Project background

In May of 2006 we decided to replace our home of the past 15 years with a new one designed by architect Terry Heinlein. This weblog describes the project in-progress for our friends and neighbors.

We moved into our home in 1991, as an unmarried dual-income couple. We loved the property and its location by the aqueduct, and the house suited us fine. It was a 1600 sq.ft. 2-bedroom colonial built in 1926. We married in 1992, and over the years we kept up the house and made some improvements.

By the year 2000 we had two children, our life was quite different, and we knew that at some point we needed more bedrooms and more space. We found a good architect, Terry Heinlein AIA of Weston, and designed an addition to extend the back of the house. It was lovely on paper, with a new kitchen and family room, and two more bedrooms. Building it would require significant foundation work given the slope of our property, but it was only 800 sq.ft. and we were confident we could get it done for some reasonable price.

We were wrong.

For a year we met with a couple dozen contractors, and worked through a half-dozen detailed proposals, changing the design along the way to omit the most expensive or risky or unpredictable parts. The proposals resolutely stuck north of $200 per sq.ft., with most at around $250. Paying that much money for a half-renovated house just didn't make sense, and we put our plans on hold.

In the meantime, I started volunteer work with Newton's non-profit affordable housing developer, CAN-DO. Led by our executive director Josephine McNeil, CAN-DO has built about 30 units of affordable housing in Newton since 1999, using federal funding (HUD, CDBG, HOME), state (affordable housing trust fund), and local (CPA community preservation act) funds. We don't build large-scale housing like Avalon Bay or National Development - we build affordable houses that fit in neighborhoods just like any other, in hopes of preserving Newton's economic and racial diversity.

In 2003 CAN-DO purchased two adjacent properties on Chestnut St in Newton Upper Falls, and proposed to build on the site using modular construction. We engaged Terry Heinlein as architect, for his experience with modular technology and public projects. After considerable investigation, we selected Modular Structures, Inc. (MSI) of Pennsylvania as the modular builder.

I had not understood the recent advances in custom modular construction until I saw that project unfold. Terry worked with MSI to understand their practices and constraints, but he could design pretty freely and creatively to meet CAN-DO's needs. The end result was 20 modules, delivered in February of 2006 and erected to produce 3 2-family houses in 3 days. The build quality was excellent, and as delivered they were plumbed and wired and inspected and certified to meet MA codes. The light fixtures were ugly, but that was about the only bad thing you could say about them.

After seeing this and pondering a bit, we asked Terry if our original design could be reworked and implemented as modules. I think he said "Of course," before he realized that we were serious. Our daughter was 9 years old, and needed her own bedroom. The time for dithering was over.

So in April we had Terry redesign our plan for implementation by MSI; in May we reviewed them with our neighbors; in June we sought approval from Newton's Historic Commission to demolish our existing house. We did have some trouble finding a local builder to do all the on-site work - which is a significant project since the modules form only the core of the new house. But in October we engaged Derba Construction of Walpole, and were on our way. In December we ordered the modules from MSI, and they built them over a three-week period.

It was difficult and sad to demolish the home in which we shared so many memories with family and friends, including our marriage and the birth of our children. However, our attachment is to this place, this community, and the people who live here, and that transcends the structure of wood and concrete that has stood on the property for 80 years.

The new house is larger, at 2200 sq.ft. with 4 bedrooms, has a nice kitchen, fits more properly on the site and has a back door to our lovely backyard, and has a full porch across the front. It's a bit more contemporary than the 1926 colonial, and uses "best practice" energy efficiency techniques. It's not "My First Mansion", but it's a sound 21st century house, and we plan on making it home for many more years of family and memories.