you might wanna take a picture of every room Yeah. Ceiling so that you know what's behind the wall.
Speaker 1:And that's and I do that. Yeah. I mean, that's one of the things that I do. So it sounds like they were really watching out for all those nuances, which is great. It sounds like they're amazing team.
Speaker 1:So then what were some of the design elements or features that were you were particularly excited about in the model that you chose and and in including in your home that you might not have had in your old home? What's really different?
Speaker 3:Obviously, the deck. We've talked about the upstairs deck. We talked about that a bit. And, also, we we we, increased our backyard greatly. Our yard is huge compared to most of our neighbors.
Speaker 3:And so
Speaker 1:And that's because you condensed the scale of the house
Speaker 3:Yes. Correct.
Speaker 1:That on the lot?
Speaker 3:Yes. Uh-huh. Because we changed the positioning of the of the house on the lot.
Speaker 1:That's great.
Speaker 3:Because before we had 75 feet of driveway that faced the north, we hated that driveway.
Speaker 1:Right. Right.
Speaker 3:Because it was always icy. But, anyway, we got so our our outdoor space became so important to us.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So you made some lifestyle choices, that you were free to make at that point with the design process. Yes. Yeah. And then so and how much did you develop the exterior?
Speaker 1:What, you know, what what do you have out there? Besides so you have the upstairs deck, and then downstairs, you have some patios. Is there an outside kitchen or, you know, hot tub? What you got?
Speaker 3:No hot tub. We put in a a water feature. This lovely man built this water feature that's beautiful. It was like a piece of its art, you know, the way he made it. So we have some little fish in there.
Speaker 3:We have, a garden beds. I have three of them. They recycled, old decking and, you know, planed it and made it out of redwood, but it's recycled. So Uh-huh. And they put in the most marvelous soil.
Speaker 3:My garden's crazy. It's going it's lovely from this you know, they put in real, you know, real thoughtfully.
Speaker 1:And there's a water system?
Speaker 4:Yeah. Yeah. Sammy's tomatoes are the envy of the neighborhood right now. They're, yes, they're just jumping out.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. And that's something you had done before, but now you were able to create the place you wanted to put it?
Speaker 4:No. Yeah. I'm a horrible gardener.
Speaker 3:We tried we tried to have Jeff do it before. He got one, and it didn't work. And he I thought it'd be a good, like, hobby for him.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. But probably not.
Speaker 4:And it it didn't work. But Sammy is making a beautiful raised bed garden, and that's good. But, you know, we we had as Sammy talked about, we had just done a patio, deck patio area.
Speaker 1:So you had already thought about what you wanted. Right.
Speaker 4:So we were really able just to continue to expand on that. And and, again, go back to blessings that, you know, as we were the last house that burned, even though our house was destroyed, we still had a beautiful maple and a beautiful ash tree that survived.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And that's the corner where, you know, the the the patio, is put underneath those trees to give you the shade and that kinda quiet spot.
Speaker 1:And Yeah. Well, that's definitely a blessing. You know, you can't you can't recreate the feeling of an old growth tree, you know, something Exactly. Insured. Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's an anchor.
Speaker 4:Exactly. And and then I guess the whole thing just sort of continue to follow, you know, you know, the the inclined slope and the, you know, the the profile of the house, I guess, is considered modern. At least that's what people keep telling us. Oh, you have such a modern looking house. And
Speaker 1:Contemporary. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah. And and I think that Sammy carried that same thought through, you know, with the with the fixtures, the bathroom fixtures, the clean lines. The, yeah, the clean lines, the, you know, how she did the yeah, the clean lines, the, you know, how she did the countertops and and, and and and cupboards and all of that, you know, continued with clean and contemporary.
Speaker 1:And are the countertops manmade or, natural materials?
Speaker 3:They're, quartz.
