Looking for a new home?

Back in February, we decided it was time to find a new place to live. We were in the city and we needed to move to one of the suburbs where the public school system was at least palatable, so we started looking at houses for sale. We visited at least 30 houses and none of them really stood out as being the place that we wanted to live for the next 30 years. And we were set on the idea of NOT moving again in a long time—we lived in the last house for over 10 years, and we hate moving. I’d rather schedule a root canal than move.

We were nearing the end of our rope when we saw a sign on the side of the road: “Model House”

What’s this? A brand new built-for-you house? We probably can’t afford that…

We walked into the first model (of four) and were somewhat impressed. We liked the arches, the floors, and the cabinetry. We went into the second model and met David from Windsor Homes. He told us to check out all four and let him know if we had any questions. The third house was very nice, we really liked the layout, but it had a formal dining room, and we weren’t really looking to pay for a room that we’d never use.

The fourth house blew us away. It had the cabinets and arches and floors of the first house, the layout of the third house, and no formal dining room. It had an area between the smaller bedrooms that made a kind of secondary living area for the kids. The ceilings in the living, dining, kitchen, and master bedroom were high, and it made the rooms feel that much bigger. The master closet made my mouth gape. We went back to David.

“We love the last house, but the lot is too small. These houses are right next to each other! What can you do about that?”

He told us about Stone Horse Farms and sent us to see Jim. The big question- can we afford this!?

We looked around the neighborhood and talked to the bank. We ran the numbers, calculated the interest, picked the add-ons, and went back to Jim. “How fast can Windsor build this house for us?”

Jim said that they could have it built in 4 to 5 months (and I didn’t believe him at the time.)

We told them we wanted a ground-source heating and cooling system. No problem. We told them that we wanted to do the low-voltage wiring ourselves (I’m a computer guy and an electrician…) and they said no problem. We wanted to move a wall here, another one over there, relocate a closet to the garage, and they said “no problem.” I wanted “decora” outlets and switches throughout the house, and extra outlets for Christmas lights outside. No problem. We have a unique refrigerator and freezer that needed a home in the kitchen- they figured out how to make them fit.

At some point, someone said “You have shopped around, right?” and we decided that we really should check out some other builders. One was really expensive. Another one said “ground source heating and air? No, we won’t do that.

"So we decided to just find some people who had houses built by Windsor. The respondents were evenly split on the matter- but we quickly figured out why.

The customers that had worked with Windsor to have “their house” built had nothing but good things to say. There were minor things here and there, but “no house is perfect” and “Windsor took care of it.”

The customers that bought a Windsor home built for someone else had nothing but bad things to say and
it seemed like they just picked apart every little tiny detail. This wasn’t the way they liked it, that wasn’t how they would have done it. Kind of the way we would have felt moving into just about any “used” residence…

Since we were clearly in the “their house” camp, we decided to take the plunge. We put some money down, signed our names, and they started moving dirt. They moved fast! The crews flew through our house, one day the footings were poured, before we knew it the cables were down and the slab was poured, and the framers showed up with hammers in tow. Every time we came out there was progress. At times, I had trouble keeping up with them- I was out evenings and weekends running computer, tv, telephone, and surround sound wires through the walls and attic. I pre-wired every window for a security system, and ran wires for security cameras.

We met the fellow responsible for putting all of our hardware on and doing the final touches. He was a skilled craftsman. When I found out he was going to put in light bulbs, I asked if I could bring out some high-efficiency bulbs and he could put those in, so I wouldn’t have to switch them all out later. No problem! I got CFL bulbs from the hardware store for about $2.00 each- and they say they use $48 less electricity per year… that’s about a two-week return on investment for those of you doing the math…

The pre-final walkthrough was easy- a bit of touch up paint here and there, fix these window latches, and move this light over a little so the bulb can actually be changed… (the garage door guys mounted the opener directly below the light fixture!)

The wood entry was beautiful, the tile areas were perfect, and the fireplace was stunning.

We finally closed on our new home about 4 ½ months after we first signed contracts. A month later, we’re still moving in, but we can’t imagine life as it was before. We are living in the house of our dreams, with every option we wanted.

In the end, we would strongly encourage anyone who is thinking of having Windsor Homes build their dream home to take a deep breath and sign on the line. Keep in communication with them as your house is being built- you may see options you wanted but missed and they can fix those kinds of things on the fly. It’s been a thrilling experience and there isn’t much we would change if we had to do it over again! (the back porch would be 24x24 instead of 12x12!!!)

Happy building!

The Mitts Family / Broken Arrow, Oklahoma