Building la pura vida

2010-08-25T16:28:00.000-05:00

Regrettably, because I have had so much trouble with Blogger, I have moved this blog to WordPress http://buildinglapuravida.wordpress.com .

Please join the party over there.

2010-06-25T03:05:00.000-05:00

WHOSE TRUSSES ARE THOSE??

Those are MY Trusses!
(This Ghetto moment brought to you by five bourbons, the Southern Schools Mixer, a Karaoke party and A DREAM HOUSE IN COSTA RICA. Bitches.)

2010-06-16T13:15:00.001-05:00

Fresh off the press...

It has feet. And a floor. Kind of. Wow, this is really moving quickly. The steel frame is cold rolled, and built according the California earthquake standards. It should allow the house to flex and to survive. Note how little earth moving is being done. Other than the master bedroom, I am not laying a foundation. This was intentional- to let the breeze flow under, cooling the house, and to allow wildlife and rainwater to pass under.

I had a holdup with the water. The Asada, a local water group, required some paper work, but, of course, they would not send or fax it to me, and of course, it needed to have an original signiture. Alex, of DatumZero, picked it up on a site visit, and scanned it to me. I printed, signed and sent it back. No doubt they will want some payment now...its unclear where they receive their authority or jurisdiction to do so, but they can hold up a project, and know it, so it will be paid.

I am going down in July to see the work for myself. Amazing no?

2010-06-15T17:07:00.000-05:00

From Guillermo re the wood:

"I am thinking the bottom (#1) color for the flooring which is as well Teak.

As a side note, all the Wood for the entire sheathing of the house is prepared, cut and predrilled, it is now in the process of finishing, and sealing. The beams are fabricated and will be shipped to site in the next couple of weeks.

Alex will be sending you the report today, i know he is doing an inspection on the woodwork today."

How amazing is that? This whole thing is going to be done in 6 months. There is a house right next to me in SF which is not much bigger and certainly not in the jungle, which has been under process for over a year.

DatumZero has been amazing so far.

And I have teak floors.

2010-06-15T13:49:00.000-05:00

Nice Wood:

Guillermo today sent me a sample of the wood that will be used as the outside of Plan B.

Its the one on the far right. A darker wood, but one that matches the trees on the land. The wood was sustainably grown, I believe in Nicaragua- so semi local. We chose the wood for those reason. Its teak, which is both naturally insect resistant, and a hardwood which stands up to the elements extremely well. This means there is no need for a polymer coating, which would be toxic, or for insecticides, which are, of course, also toxic.

2010-04-27T00:58:00.000-05:00

Hello old blog.

Time to fire you up again as the K House is being built.

So much to cover, but the short of it is that I inked a contract with a contractor, and broke ground two weeks ago.

The project is funded in phases, each one paid 40% at the beginning, the other 60 at the end. There is also a hold back of 8% for completion of the entire house. Guillermo and the boys at DatumZero were great in negotiating that K on my behalf. ("K" is lawyer for Contract. Don't ask why. I do not know).

There were some sexy last minute additions. Another foot on the gallery, in width, a plunge pool/hot tub, and an underground security locker. Total increase in cost = 9k. Not a bad days negotiation if I do say so myself.

So here are some pictures, because everyone loves pictures.

So there it is. The sad and devastating truth. The cabina, that labor of love that Paul, Mike, Rebecca, Scott, Dad, and Lynn all poured themselves into, leveling floors, making concrete footers, applying pesticide by squeeze bottle and hand, carrying lumber, patching bang boxes from power lines...its destroyed.

From the architect:
"Cabina.

The cabina had been vandalized and destroy, there was no roof when on it and a lot of the wood pieces were missing. "

Someone catabolized the house. I am livid and hurt and feel cheated. I hate theives. Perhaps more than anything. Perhaps more than Cathrine Zeta Jones or Mac and Cheese.

A moment of silence.

...

ok.

Still morning, but Ill go on. The Cabina would have wanted it that way.

