I've got several posts planned over the next few weeks, and wanted to start the series by sharing a few numbers from our excavator and builder.

I've posted some of this before, but no matter what you end up building on a rural lot, you're going to have fixed sitework costs, and these can add up fast. Here are ours, in round figures:

• Septic: ~$40,000 (3-bedroom)
• Well: ~$20,000 (continuous pressure)
• Stump Removal: ~$5,000
• Fill: ~$25,000
• Driveway: ~$10,000

So before there's a foundation, we've got $100K into sitework. Not included in this total is the *hundreds* of hours I've spent clearing the lot — once heavily-wooded — and roughly $10K into brush and tree removal, and hauling logs to the sawmill. Also not included is the ~$3K to get power from a nearby pole.

At this point in the post I was planning on line-iteming the rest of the build estimate. But it's just too much effort and there's too much noise in the spreadsheet, so I will simply post the remaining total: $540K.

So the grand total was $640K for 864 square feet (not counting the loft), with no garage. And here's the kicker: it doesn't include a 💩-ton of materials and labor I was going to have to provide/do myself:

• Foundation stonework
• Siding and trim
• Interior and exterior painting
• Interior ceiling and wall cladding
• Flooring
• Final plumbing (setting toilets, hooking up sinks, etc.)
• Final electrical (light fixtures and outlets)
• Patio
• Landscaping
• And I am probably forgetting a few things.

And here's Kicker #2: it appraised! We were 1 signature away from starting the project when life changes forced us to pull the plug.

Stay tuned for what happened next.

We paid $700 for a snow removal service that hasn't come once, and local golf courses are opening. On January 30th.

But Door County, WI got about a foot of snow on January 12th, so of course I had to drive over and take a few runs down the partially-cleared ski slope.

A few observations and takeaways:

• This is still early beta.
• What feels like a wide-enough trail without skis on feels like a chute when you're actually skiing down it.
• Confirmed: bump skis are awful in 12" of pow.
• A rope tow is a mandatory requirement.
• A guy can get shin bang *real* quick hiking up a hill in ski boots.
• There is an incredible amount of work ahead that almost certainly requires the purchase of a Bobcat.
• The full release might be delayed until winter 2025-26.

Yep, that's right. Fine Homebuilding podcast star Ian Schwandt (and his lovely wife Sara) stopped by High Bluff in late September to check out the lot I was always telling him about.

Their visit made podcast episode #602, with Ian not only mentioning the visit, but posting a picture of my manboobs (along with some other site shots). Too late now, but this is probably NSFW.

Looking forward to sharing more about the build with Ian, Patrick, and the rest of the podcast team. However if there are any more photographs, I will demand final cut.

Last December I shot the first ski run preview (v1.0).

This is a full v2.0 release, with substantially fewer trees and underbrush, and I even raked part of it to expose rocks and stumps, which I then removed. With even a couple inches of snow this section is ski-ready.

The biggest pain point now: how to get back up.

A Doppelmayr quad is out of the budget. A T-bar, too. So that leaves a rope tow.

Towpro sells a full backyard lift system but it's the equivalent of about 7 seasons of IKON passes. The DIY kit is 3.5 seasons. And these are portable, whereas mine can be fixed. I may be forced to start learning about electric motors, worm gear reducers, and variable frequency drives.

There's some remaining building site and septic field tree removal to do, but last weekend I couldn't resist exposing more of our view of Green Bay.

A birch and an ugly poplar came down and bam! An island!

At the risk of sounding like a complete ignoramus, I didn't even know this piece of land existed, and I've been coming to DC for over 40 years. It's Green Island. It's 68 acres, about 9 miles from Door County and 5 miles from Marinette, WI (on the other side of the bay). Turns out, it's the only private island in Green Bay. And, it's for sale!

Now we're considering a major pivot that's more aligned with our misanthropy: sell our 5 and buy an island, which will include:

• 9-hole golf course
• lit driving range
• rooftop bar
• rooftop pool
• rooftop helipad
• rooftop helicopter

Truly, Fantasy Island.

Right after we closed on the lot in August, 2022, our builder visited the site and shot some drone video.

I finally got my hands on it, and it turned out great. Enjoy the dramatic reveal!

Stay tuned as I've got several more from September, 2023.

I don't know how I got my phone into Early French Impressionist mode, but it's finally happened: our clearing is visible from Bay Shore Drive. Specifically from the parking lot for Bay Shore Blufflands Nature Preserve.

Our plan is to keep most of the red and white pines — seen here — because they are such magnificent trees, and still allow a view.

