Hangar Homes
Imagine, it's been a long day. You are tired and laying in bed thinking of the day's activities. Sleep does not come easily because you are excited. You look around the new room - your room; so vivid in your recent dreams but now so real in fact. The coffered ceilings, the perfect built-in video area that your spouse designed; the smells; more exciting than the "new car" smells that you have experienced. Everything about the home is perfect. The bathroom, patterned after that resort where you spent your honeymoon, the window with the view; the parlor just like grandma's home in Michigan. You always loved that space - and its associations. The kitchen is the best you have ever had; designed and built based upon your study of the experts, your own experiences as well those of Aunt Betty's. Every nook, every cranny, every detail is just as you and your loved ones wanted. No compromises, not this time. It's exactly what you want.
Four times I have had this experience. I must say that to say these were fulfilling would be an understatement. I could even liken it to the birth of my kids. Not in the exact same category but the similarity is quite real. And like all hard-won goals, these have been pinnacles of my life. The truth is that many experience this feeling - many have. You may have as well - and if you have you know of what I speak.
I am certain that many wonder how difficult this is to achieve. Some may wonder if it is even possible. Please trust me when I say that it is absolutely obtainable. It is well within many, many people's means to be able to achieve a custom built home; a habitat which is their own space - created for them or by themselves alone.
Today may be one of the best times to do this.
So What is a Custom Building?
Custom building is the action of designing and constructing a home precisely and uniquely to one's own taste.
It is one of the last industries where the creation of such uniquely individualized products is economically feasible. Other industries, today, rely upon duplicity of effort, in the form of mass production, to keep prices of various items to a level of affordability. Few could afford a car or computer or radio or any of the myriad of items available if each item was custom designed and built for the user. Actually mass manufacturing is a key to our material success in this society but it, inherently, must be guided by mass appeal.
A custom designed home, however, is a unique kind of product. even though it is designed and built entirely to the specs of an individual it can be actually achieved, quite realistically, for a cost quite similar to that of the existing, mass-appeal units. Why? It is simply because most homes are built in the same way; regardless if they are designed for mass appeal or alone for an individual. And, since homes tend not to depreciate too much, newer homes can commonly be built for cost very similar to purchasing those already built. Isn't that interesting? It turns out that building can commonly be of similar cost. Yet it would likely have much greater value - at least to the first owner. Since the owner is attempting to recover his costs to build, when he sells an upscale, custom home, he will usually choose costs similar to the cost if you actually had it built it yourself. And that is not to mention the savings if you did your own contracting.
Now, pay attention here. You will find model homes or predesigned floor plans can and are modified in limited ways. These are commonly called custom homes but this is a misnomer. Actually, these are "customized" homes or models. This could be considered a form of "custom" it is more similar to getting to choose the color of your car or if you want leather or cloth seats. This would not really be custom, as defined here. Homes where you have a few limited choices of modifications are "customized" homes.
Custom homes, as defined here, are homes uniquely designed and built. These are not homes from stock plan companies. These are homes that are designed for you.
This is an experience and something that is quite within reach of many, however there is much to know if you want to avoid the pitfalls. It is advised that before you venture into this adventure of a lifetime, make sure you obtain a good understanding of the process so that you will not fall into some of the traps that can exist.
It is something you may well think you deserve. If so, you should go for it. Happy Building!
In 2004 I decided to focus all my professional efforts into the design and engineering field. This gave me the opportunity to do something that I had dreamed of for a couple of decades - the ultimate dream of most pilots: move into an aviation community. I designed our new home and we moved into a small 25' camper trailer on our property at Love's Landing, in Central Florida, and set about building those plans into our new home. The day we moved out of that camper and into our new, rather sparely furnished, at the time, home, was one of our happiest and most fulfilling.
What is an aviation community? It is one of the real symbols of freedom to any living in the United States - pilot or non-pilot. It is a residential community, a collection of homes and hangars, owned and lived in by individuals who also own, individually or collectively as a small group, a runway or sometimes more than one runway.
These individuals (and that is a very descriptive word in this case) own their own aircrafts. They keep these airplanes on their own property, in hangars (usually) and may come and go, by air, as they please.
Most such neighborhoods have streets like any other place one has ever seen or lived in. Cars go up and down the streets just as we see most anywhere in the U.S of A. But the exception is, and its a big one, that in these aviation communities the cars share the roads with airplanes. Yep - they use the same road. The airplanes have right of way so if a car and airplane are vying for the same patch of road, the car will move off the road, into a driveway or to the site, and let the airplane pass.It's a friendly act and each in the neighborhood gladly makes way for their aviation brethren. The airplanes are usually on their way to the runway to fly into the yonder, or are just returning from a trip and heading back to their home.
It is an unusual sight for those not used to it.
The hangars usually range from about 1500 sqft on up to 6000 sqft or so. A common size that I have observed is about 2000 sqft. These hangars become places to store an airplane or two, as well as, usually, the myriad of objects that red blooded Americans like to accumulate - with the additional aviation items and tools that pilots often need and want. Some hangars are separate to the home - some, like my own, are connected and look like they are part of the house. From the front one would scarcely know that I have a hangar.
For my wife and I, this neighborhood has been a dream come true. Though living in the country and away from our families in Tampa, we feel less isolated because we can simply hop in the airplane and head down for a visit.
The neighbors here are like no others I've experienced. Most communities, at least these days in America, tend to become sets of isolated homesteads - with neighbors often having only the mildest familiarity with each other. But in this community there is a camaraderie that I've never seen. The common aviation interest is the likely genesis, but we generally know and care about each other. We get together in the evenings to watch a neighbor in his or her biplane - simply congregating in our golf carts or on foot in little impromptu powwows. There is nothing like a cool October evening, sun about an hour from setting, half the community out just enjoying life, aviation, and each other's company. Sunday's are a common time that a group from here will fly out to a breakfast destination. We also have an Experimental Aircraft Association chapter which meets on the field each month. it's nice just to walk down to one of our neighbor's hangars and meet with our friends to share or appreciation for aviation. We also have fly-ins here, a few times per year. Literally hundreds of others will fly their own airplanes in and we will join for lunch and other festivities.
In my business I've found that living here has offered me the opportunity to travel throughout the state of Florida and Southeast United States. That and the internet make the delivery of my engineering and other services a breeze.
Few other countries have the freedoms in aviation that we still have in this country. It is a freedom that is being fought for each day in Washington. AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) is a tireless promoter of that freedom and remains vigilant to help keep politicians from reducing those freedoms. I personally believe that private, general aviation pilots, are like the canaries in a mining cave. Watch them to see how free this country is - just as the miners watch the canaries for signs of poor air. You see the pilots, free to fly their own airplanes, free to live and fly from communities such as this, and this country can be considered to still be in relatively good shape. See those freedoms erode, and so will go many others.
If you are a pilot, you should consider living this dream. There are many sources of data of the many such communities around the country. Florida has a large number of them because of our wonderful flying weather. Just contact someone associated with such a community, you may well be invited in for a visit.
I've included a little video on this blog following a routine day trip I recently took to Clearwater, Florida. Hope you enjoy.
And if you have any questions about airport communities, give me a call or drop me a line. I can get you in contact with the right people to start your dream.
I've designed many airport community homes in numerous states. Contact me if you need help with your design.