Yeah, nothing groundbreaking. Get it? Actually this is not the sexiest part of the project for me. But, we are of course laying the foundation of KHouse. You can see that the work crew has adopted the remainder of the cabina.

Phase two payments to be made tomorrow.

2009-10-29T16:37:00.001-05:00

It is begun.

The KHouse is underway. More when there is more.

2008-11-15T23:11:00.002-05:00

GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Shit.

SHit shit shit.

I just got this from helpful James Johnson at CR mortgatge:

"Ok, I just got word back from them and I hate to have bad news, but here it is. As of this week, they just instituted a new policy that they are no longer lending to Non-residents. They have made an exception in your case, but this is gonna require some drastic things from you. They require that for every $100K borrowed, that you must put $166,666 into a CD in the bank and hold it there for a minimum of 1 year. The return interest rate depends on exactly how much is deposited. This makes no sense to me, as I am sure to you as well. Unfortunately with the credit crisis worldwide, the banks across CR are running out of money to lend and they are requiring steeper and steeper conditions in order to lend. "

The banks here are cutting off lending to Non-residents all over the place. I started out with 12 lenders at the beginning of the year and I am down to 1 with very difficult terms to qualify..."

Wow. THis is not, of course, the end, but a serious road block. I am sorry to those of you still following this as I am to everyone who is emotionally and professionally invested in it on my end. This is really bad news.

Any and all advice is welcome.

2008-10-17T15:52:00.002-05:00

Alright.

I am sick of this.

LETS BUILD A HOUSE.

I got my loan application in two weeks ago. I have another 2 weeks to one month to wait. SO DONE WIATING. I love this project and I want to start NOOOOW. Of course, its the rainy season, so thats impracticable, but I am so excited by this, its hard to wait.

2008-10-08T12:46:00.001-05:00

The loan application is complete. Its in someone else's hands right now.

Bad timing in terms of credit, perhaps, but Ben Bernake seems to think that giving people free money is a good idea. Maybe if I pretend to be a major lender who was remiss in my own risk analysis, I can get free money too.

2008-09-30T21:35:00.001-05:00

We are getting closer. James from Costa Rica Mortgage has all the official documents. I have a handful of things to send him and then....then maybe we get the green light.

In other interesting news, the price of steel has fallen 9 % as the auto and building industries worldwide prepare for economic slowdown. Good for me? Lets hope. Stell is expensive.

2008-09-04T15:33:00.002-05:00

Breaking. Ground.

Savor those words.

They are two of my favorites:

From Guillermo
"The contractors were finalizing some docs. on the Nicoya municipality as well, we are breaking ground

this week. I am almost 100% that tomorrow it will be taking place."

Also, let me again on line extend my gratitude to DatumZero for their support. Guillermo has been instrumental, in getting all my foreign tax and real estate documents together for my maddening loan applicaiton. Let me put this more bluntly---He saved my ass. No way I could have done that. The man went to the municipality and paid my taxes for me. Lets look at that again- piad my taxes for me. This, I cannot do from Palo Alto.

Also, a big shout out to James Johnson at Costa Rica Mortgage. After months of a maddening loan application process, James just picked up the phone and walked me through everything. He gave me recommendations and tips, streamlined the process. He was great. I think I will get the loan soon, largely thanks to his handling.
www.costaricamortgage.net/james

2008-08-15T17:17:00.003-05:00

Death and taxes.

only these two things are certain in life.

well, I just paid my CR taxes, or rather Guillermo did so for me in nicoya.

I may, one day, financially recover from the 2 dollars and 50 cents that I was stripped in CR, but for the time being, I am going to lick my wounds and try to take out a loan to cover it.

Really, 2.50 after 9 years? I love this country. Of course, now I understand why CR is totally broke, but I love it all the same.

2008-07-24T01:40:00.002-05:00

This is utterly and completely without tangent.

I got this in an email from my Father.