I still spend a lot of time on the Door County Land Information site, looking at our lot's elevation contours (for the ski run, of course), easements, road setbacks ... and just seeing our name legally attached to a piece of the peninsula.

When I checked yesterday I immediately noticed a new satellite photograph that showed both the February felling frenzy and the March wide-plank oak flooring stack and sticker. Just too cool!

After doing a little more digging, I learned that this picture is taken in early spring every two years, so I got lucky putting some human activity on camera. Two years from now, hopefully, the MVC will be visible from space, too.

Here's the satellite pic from spring, 2021. If I had to bet, I'd say this year's picture was taking earlier in the day, with the shadows being cast to the west (the left of the picture). The 2021 picture has shadows casting to the north (the top of the picture).

As I've aged, what I've lost in knee cartilage I've gained in old-person hobbies.

For the past 3 or 4 years I've been really into birds. An Audubon Society membership, of course, along with local Chapter outings, feeders galore, native plants and trees, a heated bath in the winter; the whole 9 yards.

In Minneapolis it's pretty run-of-the-mill: sparrows, chickadees, finches, cardinals, bluejays, hummingbirds, robins, and a few different woodpeckers.

At the lot it's like I'm on a safari, discovering birds I've never seen or heard, and some I've never even heard of.

Using the amazing Merlin app, here's what I've heard so far this spring and summer. Just too fun!

(Side note: Help our friends. They need it. If you're not already a member, join the Audubon Society.)

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Ovenbird

Great Crested Flycatcher

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Red-eyed Vireo

Wood Thrush

Scarlet Tanager

After the HBE HOA approved the logo design back in April, along with the language for our first sign, I volunteered to make it.

I wanted to try lasering it on a wide piece of oak, and it turned out even better than I imagined. Special thanks to Joe at Farmer Design for the sick burn.

Dear fellow HBE owners: if you want matching signage for your lot, just let me know!

The MVC (Minimum Viable Cottage) is part of an 8-lot development called High Bluff Estates.

We're not crazy about the "Estates" part, though anything more than 5 acres is an "estate" in Door County, Wisconsin.

"High Bluff" makes sense since these lots are on one of the highest points in the county.

Anyhow, I signed up to design the logo for this tiny development, and here's what I came up with (which was approved during the 4/19 HOA meeting).

Wait. Before I show it, I should note the objectives:

• Simple
• Legible on signage
• Highlight the Niagara Escarpment
• Highlight the highness of HBE compared to the other Door County bluff sites (hence the name).
• With some imagination, show the surrounding area and even the eight building sites.
• Surprise and delight, with an element not everyone will see at first, but will say "Ahhh." when they see it later.

Here's a description of each part of the logo. Very little of this will make sense if you're unfamiliar with the area. Even if you are familiar with the area you need to use your imagination as I've taken some liberties with the overall elevation (i.e., it's not to scale).

The logo has already appeared on our inaugural annual HOA billing statement, and will next show up on signage: I'm laser etching this on some of the oak I've had milled. Can't wait to see how that turns out.

Three bids are in.

Turns out, everything is in the same general ballpark, so we'll probably end up going with the contractor who's been giving off the best vibes.

We're still waiting on a couple more. You know who you are.

Well, I learned this fact from a logger named Ray
You don't cut timber on a windy day

— Johnny Cash

There was a gale warning in Egg Harbor for Sunday night and sustained 15-20 MPH forecast for Monday, so Sunday afternoon, with winds at 4-5 MPH, I took down as many trees as I could, and left the limbing and bucking for when it's blowing.

Don't cut timber on a windy day.

It was so fun. I probably felled 20 trees and even managed to make three or four felling cuts that didn't bring embarrassment and shame to the point where I needed to re-cut the stump to hide the incriminating evidence. I'm posting those here (see below). Also, the video is not bad. I didn't make a totally even back cut, which is why the tree twisted a little on the way down. My technique still has a long way to go. By the time the lot is fully cleared I hope to be intermediate.

At this rate, the MVC will ship in 2025.

We've now got two sitework bids, and I've added the second one to the table below. The numbers are pretty close for the most part, except Contractor B is coming in way below on the backfill price. I need to find out if we're all talking about the same thing.

Also, I am going into the stump-grinding business.

The housing market can be hot, and it can be slow. Rates can be high, and they can be low. But one constant remains: most contractors aren't great at answering calls and emails, returning calls and emails, providing estimates, and in general doing what they say they will do. And we haven't even started construction yet.

When the sun dies in 5 billion years, this will still be the typical behavior.

