Lisa, originally from Atlanta, worked with Robin for the same British company many years ago, and met over the telephone. “We got married and I moved to London and lived there 15 years. When Robin started approaching retirement, we thought it would be nice to come to the open spaces of North Georgia, where the air is clean and the skies are big and blue,” Lisa said.

“Coming to America wasn’t quite such a big step for me as it might be for many people,” said Robin. “I was brought up with a global viewpoint, spent my childhood in Africa, and worked around the world in all sorts of odd jobs. Seeing the quality of care for the elderly in America, it seemed like not a bad idea to come to the US for our later years,

and so eight or nine years ago we started looking for some land to build on.”

North Georgia was the ideal place for the Halls because Lisa already had friends and connections there.

“I introduced Robin to the area when we would visit from London on holidays. They have all sorts of festivals and the leaves in the autumn are just glorious. One day he turned to me and said, ‘What would you think about retiring here?’”

So with the help of a realtor they purchased a chunk of forest.

“To be honest, we bought it almost blind,” said Robin. “We had a good realtor who helped us find what we wanted.”

The land went undisturbed for seven years

and the local wildlife roamed freely while the Halls planned and saved for their dream retirement home.

Neither Lisa nor Robin had built a custom home before, but they knew exactly what they wanted in their dream home, and that they would not find it in an existing home.

“A big reason we were drawn to building a custom home was that it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing, especially for someone from the UK,” said Lisa. “In the UK and most of Europe, the land prices are unbelievably steep and there really just isn’t land to purchase in order to be able to build a custom home. I really wanted Robin to have the opportunity to do that.”

Robin and Lisa knew they wanted a home elevator, and put a lot of thought into making

Meet Robin and Lisa Hall, our newest Reality Home Building family. They are relocating

from London, England to the North Georgia mountains to build their dream retirement home, The Hot Springs Cottage, designed by Garrell Associates.

sure they could age-in-place.“One thing at the back of our

minds was that one day we might need live-in help, and in that case the upper level and the lower level can be treated totally separately. Each has a kitchen, bathrooms, and bedrooms,” said Robin.

Finding their ideal home design was serendipitous. On a trip to Atlanta over Christmas one year, before they had purchased their land, the Halls stopped at a bookstore and found a copy of Designer Dream Homes and were immediately drawn to the Amicalola Cottage by Garrell Associates.

“Housing is different in Europe and magazines like this one are non-existent there,” Lisa said. “We saw the Amicalola Cottage and both went, ‘Wow!’”

Since Garrell Associates are based just outside of Atlanta, “it was a real no-brainer,” said Lisa.

Mike Garrell advises clients to “carefully review our website with pre-determined specifications

such as: square footage, number and types of rooms, master up or down requirements and lot parameters, to name a few. The first floor plan is the most critical part of the selection process because it is the feature in which all other design evolves. The front elevation and other plans are easily re-designed as desired.”

RealityHomeBuilding

“The land isn’t flat by any means,” said Robin. The Halls knew they would need a walkout basement foundation to accommodate the slope, and modifications would allow them to customize it to suit their lot and personal preferences.

Robin and Lisa started with the Amicalola Cottage in mind, and explained their ideas for changes to Mike Garrell. After reviewing their ideas, Mike suggested the Hot Springs Cottage design to use as the basis for modifications.

“After our first meeting it was apparent that the best course of action would be to design a custom residence,” said Mike Garrell. “Working through email and with sketches and a list of notes along with phone calls, I was able to begin the design process. Most of our work is conducted electronically with office meetings as necessary.”

Most of the modifications were made while the Halls were still in London, sending PDFs and emails back and forth across the Atlantic until the updated

Spring 2015 | 11

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Leroy Troyer and Firman Garber of our Walnut Creek, OH facility do.

The Professional Way is the only way at ProVia. The door they are making could be any one of our many styles of customized, energy-efficient fiberglass or steel entry doors. Sure, the wood frame they carefully attach gets covered over with a tight-fitting aluminum trim, but to us the components underneath are just as important as the ones everyone sees.

It’s our mission—to serve by caring for details in ways others won’t—that ensures the highestmanufacturing standards.

We’re building our products and our company to last a lifetime. That’s the Professional Way.

Who really cares about details no one might ever see?Who really cares about details no one might ever see?

design was complete. “This meant that the design would be completed and we would know what the house was going to be like way before it became time to think about the actual build,” said Lisa.

“Some friends of ours had recently built a house from a design they had largely created themselves, and we learned from their experience,” Robin said. “One of the things they said was ‘Curves cost,’ and it’s absolutely true so we had the curves in the footprint redesigned.”

Some of the changes the Halls opted for included extending the original breakfast nook off the kitchen to create a dining room that seats 12, integrating a small seating area onto the end of the kitchen island for breakfast, screening in the expansive deck from the master bedroom to the dining room, adding a terrace level with storage and living space with a second kitchen, and redesigning the interior to look

more like the Amicalola Cottage. The plan was also flipped, or reversed, to better suit the topography of their land.