"So, I sent Annie a birthday greeting, but instead of wasting time on some frilly wishes, I offered her some advice. To be brief, it was to beware of the altogether too easy trap of sacrificing one's life and soul on the altar of a job. "Put yourself first," I said, etc."

Isn't that amazing. I mean, we all hear this message, but this is what my Dad wanted to give my sister for a Birthday gift: advice. You have no idea how lucky I am to have grown up around him.

2008-07-02T19:40:00.002-05:00

Add ons. depending on left over budget, I asked Guillermo to compile a list of add ons that are cost effective and add value to the home that I can consider. Here is his response.

Let me know what you think....

ADD ONs i would consider:

1. A plunge pool. Approx. 8x10 in size. I think that a small pool with proper settings, lighting can be such a great added value, this for resale purposes or for pure enjoyment.

2. Upgrade in kitchen appliances, this is an item that can give you great return. Things such as a great refrigerator, ice maker, maybe a separate wine cooler...

3. Exterior lighting. We have provided the minimum for the entry area. BUT throwing 2k on exterior lighting and basic landscaping can be a great added value.

4. we can also intall some built in de-humidifiers. Given the level of humidity that the house can reach in some times of the year it can be a nice added value....
http://www.sylvane.com/santa-fe-dehumidifiers.html

http://www.sylvane.com/

2008-07-01T14:49:00.002-05:00

And so we begin.

Today I requested an invoice to pay for permits that will be pulled to break ground. I have yet to sign the contract, but I assume I will do that later this week.

Its moving forward. I have been pre approved for a construction loan at 8.7% for 30 years, fixed for 5. Thanks to Sam Baugh at Costa Rica Mortgage. I highly recommend him. He got me to at least 3 good lenders for pre-approval.

And Guillermo is working with the builder as we speak to start that process.

Some modifications were made to the final design to get the bids down. The gallery will be thinner and the floors concrete and not teak. If there is any money left over, then we are considering a plunge pool. I dont like them, myself, but buyers do, and frankly they are great for passive cooling. The water evaporates and fills the house with cooler air.

I dont know. I still like the hardwood floors.

Well, this is it.

If you have made it this far and are still following the blog, I thank you. Its been a journey.

three
two
one.

2008-05-29T13:02:00.002-05:00

I have contacted Sam Baugh at Costa Rica Mortgage. I am trying to find financing in a fixed rate at about 25-30 years. Preferably the later. And preferably at around 8%.

I am told the closing costs will be about 4 percent of the loan, for processing, legal work, and other things I have forgotten.

This should give me a monthly payment of around 1600-1800 a month depending on terms.

On DatumZero's front, Guillermo met with the builders last week to talk about schedules. I will let you know where we are when I hear back.

I asked Guillermo to make a "wish list' that prioritizes the incremental improvements that could be made to the house is budget allows. I want to know what has the greatest impact on the overall disposiiton should I decide that it is worth the price.

2008-05-15T16:51:00.001-05:00

Green light. GREEN LIGHT.

We are going for it. Plan B has a vision. Plan B has a amission> Plan B has a team, and now, Plan B has a green light.

We selected a contractor and will soon finalize start dates.

How excited am I?

2008-04-15T17:29:00.003-05:00

Remember Plan B?

Well, I do. I think about it all the time. Plan B is the house that is going up on the hill. The one with the view. The elegant, serene, open, airy one. The one with doors. Its easy to forget when your forarms are still diced up from banigng away at metal roofs 20 odd feet from the jungle floor.

