I’m Brian.
Dave and I bought a lovely quarter-acre plot of land in Southold, New York. It’s on Paradise Shore Road, a quiet private way.
Southold is in North Fork, an area of Long Island that would remind you of France’s Normandy if you’ve veer been to Normandy. If you haven’t, I highly recommend it. Rolling green hills, numerous wineries, and views of the ocean.
In the past several years, the North Fork has become increasingly popular destination for primary homes and summer escapes from New York. It draws folks who are rightly tired of the Hamptons scene. I personally hate the Hamptons scene. I did it once, and that was plenty. I went to a birthday party in a ka-billion dollar house, and sipped wine as I stood next to, and devoured, a $1,200 wheel of Parmesan cheese. I was the only one in shorts and sneakers. Everyone else had khakis, blazers, and loafers. I never got the memo.
The North Fork is for folks who never got the memo. Or even better, don’t want the memo. It’s chill. It’s beautiful. And importantly, it’s currently reasonably priced.
But, that’s no longer a secret. Properties have been getting scooped up left and right.
There, a quarter-acre lot with water access is an increasingly rare find. When Dave heard of the opportunity, we decided to go for it.
It didn’t take long before we realized that we’d made a good call. Within three months of buying the lot, we were offered 24% more than we’d paid for it. In finance terms, that’s a darn good investment.
But, we didn’t want to just buy and sell real estate. We wanted to build a house. And we didn’t want to just build a house. We wanted to build a house that we’d actually like to be in.
I’ve never built a house before. It’s a brand new experience for me.
Dave’s built houses before. He’s got many years of construction behind him. But, this time, he’s building a house the way he wants to build a house.
Why is that different? Because he’s not just a builder, he’s an artist. I first met him when I was an advertising copywriter. In the days before Photoshop, he was a professional photographer known for his creative panache. Ad agencies far and wide hired him to not just take photographs, but to actually design the photographs. He built models and miniatures with painstaking detail. Kind of a lost art, that.
On the side, he’d refurbish sailboats, bikes and vintage cameras. He builds custom furniture. He’s well-versed in art and architecture.
In other words, he brings multi-dimensional capabilities to the table when it comes to designing and building this house.
We’re going to build a house and then we’re going to sell it.
And it’s not just a house. It’s a Super Duper House.