Speaker 1:Quartz. Beautiful. So they're manmade. And, and then what about some of the other kind of specific lifestyle choices in the house? I mean, did you do you do you employ, you know, rain showers or, you know, rain shower heads and things like that or, any other kitchen things that you kinda did differently?
Speaker 1:Did you have a coffee station you didn't have before? How did that all evolve?
Speaker 3:Probably none of those. I mean, right now, we're we have, fixtures from the builder. We'll probably change out some of that. Uh-huh. We're in we're in the desert.
Speaker 3:We don't you know, we're trying to be kind of active in, you know, not using too much water, I
Speaker 1:guess. Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:We're minimizing it. So, you know, there might be better choices of might be cooler, but we've kinda we've stuck with the conservative Uh-huh. Things at the moment.
Speaker 4:And and also some of those things are you know, we we pick the level of of finish and fixtures that were in that whole budget envelope.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 4:You know? So and so to to go to to the rain shower, to add the steam room Right. Or on top of the that would've kinda Yeah. Poked a hole in that budget envelope we had.
Speaker 1:So Sounds like you made, you know, you made your choices to go beyond the budget line items where it was gonna matter in terms of longevity, you know, with your appliances and things like that. That sounds Yeah. Very wise.
Speaker 3:I think we spent it kinda we had we we had a designer come in and do the backyard and the front
Speaker 1:yard, the
Speaker 3:landscaping package. And we kind of had sticker shock from that.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh. But you know what? In the end, I am so grateful that we spent the money there.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Because it's like an an oasis, you know, and then we hit everything else.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That's a a hard one. It's a line where sometimes people have to wait a few years to get to the, you know, the next level of their surroundings. And then did you include any smart home, or automation features that you didn't have before?
Speaker 4:Any No. The more the smarter my home gets, the dumber I feel. So I don't have a whole lot of smart home stuff. Uh-huh. I mean, you know, getting getting a, you know, a a a a an automated lock and a and a doorbell that you know, that's that's about as far as we've gotten on any of that.
Speaker 4:You know, the thermostats are are, you know, set it, forget it kind of programmable stuff. But I you know, it's not like everything's connected there or anything
Speaker 1:like that. Running your house on your phone?
Speaker 4:No. No. I but, you know, I'd have to ask my son to do that for me. So we we haven't gotten that far.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So rather than be dependent on the next generation, you're you're going old school, but but you know how to use it. I get it. Yeah. I get it.
Speaker 1:I think that that's a little regional also, so we'll see what happens as I speak to meet more people in California maybe maybe doing more of those things. And and so then you you changed a little bit about, you know, the way that you're using your yard. What about the interaction between the yard? Did you are there different kinds of sliders and things like that? Are the windows larger than what you had before?
Speaker 3:We had pretty big windows before. That was one of the nice things about the house. So that's why we absolutely had to have that. They're a bit bigger.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:But we do have automated. We have automated blinds that counts.
Speaker 1:That's yeah. Well, that's a great feature. Yeah. Is that be you know, because of the high ceilings?
Speaker 3:And big windows and
Speaker 1:Big window. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:And a lot of sun coming in. So I wanted the kind where they're banded so you could have, like, close, you know, close them or have sheer
Speaker 1:Yeah. So they're like zebras or
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:Silhouettes, things like that.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Yep.
Speaker 1:That that's great. So you can control the amount of light and be able to control the temperature to some degree.
Speaker 4:Correct.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That's great. So is that we are one facade of the house, or is that pretty
Speaker 3:much throughout? Pretty much in the our bedroom, which is very it'd be very warm and plus, I don't want people looking in. We have neighbors. So you know, that way, we get light and and still, you know, have, lines up. But in the living room and the, in the dining room.
Speaker 3:So in that great room, we have those too.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. Well and I know that, in your previous house, you had just done some solar, to get you know, to utilize solar and efficient energy. Did you is that part of your new build?
Speaker 3:Yes. Yes.