Guillermo did not forget about Plan B, and he has been tirelessly contacting construction teams. Well, its possible that he finally broke the case. We found a construction team that gave us a bid of 187k to build Plan B. I am ecstatic to get it in the right neighborhood. Its still a little higher than I would like, but its close. The second round of rebidding to the original three contractors returned only a bid of 260k. Thats a savings of a college education. Good Lord.

so -I have contacted Sam Baugh of Costa Rica Mortgage SA. He was recommended to me by Bram Shook of Centruy 21 in Nosara. I was impressed by Bram's professionalism when I met him in Nosara. He was introduced to me by a friend, someone who works with Bram. He told me, by way of recommendation, that Bram was the best Real estate agent in Nosara. He is well researched, straight forward, candid, and confident. Anyway, in a discussion with Bram, we talked about my property in the hills and my plans, and he gave me the card and recommendation of Sam Baugh. Now, its my policy on this blog to not post contact information of these people until I can recommend their services or tell you what I think. But, I talked with Sam today. He called me the day after I emailed him from his vacation. We discussed lending rates.

He tells me that I can borrow up to 80 percent of the value of my land plus the projected value of the house in a new construction loan. Rates are at 8.7 for a 25 year fixed rate, lower for adjustables. There are costs, like percentages for processing, a lender fee and legal fees, equal to roughly 3.5% the value of the loan. I am investigating the sanguinity of working with a loan, since I have been working hard at getting together the capital. I am sending this informtion to Ari Stonehill, my wonderful financial advisor at Bullfinch Associates in Needham MA. (Seriously, if you ever need a financial advisor, at least interview Ari. He has been great- seamlesly directing my investing to support my personal, idiosyncractic goals. He has bailed me out of messes and gotten me great rates with financial services. He is a great blend of conservative and creative. )

While I am doing this, Guillermo is sending the plans to one more contractor. We are going to get the lowest bid, then discuss preferences of teams.

Exciting news, and a big thanks to DatumZero.

2008-04-01T12:28:00.002-05:00

that wasn´t so bad. I hung the door on the bodega yesterday, rather quickly. Then I built a 20 foot scaffold and climbed up the front wall to seal the teak. That was precarious. The teak oil, strangely, had coagulated. I added mineral spirits, but it was nasty looking.

I built a ladder to the roof, and cut the metal with a machete and a hammer, Nica style. Then I over hung the roof, and added a plank over the exposed Melina to protect it from the raid. Cut myself up pretty badly in the process. Another, dont try this at home.

I slept in the house last night, for the first time. I tied up my hammack and slept until the howler monkeys woke me. Actually, I just went back to sleep, so tired I was, until about 7:30, when I went for my good morning surf.

I am so dark right now from all this work in the sun. I look like I did as a kid. Its great though, and the work is easy after a month off. I am going to try to build the front door today, and to return items to the ferreteria, and then finally to install the locks, and staple the plastic over windows. I better get going.

2008-03-31T14:37:00.002-05:00

Back in Nosara. I had my camera stolen, so yesterday´s workday was spent trying to find the theif. Today, I have a late start, but I am going up right now to add the bodega door. I hope to also seal the house today, as tomorrow is the only day left o work on the house. Everything is harder when you are building on a hillside. And alone. I think I could really bang this out fast, but hanging a door alone is a chore. I have done it once, successfully, so I will venture into this with likely foolish optimism.

2008-03-12T23:48:00.002-05:00

What does the project look like?, well, here is a gallery of images.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24448073@N03/

I mean, wow, we built that. Created it. Paul, Scott, Rebecca, Mike, Dad, Lynn, Canadians. We made a home in the jungle. A no shit home.

2008-03-10T13:55:00.002-05:00

I am a bad blogger. bad. Bad.

The last couple days working with scott were a blur. The bosc saw burned out and I ahd to send it to san jose for repairs. I found another saw in the solo bueno and borrowed it. The candians had stopped work until the saw was found, so we were at monday before they were ready to do more work , giving me ulcers.

Scott and I used sunday to do the least sexy, but most useful tasks. We sprayed Xilochromo, a nasty incecticide, on the bottom of the house, and cura wood, a less nasty pesticide, all over the house. Scott sprayed the whole thing, while I was under the house. Neother of us can expect to have normal healthy childeren. Actually, scott had the good idea of masks, so we should be fine, but my hands may never be pink again as they are stained with yellow.