It's been over two weeks since five different contractors looked at our project, and I have only one estimate back. I wanted to post it here to give readers an idea of what we're looking at in order to do all the sitework. As more bids come in🤞I'll add their numbers to the table in the most normalized, apples-apples way I can.

This video turned out not quite as I imagined, but it's passable to post here as a preview to Door County's only ski run, coming sometime in 2024.

It was recorded on December 5, 2022.

Yes, it's a tree run. Note the ancient eastern white cedars in the last 1/3 of the video.

The last 15% is a doozy; definitely a black diamond, with the possibility of Warren Miller-worthy air. But unlike almost any other part of the escarpment, where it's a cliff, skiing on our lot is a possibility.

I'll have more on Door County's downhill skiing history in a future post.

One of the objectives of the 8-day Door County stay was to create a "driveway" and "parking" on the lot so I didn't have to keep parking on the side of the road. And on the 8th day, mission accomplished. It felt great to actually drive onto the building site. It suddenly somehow felt more "owned" than before, getting a truck in the space where the tennis courts will go 😉. It certainly was much handier accessing gear, and beer.

Before heading back to Minneapolis I put all the timber I plan on milling on makeshift stickers so they're not rotted by direct contact with the earth. Even using wood-moving techniques taught in The Bible, and with the help of a cant hook, it was a lot of work. I also destroyed all evidence of any laughably amateurish felling cuts. There were a few decent ones (but nothing great yet). I kept those visible for any stump readers who might stop by.

I can't wait to get back and start exposing part of the view (hopefully in October). I'm also excited about the possibility of placing the structure between a giant white pine and a giant red oak, where the oak would be the centerpiece of a circular driveway, while the pine would ideally sit between two windows on the western elevation. I need to bring the measurements and compass readings into SketchUp to see if it will work out. The results will be posted here.

As you might imagine, clearing a wooded lot has generated mountains of brush. In my case, three 8'-9' tall stacks, along with several dozen 3"-6" "trunks" of underbrush and small trees. On Saturday I rented the Bandit 75XP and fed everything into it.

On its face it seems pretty low-effort: grab some pre-stacked brush, stick it in the chipper, and repeat a few hundred times. But at the end of the day it was the most wiped I'd been all week. It's also extremely loud, even with good ear protection. I'd be fine not ever doing this again.

My new neighbor John stopped by to help for a couple of hours, and his wife Gretchen even sent along some homemade cookies. They are setting the High Bluff Road neighbor expectations bar, way, way too high. (John and Gretchen, I hope you read this.)

Here's a video of my kind of chipping: insert a long piece into the chipper. Stand around for a few seconds and have time to shoot a video.

Our wide-plank oak flooring has landed. I'm not gonna lie. I should've popped a couple of Valium or Xanax — or maybe both — before taking this oak down. While I have been prepping for it all week, reviewing my previous experience in my mind, and re-reading key verses of the tree-felling Bible, there is no getting around the anxiety of felling a 20" diameter tree. Unless you do this for a living, it's big and scary. Anyone who says otherwise is full of shit.

Also, I am out here on my own. 😬

It all went pretty well. I didn't die. I did make a rookie mistake by not making a relief cut before lopping off the first 8' 6" section once it was on the ground, which caused the split you see. I can't imagine making that mistake again.

Later this year it's all headed to Henschel Sawmill, just a few miles away on Townline Rd. It's famous for being the only female-operated sawmill in Wisconsin. Jamie Henschel is awesome and I look forward to having her mill all our timber.

I'm spending the entire week at the lot, taking down as much brush and timber as I can. There's hopefully enough gas, and also fuel.

For anyone following along, it's going to be important to see the plot of land on the high bluff where the cottage will be built.

It's 785' from east to west, and 355' from north-ish to south-ish, for a grand total of 5.05 acres.

The lot is on the Niagara escarpment, which runs from about Fond du Lac, WI to, you guessed it, Niagara Falls, NY.

Below is a parcel map from the Door County site, with 2-foot elevations. The highest point on our lot is 798' above sea level, and the lowest is 644', for a 154' vertical drop. Niagara Falls' vertical drop is 160'. All we're really lacking is the Niagara River.

(I can't mention vertical drop without dropping a long-range property goal: Door County's only ⛷️ run. It's a blue-black with a big steep at the end, where the red lines are really close together.)

As you can probably tell from the image, the best buildable area is in the southeast corner of the lot. That's the spot where the header picture will repeatedly be taken from, aiming straight west. Right now it's just trees, but at some point in the next few months a pretty killer view of Green Bay will be revealed. Stay tuned.