Speaker 1:Great. Yeah. So were you able to do sort of more of that or do that in a different way?
Speaker 3:In a different way. I think we have less because the house is smaller and more efficient. And we also the Tesla battery, on the we have a Tesla wall so that we can store energy, store some of that, and sell it back to the electric company.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That's great. And so you probably haven't seen a full year of that yet. We'll have to talk again and see how that's panning out. But but you were really conscious of being able to develop that interest.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's you know, solar is is, you know, as as efficient as it gets, solar companies are still very good at maximizing their profits. You know? So it's still the kind of thing where, you know, if you're looking at a a traditional house, you know, built in the eighties or nineties, you know, seventies, even those kinds of subdivisions, you're still gonna have an eight to ten year payback on a solar project.
Speaker 4:But, you know, you get a more efficient house. And if you have an electric car, that really takes the solar payback down to, you know, three years, and it really becomes a no brainer at that point in time.
Speaker 1:That's great. Yeah.
Speaker 3:And plus x The energy comp the electricity company here, gave us a couple great rebates for doing solar and for doing the Tesla wall. Mhmm. So it made it very affordable.
Speaker 1:And was that something that your builder was very, pro into, or, you know, or did you have to bring that information to them and say, listen. We wanna incorporate this?
Speaker 4:They had worked with the with the the solar company, that we ended up using. Uh-huh. You know, there's, you know, plenty of options to choose from, and, and it was the builder that said, well, these are the guys that we're using in most of our subdivision work, and, you know, there's a relationship there already as far as, you know, the the phases of work that has to get done while the house is still just being framed in and before you do the installation. And and so we went with that company both because they gave us the best price and they've got a good reputation. That's it, etcetera.
Speaker 4:And the fact that, Ed had worked with them before, and, and it all it flowed together very, very well.
Speaker 1:Cool. Were there any moments of doubt or setbacks during the building process that were particularly challenging? How did you move past any frustrating moments?
Speaker 3:Like, what the first frustrating moment was they're dig starting to dig the hole. Yeah. You know, for the foundation or, you know, rework the land. And they found a 40 foot wall, 10 feet deep. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Because when we FEMA came in, right, FEMA came in, worked with Boulder County and the state, and they cleared the lots Yeah. All the debris. Well, they sorta lost a big piece of the house there.
Speaker 1:Of your original foundation?
Speaker 4:Yeah. They were supposed to pour it out so
Speaker 1:you didn't know.
Speaker 3:No. Correct.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow. Yep. Yeah. That that is a that's a big one. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So they had to excavate that, go backwards, and they could have taken it out more easily had it been taken out at the beginning.
Speaker 4:Correct. Exactly.
Speaker 1:That's that's not good.
Speaker 4:So, again, I gotta go back and give Allstate a little credit on that one because after, you know, going through that shot, basically, the insurance company, was involved with. So FEMA said everybody has a lot clearing allowance in their homeowners' insurance. And so because it was a federally declared disaster Right. FEMA basically contracted to clear all the lots. Uh-huh.
Speaker 4:But we all had to, turn over that piece of our insurance coverage to FEMA. You know? To Right. And so, you know, we had $30,000 in lot clearing in our policy, and it was you know, the the bid was $40,000, 40 5 thousand dollars to clear the lot. So, obviously, we went with the FEMA option.
Speaker 4:When they found that foundation still in the property, our insurance company said, no problem. We'll pay you to have it taken out, and we'll just deduct it from the amount that we reimburse FEMA.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 4:And so it ended up Uh-huh. Not you know, at the end of the day, it didn't cost us anything. And and so thank you again Yeah. You know, to the insurance guys for doing that one right.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Time and nerves.
Speaker 4:Yep. Yeah. I mean, the the most you know, as far as any specific, I didn't really have a moment where it's like, oh, how am I gonna deal with this, or how am I gonna get through with that other than just sort of, you know, just being human. And and and in the process, there were moments, you know, where I would wake up in the morning and just wonder when is this gonna end. You know?
