HPG-21002-1: The Bellmont Lane

My wife (Jenny) and I (Geof) had been living in the Lower Main Land of British Columbia (Canada). We enjoyed our work and our friends there but were really wanting to move back to North Western Alberta to own some land and enjoy the open spaces. My growing girls had always dreamed of having their own horses and this was something that was not going to happen in BC. I also longed to get back to hunting, quading, and snowmobiling, again things I'd not be able to afford in BC. A large draw was also to live closer, once again, to a favorite cousin who was one of my best friends--Robert. Robert had been a bachelor for many years and finally met the woman of his dreams. We were looking so forward to getting to know Robert and his new wife Katrin, as a couple.

Tragically, six weeks after we had moved and three days short of their one year anniversary, Robert died in his sleep. We were devastated and wondered if we had made a mistake. We almost moved back to BC, because we didn't know how we could move forward, having had such a huge loss. Slowly the healing began to take hold and we started to think again about building our dream home. Robert's widow, Katrin, told us that one of Robert's last wishes that he expressed to her was that he wanted to sell a treasured piece of land to us.

Robert and I grew up hunting, horseback riding, snowmobiling, and playing on this beautiful property. When Katrin told us she'd like to sell this land to us, we were moved to tears and happily bought it from her. Many years earlier, Robert had cleared out an area on this property that he hoped to eventually build a log cabin on. He started building the log cabin with large sruce trees that dominated the property. He never did complete it as he just got too busy farming, but he did move the logs to his residence, just in case he would have time to work on it further. Once he passed away and even before we knew what house plan we would build, we knew where we would build the house. It would be on the spot that Robert had always dreamed of building his log cabin.

Jenny and I are not log cabin people, so that was never a question, but we wanted to somehow acknowledge Robert's dream for this part of the land. We have built our dream house and to top it off we plan to use some wood from Robert's half-built log cabin to make a mantle for our fireplace in our great room. Through our grief, the excellent design and assistance from House Plan Gallery to modify our plan has helped working through our loss a little more bearable. Many of Robert's friends and family members who have seen our house, have commented that Robert would have been so pleased to see what we've done with this property.

When we found your plans, we knew we found what we were looking for... Some of our favorite features of this home design are the spacious great room, the beautiful dormer windows at the front which let in a lot of natural light, and an amazing master bedroom and suite.

This house is not just our dream house, it is a memorial to an amazing godly man who was everyone's friend and whose influence is still being felt in so many people's lives to this day. Thanks House Plan Gallery for a beautiful house plan, which has turned into a beautiful house, which has become our home, which has brought a lot of peace and comfort...

Plans arrived within just a few a couple of days after we placed the order. Quick Service. We did not contact them to make any adjustments, we handled all of that with our contractor.

Construction began December 2008, and we moved into the house late April 2009. I had always wanted a split bedroom plan, and with our situation it gives the privacy that we so wanted.

My Mother has the "Mother-in-law suite" on one end of the house, and we have the rest. We are definately enjoying living in our new home, and would DEFINITELY recommend House Plan Gallery plans to anyone looking to build their dream home!

After finding out how expensive it would be to use an architect to draw house plans, my husband and I decided to research house plans online. After many evenings of looking at plans from different companies, we found a Craftsman-style house plan on your website that we liked.

From our initial contact with your company and through changes to the floor plans, you have been the best! Since we started building, multiple people (including several sub-contractors) have commented on the quality of the plans, including how complete the plans are and how accurate all the measurements have been.

I highly recommend House Plan Gallery!

Stephen was very nice and helpful as this was our first home to build so he gave us some helpful insights and information. He also appears to be a Christian and very trustworthy which I appreciate.