An exemplary small Alaskan home as told
by the owner, Sally Swenson.
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It was designed mainly by my father, Roger Swenson,
with some input from me.
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The land was purchased in 2001 and that spring and
summer were used to clear the lot.
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It was built mainly by my dad, with my mother and
I acting as assistants. A friend of my fathers, who is a framer
worked with us for about 10 days. We also hired some neighbors
for a couple of weeks to help with other projects such as the roof.
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We broke ground in late July 2001 and worked on the
house in spurts off and on for the following year. I think we
added up all the time put into the house and total we spent about 15
weeks on it. (This doesn’t include some time spent by me
painting, etc.) We were fortunate to have great weather for most
of the fall, and we got the roof on before the first snow. After
the roof was on, the walls insulated, and a partial water system in
place, my folks left for the winter. I lived in the house unfinished
for that winter. I hired the sheetrock to be done, and then painted
and prepped for finish work. My parents returned that spring
and we finished most of the house.
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The house that you see wasn’t the original design. The
original floor plan was about two feet wider, and had a different approach. Originally,
the garage entrance was not under an eve, which by the way is not a
good design. (Don’t do that! You shovel a lot of snow in
the spring, but we knew that would happen.) There wasn’t
supposed to be a hallway off the front door, etc. But with the
road easements, and the very small amount of buildable land available
on my lot, we decided to change the design slightly. The
other option was to drive posts, and extend the house over the
hillside.
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Since my parents knew they would be moving in a couple
of years, (and also since they are just awesome parents) they offered
up a lot of “leftovers” from my father’s other projects
(he was a general contractor in his past life). So, as a result,
some of the house was determined by what was given to me. The
external color scheme was determined by the brown roof tin, which parts
of were leftovers; and the cedar shingles, which were also leftovers. The
inside trim, front door and some beams were also “gifts”,
as was the first-floor flooring. You see why I call
myself one of the most fortunate people I know? I have been so
blessed with an amazing family. (And I think that for hundreds
more reasons than the house!! They truly are awesome people,
and I get them all the time.)
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