Speaker 4:How how how how how do you get to the next day? And and, you know, Sammy would just kinda slap me around a little bit. And Yeah. You know, she would have a day or two that that would happen, and I'd try to take her hand a little bit. So
Speaker 1:turns.
Speaker 4:You know? Nobody nobody can do it alone. You know? Find hopefully, you you're with somebody that can help you get through it.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Absolutely. Teamwork is, truly a blessing when you have a good team going. And do you remember when in the whole, you know, timeline, your energy began to switch from the emotions of loss and the frustration to the joy of creating something new?
Speaker 4:I mean, every time that there's a a a new phase, you know, it's like when it's still just a, you know, piece of burned dirt, you know, your everything was still focused on our own survival. And then there was a hole, and it's like, okay. Something's happening, but, you know, we're still trying to, you know, get our long term place where we can actually live the last year. So we're we're doing the thing up in Longmont. But once it starts kind of framing in and you go, holy crap, that's gonna be our house.
Speaker 4:Look at that. You know? Look at the way that roof goes. That's pretty cool. And so, you know, and then framing makes it look one way, and then the drywall goes in, and then now it looks different.
Speaker 4:You know? Oh, jeez. That oh, that's how that's gonna work. I I you know? So, yeah, there's there's definitely phases during the construction where at least she she visualizes better than I do.
Speaker 4:I had to I had to wait till I actually could actually see. Yeah. I did see something, and then I got excited.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That's nice. And then and what advice would you give to others who might, you know, find themselves in a similar situation needing to rebuild after a disaster?
Speaker 3:Breathe. Just breathe. Yeah. Just, you know, just it takes a very long time to figure out your options. I mean, I think that was probably the most frustrating.
Speaker 3:I mean, we went down all these roads talking all these other builders before we decided to go with Markelle, And it it just got it was frustrating. And so I think, you know, you just have to sit with it, and you have to, you know, go with your heart, you know, and and your pocketbook. But you know what I'm saying? You just have to have to sit and breathe. And sometimes talking to a friend, does this make any sense?
Speaker 3:You know, we talk to each other, and we go, I think we're gonna do this. Does it make sense? So we talked to our best friends, and they go, that makes sense for you guys. I think, you know, you're gonna be happy with that. You know?
Speaker 3:But we just had to have a little confirmation that we weren't nuts. Yeah. No.
Speaker 1:You kind of build yourself a little committee to hear your ideas and things. Yes.
Speaker 4:I think you also have to give yourself permission for not knowing what you don't know. And and and forgive yourself for not being able to know everything and do everything. You know, that's why people like you exist, Jana, because that you know? I mean, you can only do what you can do and, and, you know, find somebody, find the team, put together the team. Don't worry about asking for help, and don't worry about accepting help.
Speaker 4:You know? It's like my son said, you know, dad, you know, if if you don't let all these people help you, then they're gonna be helpless too. You know? So, you know, ex accept the grace that, you know, they're providing. You know, find a team that can help you fill in the blanks that you don't know.
Speaker 4:Mhmm. And, stop beating yourself up.
Speaker 1:Yes. So looking back, now that you're in the house and you're living the good life, is there anything that you might have done differently in the design and building process now that you're as wise and time tested as far?
Speaker 4:Not in a sense. And, Sammy, feel free to jump in or you can't step on my toes because you're in kick me because you're in another room. But, sure, there are, you know, through every process, you go, gosh. Maybe if we would have just you know? And and so, yes, there are things that that I would say, well, maybe, you know, we had an opportunity.
Speaker 4:We you know, the way the house fits on the lot, if we could've just done two more feet, you know, in that direction with that or if we were to just added so, sure, there's there's a couple more things like that, but it's definitely not to the level of regret. Uh-huh. You know, we're That's great. I am delighted, and I feel like I'm home.
Speaker 1:That's great.