“We’re confident about the land and the home design,” said Lisa. “The only thing we’re concerned about is cost-overrun. Our project is the first building permit for new construction that’s been issued in our county in two years.”

Robin added, “We have a fixed amount of money to spend, and we have deliberately put a big chunk of that into contingency to plan ahead.”

The Halls got five quotes from five builders, and chose to work with Bill Adamson of Adamson Construction Services, Inc.

“We found Bill through the designer. They had known each other personally and professionally most of their lives, and Mike Garrell really recommended him,” said Lisa. “We talked to Bill and immediately had the feeling that

he’s a straight-up kind of guy.”Bill Adamson began

Adamson Construction Services, Inc. in 1993 after restoring two historic homes, and has built custom homes large and small in a wide range of styles.

“We build homes like we are going to be the ones living in them,” said Bill. “Robin and Lisa are very hands-on, and I welcome their involvement in the homebuilding process. They plan on sourcing much of the materials, fixtures, and appliances themselves, and I will be here to offer suggestions and guidance along the way.”

When it comes to selecting a builder, Bill notes that references and word-of-mouth are key.

“Get 4-6 references, and check them out. Visit completed

homes and ask questions,” said Bill. A good rapport is important as well, and many of his clients have remained lifelong friends.

Robin and Lisa had each worked in commercial project management, and are comfortable with the idea of sourcing their own building materials. They agreed to a fixed fee contract with their builder with materials at cost.

“Although we haven’t worked in the building trades, Robin and I are comfortable with pricing, planning, and making selections,” said Lisa. “We know we’ll have to tell the cabinet makers whether we’re getting a 30” or 32” cook top, for example, and that the timing all has to fall into place.”

Mike Garrell pointed the Halls to Accent Truss, based

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12 | Designer Dream Homes Presents www.designerdreamhomes.net

Evoking rustic charm, this welcoming facade in stone and rough sawn timbers is accented with arched windows and shutters. This open flowing floor plan boasts a private master suite with access to a covered porch.

5 SETS - $2195 VELLUM or PDF - $2195 CAD - $3045PLAN # DHSGA31-11063

PRICING FOR THIS PLAN

REAR ELEVATION

© 2011 Garrell Associates, Inc.

Photographed home may have been modified from the original construction documents.

PLAN NUMBER: DHSGA31-11063

BEDROOMS: 3

BATHS: 3

WIDTH: 78’2"

DEPTH: 66’11"

1ST FLOOR: 2184 sq ft

LIVING AREA: 2184 sq ft

Opt. 2ND FLOOR: 377 sq ft

Opt. Fin. BASEMENT: 1343 sq ft

FOUNDATION: Terrace

Hot Springs Cottage

GARRELL ASSOCIATES, INC.

FIRST FLOOR

OPT. SECOND FLOORAbout the Builder:After successfully restoring two personal historic homes in Dawsonville, Georgia, Bill Adamson decided to transform his knowledge and passion into a thriving career by founding Adamson Construction Services Inc., in November 1993. Known for his personal, hands-on site management and strong attention to detail, his company has created

a repertoire of distinctive luxury homes. Mr. Adamson works directly with his clients doing the pricing, the contracts, and overseeing every aspect of construction himself until the project is complete, establishing lifelong friendships with his clients long after the projects are complete.

Michael W. Garrell launched his design firm in 1993, and has since grown a portfolio of over 3,000 pre-designed home plans. His designs pay close attention to traditional elements and rely heavily on historical precedence. He masterfully blends these classic elements into new floor plans that feature open flow and plenty of natural light. Offering both custom and pre-designed home plans, Garrell Associates’ portfolio ranges from rustic mountain vacation homes to getaway beach cottages to luxury manor estates.The firm has received more than 200 professional awards, with numerous Street of Dreams® honors, and the prestigious “Best in American Living Award” (BALA) from Professional Builder magazine for the Tranquility collection.

We will check back with the Halls in a few months to see how the building process is going, including photos of the interior starting to take shape.

in Pendleton, SC, to create the dramatic timber trusses for the lodge room, foyer, and front exterior, while the flooring will come from Lisa’s cousin and her husband at Authentic Pine Floors, who will be supplying heartwood pine flooring salvaged from the famous Old Crow Distillery in Kentucky.

The Halls shopped for antique furniture back in the UK, finding unique pieces that would be perfect for their new home, including a dining table that

seats 12 for the expanded dining space. They found a rental home near their property with plenty of extra storage space, and with over three hundred boxes loaded on to a forty foot shipping container, they set off for the US to oversee construction.

Neither the Halls nor their builder had walked the entire property, so when it was time to start the rough grading, they soon discovered that the topography was not quite what they had expected.

“The lower level design had been based on assumptions about the likely topography – which turned out to be a bit wrong. To get a flat building site we had to do a lot of rough grading. And the end result of that was that most of the basement windows would have been ten foot underground,” said Robin. “Rather than despair, we talked to the designer and decided to flip the basement design left-to-right.”

Ultimately, the grading was more expensive than anyone had anticipated, putting their contingency fund to good use.

About the Designer

Reality Home Building Reality Home Building

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