A second time submittal

We actually thought that the two alternative designs that the architect came up with were downright ugly. Here they are..

After dwelling on them a bit, it occurred to us that perhaps the direction we were being steered in wasn't that of preserving the historic nature so much as it was being in line with the rest of the neighborhood. So we decided to modify the plans to incorporate some of his ideas but also in a direction that we originally wanted. We put in the front and the porch we'd wanted from the beginning! We played with some designs where we wrapped the porch around the corner, used more craftsman like columns and gable roofs, and added a french door leading out to it.

We were thrilled with the results..

After submitting the revisions and some more waiting, the town architect approved!!!

It was time to send out the notification letters to the neighbors and put up the story poles. The story poles is a requirement in my town (did i mention they're strict here?) whereby a contractor comes out and erects this orange netting structure to show the neighbors what the outline of the proposed house looks like. One of the builders i'd been talking to was willing to work on it and it took them about a day and a half to put up..

If you look, you'll see the outline of the house roof line in the orange netting. The gables, the porch, the 2nd story, etc. 

The notification letters also went out. Essentially it allows 10 days for the neighbors to comment on the proposal. If nobody comments, the plans are automatically approved and we get to move forward with working docs (the version of the plans that include electrical, structural and plumbing that a contractor can build from). If someone comments, then we have to schedule and have a hearing with the town to listen and respond to any comments they have. Typical comments can be sun/shade or privacy issues.

Putting up the story poles ended up costing me $4,456.08 which comprised of $946.08 in material and $3,510 in labor ($65 x 54 man hours). I should have bidded that work out to multiple contractors as I bet I could've had it done cheaper but oh well - live and learn.