Don’t worry, we did spend some time at the beach too! 🙂
Well we had a list of things we wanted to do on this trip; some for fun, some for utility. Of course, we often put off the fun and do the work first, but I think we did pretty good overall.
Here were our goals: what we didn’t get to are in red, and what we accomplished are in green.
* Plant banana trees (BK)
* Visit with ARC ENG -the architecture/engineering business in Rincon (CK)
* Visit the Rincon Treehouse place to talk about specifics (BK)
* Visit Mangosteen person in Mayaguez if we have enough time (CK)
* CRIM? We haven’t done this yet and probably should (neither really want to)
* Fix up kitchenette to have running water (BK)
* Get estimate for cost of our property ideas by local contractor
* Get hot running water rigged if possible (CK)
* Buy a heavy duty weed-wacker at Home Depot, as the property is probably very overgrown by now (BK)
*Take a surf lesson – if we have time (CK)
* Have a small little fire at night on the property (BK) (A reminder to be careful what you wish for!!)
*Walk to the beach from property (CK)
* Get rest of bees removed from walls if possible (BK)
* Find closest hospital (just in case-ha) -CK
*Find thrift or 2nd hand stores in the area (CK)
So as you can see, we got quite a lot of the major items taken care of in the time we were there. In addition to these things we also:
*Found our trees that we had planted last time and cleared away the vines and growth from around them
*Weed-wacked the whole fenced area and a little beyond the fence line
*Met with a variety of friends in Rincon/Moca for dinners and poker
*Tried new restaurants
*Planted more sprouted coconut palms
*Planted our avocado pits from the Avocado Party (we’ll see what happens!)
*Found a nearby hardware store in Rincon with prices better than Home Depot and a discount day (10% off on Saturdays) for women!
We still haven’t quite made a decision one way or the other about the wood house. We go back and forth and forth and back, sometimes in the same conversation. There are so many pros and cons to either decision. Getting the bees out of the house really helped us feel more comfortable in it and around it. We could see more potential, and less of a desire to “just get rid of it”. Still not sure though. We would have a long way to go to make it feel like home. Next up for it will be bat removal!! Yikes.
I think we have a pretty decent plan to get the cabana very livable and then we can make our big decision on the wood house. It is definitely cool to have a wood house, as it makes it seem more like Hawaii-style housing: warm and inviting and less like concrete storm bunkers, but as we have seen with all the animals in the house it may be a little TOO inviting. As you can tell we’re still in limbo on that one.
The wood house from the roof of the cabana
In addition to the bats and the bees, we also had some unexpected canine visitors on our last day there, but they were friendly:
You could keep the current wood house, and just ask an architect to do an inspection, specially on wind/earthquake (lateral forces) worthiness.
Or if you decide to built a new one, there is no reason for you to have to choose between either when you could do both.
Just, try to built something that aesthetically works with the surrounding environment. Please, don’t build a “Mcmansion” (sorry Liz and Gary)
You’ll find many local architects that could do brilliant modern/contemporary or conservation work. If that does not suit you you could go for a local prefab manufacturer.
http://www.cebarq.net/#!portfolio
Anonymous,
Thanks for the link and tips, that’s very helpful. We’ll check it out. I just emailed that architect, so we’ll hopefully see what he has to say. The only bad thing is that the wood house is situated on the best part of the land -facing the ocean, so it would be difficult to do both unless we either took down and rebuilt the wood house somewhere else below, or built a newer house down below. Maybe a small one or two bedroom house would go great down the hill though hidden in the tropical foliage!
I am all about remodels and makeovers. We have done quite a few with our rental properties in Colorado, so if it is worth it, I would be up for it. I hope to connect with an architect. If you know of any others, let us know!
Thanks again
Hi Cassie,
Since you are new to the island a good place to start is:
Colegio de Arquitectos de Puerto Rico
http://caappr.org
think of it as the “state” Board of Architects.
One good thing to keep in mind is that even if you don’t build right now, now is a good time to hire. The economy here has adversely affected the construction industry so there are a lot of very good architects who would be happy for the work (relatively cheap).
Whomever you hire, make sure he/she appears on this list:
http://www.caappr.org/?node=263
PS. What I meant by doing both is using both materials on the same structure. That is what let me to recommend the aforementioned architect. Check “Casa del Lago”
other firms:
http://www.fernandolugo.com/Site/Home.html
http://www.toroferrer.com/home.html
http://www.fusterpartners.com/
http://davisarquitectos.com/
http://nearq.com/
another site you might want to look at:
organic farming:
http://organicfarm.net/
http://agricultoresoroverdepr.blogspot.com/
Master Electricians:
http://www.peritoselectricistas.org/
since I suspect that your house might need a new power work.
Best of luck on your great adventure!