Speaker 4:You know, one more kick at the can maybe would have been just a little bit different, but not bad. I don't know. Well, how about you, Sam?
Speaker 3:There's a couple furniture choices that went
Speaker 1:what was what were you thinking here? I had to yeah. That's something you can easily change later
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:On the line. That's a good one.
Speaker 3:Yeah. But it happened. And and, actually, it's fine.
Speaker 1:And what's the use of color? I mean, did is it, is it a kind of gallery space for your art, or or did you in instill color in different areas?
Speaker 3:Well, the house That's why
Speaker 4:she started with the carpet.
Speaker 1:That's right. That's right.
Speaker 3:And the the color of the carpet has wall color the same wall color, which is kind of a gray. It's got a lot of gray with a lot of red in it.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. It's a warm gray. Yeah. Warm gray.
Speaker 3:I see. It's beautiful. And, so the carpet has that color in it. It has, violet. It has royal blue.
Speaker 3:It has, you know, like, a little bit of mauve. So those are the kind of things I wove through everything. So the carpet was like the star still.
Speaker 1:That's right.
Speaker 3:That's the
Speaker 1:way to do it. You guys happened into the best way. And, you know, you've talked about amazing community resources and and help the way everyone you know, the community created educational forums and, you know, did so many things that really helped you all work together. Are there any stories of that support or generosity that stand out to that you wanna share?
Speaker 3:Jeff, you have one? I mean, I think that builders forum was amazing.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That sounds good.
Speaker 3:And it was I mean, it was 40 built they did it again after we had picked our builder. They did it again. Yeah. Within it and they're and and but what's interesting is that was part of our, site manager. He was saying that there's 90 builders 90 different builders building these houses.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And that and that means that there's a big spectrum of good and bad. You know what I mean? Or is that professional and then kind of fly by night. So it it consequently slowed a lot of things down.
Speaker 3:So I think the fact that the community has been very vocal in all kinds of ways. They have get togethers. There's you know, they'll do a barbecue. They'll do it with any they've come with together with so many different forums that it's just amazing.
Speaker 1:One of those You, you know, meet people through the process in your community that you didn't know before that were going are going through the same thing that also lost their homes?
Speaker 3:We've met them.
Speaker 4:I think the most poignant one from that was, we were at one of the furniture stores, and and this this this was a furniture store that, you know, basically gave, gave everybody a thousand dollar gift card.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 4:You know, so times the 1,100 homes. You know? So he donated a little over a million dollars, you know, in he did. Furniture out to everybody. And so we were at we were at his store and had our little gift card, and and we were looking.
Speaker 4:And there was another gentleman, kind of standing there looking just as lost as I was, as his his wife was doing what mine was doing and actually getting something done. And and so we struck up a conversation, and and, yeah, he he was the he is the police chief for the city of Lewis.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow.
Speaker 4:And, you know, so it it sort of started on the on the, you know, the the level of, yeah. Oh, yeah. You lost your house too. And and, gosh. What was it like that night for you as the police chief and and all of the things, you know, being at the the the the tip of the spear as far as Yeah.
Speaker 1:I can
Speaker 4:emergency responses and everything. Well and then it just got more into everything with, you know, what it was like and how what you lost and who's been helping you. And so Sammy comes up. Long story short, here's me and the chief of police standing in the middle of this furniture store just bawling. Oh
Speaker 1:my gosh. Yeah. Yep.
Speaker 3:So sweet.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I bet he doesn't get to, you know, let his hair down often and just, you know, feel when you're worrying about everyone and yourself. That's unbelievable.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Just like that.
Speaker 1:Pretty intense. So then you know, so now that you're on this end and you're living in your beautiful home, what does your new home mean to you? And and having gone through the process of, you know, losing and rebuilding it, you know, what is that how different is it than every other time you know, other other house we've lived in?
