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Greetings!
Featured this month is the home of Conor and Olga McCarthy. Their home was built on a picture perfect 30 acre rolling horse farm off of KY 169 at the Woodford/Jessamine County line. Read on to see how they made their dream a reality with UBuildIt!
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Build Cost: $812,000
Finished Sq Ft: 5,856/$139 ft
Total Sq Ft: 7,926/$111 ft
Land Cost: $312,000
Appraised Value: $1,348,800
INSTANT EQUITY: $224,800 |
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"If U want to build a house yourself, you have no choice but to use UBuildIt!"
--Conor and Olga McCarthy |
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| Conversations with Conor and Olga |
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What upgrades did you add?
We did alot. We used reclaimed hardwood flooring from Longwood antique woods. We put in geothermal heating system along with Icyene for insulation on all the exterior walls, roof line and interior plumbing. In our kitchen we used Thermador commercial style stainless steel appliances. All baseboards and trim wood was the largest size commercially available without going custom. We did custom built in cabinets in the office and family room and granite countertops in all bathrooms and the kitchen. Ther is probably alot more to numerous to list but had w enot used UBuildIt none of those upgrades would have been affordable.
What was your reason for building? We wanted to live in the country so we bought land with no house so we had to build. Also we both come from Ireland and we wanted a home with a European/Georgian feel and we could not afford to or find a house that suited our tastes so we decided to design our own home and build it.
Why did you choose UBuildIt? I have covered some of the reasons already but I wanted to build my own home but having a full time job that was impossible, so being a contractor over my own job was the next best thing.
Upon consultation with Don Butterfield of UBuildIt, I realized he had the experience and the know how to guide me and mentor me through the whole process. I flew as solo as I could but whenever I looked over there Don was helping to hold me up.
What was the hardest part about building? Alot of the process moves along at its own pace and owning my own business I like to get things done asap and I like to give that service to my customers, so some times I found it a little frustrating dealing with the odd contractor or especially government official when performance was not as prompt as I would have liked. I guess that a failing of mine when I strive for excellence I expect it from everyone and I expect it now so shen someone tells me that they are coming on Wednesday they had better be there. But in the building trade that does not always happen so one has to learn patience. |
| Framing
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| "Framing The Main House!" |
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Framing of the main house continues as the summer rolls on. |
| Masonry Walls
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| "The Size is Evident From The Back!" |
| The McCarthy's house European design makes it appear to be a small cottage. This view from the back with the four car garage helps you realize this two story with a full basement actually has almost 8,000 sq ft total. |
Icynene Spray Foam Insulation |
"Want The Most Efficient Insulation On The Market Today!"
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The open and closed cell foam insulations are more that twice as efficient as a typical fiberglass batt or blown cellulose medium. Not only is the insulation value much higher but you also totally eliminate any energy loss due to air infiltration. In most houses this factor alone can save a ton of money in heating and cooling. Want to learn more on energy efficiency? Come to one of our monthly free Energy Pros homebuilding seminars. Details and times below. |
| Energy Pros Free Home Seminar in Lexington |
Weds, June 19th-6:30-8:30 PM
HIGH PERFORMANCE HOME BUILDING SEMINAR
Why? Learn the 5 basic steps to building a high performance energy efficient home
Where? Bluegrass Community and Tech College, 470 Cooper Drive (across from Commonwealth Stadium)
When? This coming Wednesday nite June 19th from 6:30 to 8:30PM.
Interested in more information about our group and the upcoming seminar. Just check out our website at:
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| Kitchen
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| Custom Cabinet Installation In Progress! |
| This kitchen is a very functional yet beautiful room. The floor to ceiling custom cabinets make for lots of storage. The center island with a real wood butcher block top and wet bar sink will get good use! |
| Catastrophic Fire! Total Loss!
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| "Spontaneous Combustion Was The Likely Cause!" |
| Three weeks away from moving into their dream home the McCarthys house burned to the ground. It was a total loss. Luckily no one was injured, and they had the proper insurance coverage for full replacement. Conor and Olga were wonderfully upbeat and optimistic in the face of a very disheartning situation. They contracted with us to build their house back. (Read in the next section, in his own words, why Conor decided to rebuild with us) Conor and Olga's building experience from the first build allowed them to fine tune the new construction to get exactly what they wanted. |
| Demolition Finishes - Construction Starts Again!
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| "Cleaning Up For The Rebuild" |
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We brought the trackhoe, bull dozers and dump trucks in to pile up the remains of the burned house and start the construction from scratch. |
| News Flash from UBuildIt.com!!!! |
We thought you might be interested in reading one of the latest articles on our website. Each week we add new and informative articles on a variety of topics and post them at www.UBuildit.com.
The Builder in You section provides Home Building and Remodeling information and advice for those who want to build or remodel their own fully custom home. You'll find helpful DIY tips and a source for building your own home.
Want to make sure you are properly covered with the correct insurance policies for your building or remodeling project, just like the McCarthy's.
This week's feature article is:
"What Building Insurance Do You Really Need?"
Click this link below to view the article.
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| More Conversations With Conor and Olga |
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What was the best part of building? Being in charge if my own destiny and basically having a hands on every step of the way. And finally moving into your own home that you can say, "I built this house!"
How much time did you spend on the project? I visited the site everyday for the entire eight months but that was our of desire not necessity. We named our farm "Ban Eile Farm" which is Gaelic for the other woman because my wife said me going out to the site everday was worse that having another woman.
Any other comments? "Due to circumstances beyond our control three weeks before we moved into our house it burned to the ground. Three months later we poured the footings for the second time. With the insurance money I could have afforded to have a contractor build it for the second time, but I did not hesitate to use Don Butterfield and UBuildIt again. It would not have given me the same satisfaction to sit back and let someone else build my home. Even in the meatijme we had another child and I started another business I still ofund the time to attend to my "Ban Eile" everyday. We moved in July 2007 and I think not a day goes by when my wife does not say "did I ever tell you how much I love this house". I would without hesitation recommend Don Butterfield, Wayne Henning, UBuildIt and all their Preferred Contractors to help you build you own home.
Thanks,
Conor A. McCarthy |
View From Rear Deck
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| "Can You Find a More Wonderful View For a Horse Farm?" |
| Conor and Olga can sit on their back porch, sip their favorite beverage and watch the thorougbreds run! |
Home Office  |
| "Conors's Office - The Center of Business Action!" |
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You can clearly see where the work gets done. Conor runs his businesses in his home office where he had custom built in cabinets and a matching desk constructed. Olga was not left out as there are other beautiful built-ins and custom cabinets throughout the house. |
The Greatroom
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| "Conor and Don Shake Hands on a Deal Well Done!" |
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This home has 5 bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths, office study with floor to ceiling hardwood built-ins, playroom, 4 car garage, geothermal, foam insulation, Zabel septic system, Rumsford fireplace, custom entertainment system, spacious composite deck and pavers on their patio.
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| "The McCarthy Dream Home is Complete!" |
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| Want Some Free Help With Your Dream Home? |
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