Who are the best builders?

Tim Cooley, a cousin, made a good case for using a builder (vs. a prefabricated house, even if it is a high-quality prefabrication company). For ex., I can easily add in the original home's doors with odd sizes, whereas with a pre-fab house I might be limited. I can also have a closer match to the original house's size (most of the pre-fab plans I was looking at are bit smaller footprint). I want a simple home but not too squeezed in. With a prefabricated Huntington Home I have heard you might be able to get "more house for the money." And one big benefit (at least this is how they promote it) is you can get more of a set price, without increases as the build goes on. Peace of mind.

The seemingly more 'instant house' of a prefab is not something I need. We have time. We have a house here in western Mass that we love and enjoy and since Danny is retiring in September of this year, I want to give him time to enjoy this min-farm.

You can never plan enough, think things through enough, and you can add to your design as you give yourself time. So I am starting that design process. Taking input!

You may have seen my earlier posts where I describe what I'd like to do- keep as close to the original house design as possible. Especially from the front, I want it to look like that same white Cape section of house with balanced windows on each side of a stately front door. I love the unique upside down V dormer upstair on the front with its two windows. So all of that I am sure of.

I also want the flow of the house to be the same. If you are a guest, you can enter where the dining room area is (with the kitchen visible just beyond that) and the living room towards the front of the house.

If you live there, you can enter from the back, straight into the kitchen.

There will be one bedroom downstairs on the front/NW side. And of course a bathroom.

There will be two bedrooms upstairs on each side with a bathroom in between.

So that is all the same.

Changes:

Biggest change- no saltbox house that had the fireplace living room and garage. I wish I could keep it, strictly from an aesthetic point of view from the outside of the house; to keep it with that same '2-house look,' along with the nostalgia of those rooms. But we can't afford and don't need two houses.

So the house will just be the front Cape house.

We most likely (but maybe not right away) add a garage but push it way towards the north (on the east side), rather than have it on the south/east side like it is now. The south is too important to have a garage steal sunlight, etc.

Move the kitchen back into that shed area just to use the space (the room that could only be entered from outside the house and was wasted space before).

Have the downstairs as open as possible...we'll see what suits it and what works engineering-wise. I was thinking to have the stairwell and the front entrance more open to the living room could be nice. It's a big wide hallway there now (oh gosh, I just realized I am still picturing the house as being there). Why not have it be part of the living room, see the stairway and see that beautiful front door and allow the light to enter the living room.

The wood stove will not be in the way of the cellar door & bathroom door like it was in the kitchen, instead most likely in the living room or dining room.

I am also reusing some of the old wavy glass from original windows. I have pictured two transom windows for some reason (long, narrow, horizontal with about 10 panes each). They don't open, they just in light and keep the view through the wavy glass. They would need to be framed by a new wooden window frame with the wooden grid separating each pane.

I am trying to decide where to put those. Definitely not in the front (I don't want to change that view of the house from the road). Though I could potentially use them for each side of the front door, the so-called sidelites that the original door had (and I definitely want to maintain). That could be a very appropriate spot for them.

I could also use them on the north to let in more light without letting in more heat from the sun.

Sara has connected me with the artist Phil Godenschwager from Randolph. I will get his advice on these windows.

http://www.philgodenschwager.com/home-1.html

After looking at his website, I was inspired to imagine these two transom windows, one set above the other with a narrow black etched line running through them from left to right to represent the shape of the ridge line of the hills out in front, and, since he does amazing stained glass, I thought maybe a hint of sunset color along the top middle of the mountain line. But Danny vetoed that saying, "I like simple." So still taking input on reusing the wavy glass.

Any input or advice on contractors or design is welcome!

So far I have written to two recommended contractors: AJ Hoyt from Chelsea and David Aldrighetti from Bethel. Anyone else you'd recommend? The nice part is, I don't have to rush and I don't have to have someone who is free immediately. Just someone reliable, good at what they do, and nice to work with.