Our New Home

Our New Home

On New Years Eve 2013 my wife and I spent the night in our new home, which was many years in the making.

I have been around construction much of my life.  My earliest memory is of having breakfast on a stack of button board when I was three years old.  My dad was in the process of having a home built, and he was working along with the contractor so he could save on construction costs and build a larger home that would include an additional family room, bedroom, and bathroom.

When I was about 11 years old my parents decided that our family of two parents and six children had out grown that four bedroom / two bathroom home.  They had an architect friend who designed for them a very spacious house to build.  It consisted of a very large living room, large family room, spacious kitchen, four over sized bedrooms (compared to today's standards) in addition to a massive master bedroom suite.  There was a generous game room in what could be called a basement, but in California we don't have basements.  When I was 12 we began construction.  My dad believed in teaching his children to work, so he had us on the project working alongside him and other tradesmen as the endeavor progressed.

It was a major undertaking, especially since my dad was working a full time job as an FBI agent.  We worked on the house evenings and Saturdays.  Being members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, working Sundays was taboo.  But my dad had nothing against working late into the evenings with the aid of work lights.

My first memories of what became know as the "Bobbie Lane" house was helping my dad survey the land.  He would look through a transit and have us take turns holding a pole with a measuring stick attached.  By recording the readings he created a topographical map of the lot, which was essential in laying out the placement of the house, driveway, septic system, etc.  The next step I remember was doing percolation tests for the design of the septic system.  Then came the Bulldozer.  I remember being amazed to learn that the operator made $60 per hour.  That was one dollar per minute!  To a 12 year old in 1962 that seemed like an awesome income.  The Caterpillar operator cut in a driveway, then cut in a pad near the top of the lot for the actual building site.  There was an amazing view from there all the way out to the Coronado peninsula.

After the grading was complete, footings were dug with a backhoe.  (I don't think my Dad operated it).  I remember helping tie the forms together so they would not spread when filled with concrete.  The concrete walls at the back of the house were quite tall, perhaps 8 feet in areas.  When the forms were in place, a crew of perhaps 6 or more men came and did the concrete work.  Our job was to insert the foundation bolts in place.  I remember how difficult that task became when the concrete began setting up.  After the foundation was in place, the actual framing could begin.