A quick history of the house was written when the house was on the LHNPC garden tour one year. It gives basic background information about the property and what we started with.

The following links point to e-mails which I sent out to a selected list of people as the construction went along. Each link is based on the date of the e-mail.

As you can see, from the actual 'start' date, to the end of construction was more than 3 years. Actual construction lasting about 15 months. Since we purchased the property in 1990, the total time was much longer than we expected.

Way back in 1989 we had the brush removed from the pad to see if we could actually build on it. The test for build-ability was to perform a perk test on the property. This means digging a hole and filling it with water until the ground is saturated, then adding more water and seeing how long it takes for the hole to empty. The property passed the perk test and we closed escrow.

Sep 22, 1997 Chez Barto

The group got together to start the grading of the road. This ran into problems with rocks.

Jun 11, 1998, The Grading Progresses

We had some problems with rocks, more rocks, and when the rock was removed, it left a large hole. Katherine had fun walking up and down the road, and looking into that gaping hole. This was a very stressful time for all concerned. Just how much was this going to cost? These rocks were actually just one rock. It was about the size of a VW Bus, and took the better part of a day to remove from the road bed. We had more fun with rocks when we got to grade the pad.

The water meter was put in at the beginning of September. The city dug a hole, installed the pipes, then filled the hole, leaving a useable water meter behind.

Oct 3, 1998, Well, It's been a busy time, in Poway, My Home Town

Apr 6, 1999, Come 'n Listen to a story 'bout a man maned DEB

Jan 26, 2000, Funding

Jan 27, 2000 State of the House address

Feb 18, 2000, Grading Permit

I was there the day the major grading machine arrived to do the house.

Feb 29, 2000 We've Only Just Begun

Now we got to deal with the actual grading of the pad. Note that there are lots of rocks parked at the right end of the photo. Those eventually wound up being buried in a pit. The TD-25 did a lot of work, it could dig in deep, and make quite a hole. We moved a lot of dirt, because we were required to remove the existing pad, then replace it. This was to ensure that the pad was properly compacted. Construction was not only hard on us, it was hard on the machines also. This made such a sound that Katherine heard it over a quarter of a mile away. No one got hurt. Early in the construction the pad looked fairly similar to the original, however later we started piling up rocks where ever we could. We had lots and lots of rocks. It got to the point that we got a special permit to bury them.

Apr 28, 2000, Pad Warming Party

Jun 06, 2000, Permission to Build, was followed shortly there-after with the pouring of the foundation.

Jul 27, 2000, Breaking News

Nov 30, 2000, 1 Door, 2 Door, Glass Door, Wood Door

May 10, 2001 What A Long Strange Trip

May 28, 2001: We move in to the completed house.

Aug 07, 2001 House Warming Party