The Plan

The vision for this project was set in motion in the summer of 2017. We wanted to create a place where our growing family could still get together on the weekends and holidays. Enough space where people could spread out when they needed to, and come back together for dinners and such without feeling squished. We would accomplish this by building a couple small cabins (400-800 sq ft each), and a larger shared lodge that had a game room, large dining room for Thanksgivings, etc, and maybe a kitchen. Our wish list looked a little like:

• Lot-size: 3-5 acres, or more. Vacant and wooded.
• View: View of water, or on water, view of mountains.
• Location: Cle Elum, WA or immediate surrounding area. Not in a flood zone.
• HOA: none

Our dad has a small cabin in Cle Elum, we grew up there and wanted to stay in the area. He’s still got his place, so we wanted family weekends to be easy commutes. The area has a number of nearby lakes, and at least two rivers. There are miles of trails for all types of recreation, so lots to do in the area.

Owner-Builder

The most important part of the plan was to build a cabin. We weren’t looking for something already built, although that would be much easier and quicker. We wanted it to be designed our way, and to build as much of it ourselves as possible. We both work full-time jobs and have family commitments, so some things would be contracted out, but we still wanted to be a major part of the build.

To be involved as much as possible, we wanted to be our own General Contractor. When the owner acts as his own General, this is called Owner-Builder. This could be a risky decision as we would be responsible for any missteps, and we haven’t built a house start to finish before. But we were prepared to do a lot of research and put in a lot of hard-work to accomplish our goals.