The Kirkpatrick’s BIG D.I.Y. Project
We did not “have a house built,” we built our own house!
Why did we build a house in West Virginia? During late summer 2004, Mike and I rode our motorcycles through the area. We really enjoyed the spectacular mountain roads and beautiful scenery. Oddly enough, we both thought it would be cool to own a piece of land nearby so we’d have a base camp, so to speak, for future trips. It just was not much fun riding around our suburban Maryland home.
We started looking at property later that same year and by December we had found and settled on a piece of land near Romney, West Virginia. Our lot is just under 6 acres.
Not wanting to amass a huge debt, we decided to do most of the work ourselves. Many times throughout the process, we both wondered if we were insane or just drunk when we decided to build ourselves.
It was tough. But a rewarding kind of tough. Now it’s done and we get to sit back and enjoy the place.
I documented the entire process, and then some. But it was before I discovered blogging. So it’s chronicled on the following web pages. Each page link below contains thumbnail images of posts from that particular year.
I guess maybe I could convert those pages into a different format. But that would take an awful lot of time. So you’ll just have to muddle through as best as you can.
If you end up in some weird place, just navigate back to ToadMama.com and click on the WV Place page tab to start over.
Found your post about reconnecting with old friends. I too was a friend with Diana Kunkoski from the early 80’s and lost touch with her. If you are still in contact with her I would love to know if she would be willing to give me her contact information. She was also friends with a Kathy Reichard who introduced us, not sure if you are the same Kathy. I am also an avid motorcyclist who rides a 2003 Gooldwing.