In the foothills of North Carolina, a Timber Block couple is happily retired and enjoying all the beauty that part of the world has to offer, and they’re doing it in their dream home.
Tom and Bev were living in New Hampshire. They knew they were planning on moving once they retired, and they wanted to go somewhere a bit warmer with a little less snow – all while being able to enjoy the 4 seasons. Tom says after searching, they found their ideal location. “The heat here is more tolerable than the winter extremes in New England. We settled on the foothills of North Carolina as it was a good mix of what we were looking for. The location needed a view to better use the potential of the Timber Block design,” says Tom.
Speaking of Timber Block and designs, we asked Tom how they knew what style of home they wanted. “We originally were looking for a Farmhouse style built with SIP panels for efficiency, but the plans we chose didn’t fit the budget. This is when our contractor suggested Timber Block, and my wife fell immediately in love with the style.” Tom says they loved the Dakota plan as it generally had most of what they were looking for regarding the exterior and the overall floor plan. “We tweaked the floor plan and square footage, and after many adjustments with the design team, we settled on our final plan.” Tom says overall, the design process was enjoyable. “We had the ability to have complete control over the final floor plan and the engineers were able to adjust the Timber Block panels to perfectly match our design.”
Timber Block wasn’t on Tom and Bev’s radar when they started their home building journey. “Although never having heard of Timber Block until suggested by our contractor, the product incorporated all the design elements we were looking for in an energy efficient dwelling. There were a few minor planned things that happened during construction that had to be addressed, which ended up turning out to be for the better.”
Energy efficiency was high on Tim and Bev’s list of must-haves. Tom says they originally wanted to build with SIP construction. “When the cost to build our plans with SIP wasn’t financially viable, we were introduced to Timber Block, whose panels – being more energy efficient – actually worked out better for us. All of our utilities are 100% electric (heat, A/C, hot water, etc.) Our Geothermal system is well served by the building envelope. Our utilities have ranged from a low of $54 per month to a high of $135 per month. Over the last 9 years of occupancy, we average $98 per month on an annual basis.”
As Tom mentioned, their Timber Block isn’t brand new – they started construction almost a decade ago, and they still love it just like they did when they moved in. “We are thrilled with our home,” says Tom. “The style is different from everything else in the neighborhood, the area is exactly what we were looking for in a climate and the view overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains is extraordinary – especially on a night with a spectacular sunset.”
Now that the couple has lived there for several years, we asked Tom if there was anything they would do differently. “There is little we would change at this point, maybe only to have been able to retire sooner so we could have enjoyed this longer.”