Speaker 4:One more fun thing about just interesting support.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 4:You know, several of the real estate guys, you know, in in a shopping center said, here's a storefront that you can use to collect clothes or Uh-huh. Dishes or, you know, things to things to help. And and people were helping with everything. You know, I was really fortunate. I did get out, you know, with one of my guitars.
Speaker 4:Uh-huh. But, you know, we went to one of these, and we were looking for, you know, shirts and pants and, you know, I mean, basic necessities. And and and here's this little thing sitting there, and so I I picked up the guitar. I mean, there was all kinds of things besides just the basic necessity.
Speaker 1:In to shit.
Speaker 3:Yeah. To
Speaker 4:show. And and and so I was playing it, and and they said, here, have a guitar.
Speaker 1:That's great.
Speaker 4:I mean, you know, so it was more than just, you know, toothpaste and deodorant. They they they supported your heart just as well. And, you know, you know, good on all these people. Thank you. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean and, you know, we're we may be able to show a picture or two, but, you know, Jeff is sitting in a room with, guitars on his wall. Clearly, it's a big part of his karmic and and artistic, existence.
Speaker 4:Important stuff. Yep.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:There were several other guitars that unfortunately turned into firewood. So, you know, glad to have these with us.
Speaker 1:Even imagine how painful that is. And is there anything else about the rebuilding journey that you think is really important to share with our listeners as we wind up?
Speaker 3:I think I'd like to shout out to my neighbors because we had half of our neighbors that were still there. Right? They they looked at this horrible disaster for months and years. And, but they all they had signs in the neighborhood that said was it? Oh, no.
Speaker 3:Anyway, they were basically saying we're gonna have these up until you come home.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Waiting for you to come home. It was the blue ribbon group.
Speaker 3:Yeah. The the mom. It was so sweet. And, you know, they have been, you know, they have gone through as much as not so much, but still, they had to go through so much too. You know, the people surround that didn't lose their home, but they had to maybe get new blinds and or new drapes and new carpet and all the soft goods in the house.
Speaker 3:So they've all been through so much too. I don't wanna actually discount that because I think it was so they're so sweet, and they're and we've become so close now.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's really amazing and important. I mean, I can't imagine that there are any lives in your community that were not touched, if not their own home, by loved ones and, you know
Speaker 3:Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Amazing. Well, Jeff and Sammy, thank you so much once again for joining us. You have made my dreams for this podcast come true by sharing your story and articulating the realities of what you live through. You have come through on the other side with your sense of humor intact and a strong bond and a great sense of community. I can't thank you enough for spending, this time with us.
Speaker 1:To hear more of Jeff and Sammy Kinder's story, and understand how they navigated the insurance process, negotiated with their mortgage holder, and work together as a team to get their lives back on track, please check out our first episodes with the Kinders at w w w from disaster to dream home, where you'll find all of our previous episodes. And the Kinder family owns and operates their business, Advantage Self Storage, with location in in six states. Amazingly, even having lost their home and everything in it, the Kinders have found a way to give back to the community by making storage units available for others in the rebuilding process. For information, contact, advantage self storage at w w w dot advantage storage dot com to check out a location near you. And remember, Jana Design Interiors is a full service interior design firm working with commercial and residential clients.
Speaker 1:If you're thinking about a company move or a major home renovation or you're rebuilding after the loss of your home or business, please reach out to us at janna@jannadesigninteriors.com.
Speaker 2:Thank you for joining us on this episode of from disaster to dream home. The podcast that takes you inside the home building and rebuilding process. Each week, we bring you time tested practices and the latest trends through conversations with top professionals in the building industry. You can find other episodes of From Disaster to Dream Home at ewnpodcastnetwork.com, as well as Spotify, Apple podcast, Audible, and most other major podcast streaming services. Need design help?
Speaker 2:You can contact us or find out more about our guests at fromdisastertodreamhome.com. Until next time, let us guide and inspire you as you create the home of your dreams.