After the bug killer, we teak sealed the whole place. No, just the floors that day. Still, we worked until dark, got a lot accomplished, but not much built.

The next day, the canadians atatcked the roof at t feverish pace. Scott joined them about 30 feet off the ground as they slammed teak into place. I got metal roofind, 28 guage, and used the sruf rack to get it up the hill. It cut the crap out of my finger when scott and I took it off the roof. It also was about 300 degrees from the sun.

Daniel gave us ¨roofing¨screws, which turned out to be normal screws without gaskets, so the Candiens used nails which cna be replaced later, or seasled with silicon, later. The roof flew up. It needed 12 and 6 foot pieces and we used clear to cover the shower and avoid having a ton of leaves in the shower every morning. The nails stuck through the roof of the house where it hit teak, but ont a joist. There is a 6 inch overhang that was not in paul´s plans, but it should save the walls a bit from all the rain.

Ask the Canadiens finsihed, Scott adn I sealed the thing. Hanging from roofs and windows and stacking wood on ladders...we got it done and it looked warm and natural and great.

I am going to ask scott to post no this blog. He can tell you in his own words what he thought. Until then, I want you all to know that I decided I needed a vacation from my vacation and headed north into nicaragua, which is where I am posting now, learning spanish, in Granada, the 15 century colonial city at the shore of lake nicaragua and Near Omotepe. We watched the Omotepe Rivas Championship game yesterday at the baseball park in Rivas. It was...insane. There was a band, and a dirty danceoffs, and fat women with whistels and non stop music. We drank a lot of 70 cent beer, tona, and ate grilled chicken which put us back 1.50. The tickets were a dollar. The guards had ak 47s, not needed, but thats how they roll here. The locals thought we were so much fun, they let us into the Rivas Sports Hall of fame after the game. A dog stopped play when it wandered onto the field, we saw three runs score on three consecutive wild pitches, there was non stop dnacing, and we tried to start a wave. We ended up entertaining a lot of people´s childeren, and we bought lottery tickets for a bottle of rum that was being given away for what we had to assume was charity. I smoked cuban cigars during the 8th inning to say that I did it. It was baseball as baseball should be.

2008-03-01T12:52:00.002-05:00

The cavalry has arrived.

Scott got down here yesterday. We put in a marathon shopping session at the Do It Center in Liberia, buying a sink, a toilet, a ceiling fan, brakcets, dead bolts, brooms, and all the little things that go into the house. The total came to 1000. I nearly fainted then relaized that the fan we bought had been mismarked. instead of being 40 dollars, it was 400. 600 is still not cheap, but its better. My credit card sighed.

We made it to Nosara for a late day session. It was big out, probably 7 feet and really closing out. We watched the sun set from the water. Scott made it as far as dinner adn one flor de cana, then it was all we could do to get him back to the BUeno to retire.

I ran intot he candiens who tell me that the saw has burned out. I need to replace it. Scott and I are gonig up the mountain now to see what can be done in the 5 days we have here. He is a good man to have, decisive and, so far, full of optimism. We will see what Costa does to that. until then, it was enormous out this morning, probably double overhead on some sets. We boht got stoked, crushed, and tired.

2008-02-23T13:50:00.003-05:00

Woah now, this is reeeeeeally interesting. It might save my mood completely...

¨¨Melina wood was traditionally used to make wood pulp because it grows easily and quickly, and because its fire resistance makes it a safe product. Melina is also virtually insect proof, making it a wood that may increase significantly in demand owing to a 2001 ruling by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that calls for the phase out of pressure treated lumber . . .¨¨

I cannot verify this statement, but it gives me real hope that my project will not be eaten in just a few minutes and more importantly, that I dont need to insect proof the stuff.

Still, the locals call it bug candy. They recommended treating it with pentachlorophyll (sp), and diesel fuel. I think I side with the locals. B showed me where an entire house of Melina was destroyed by termites. Her new one is steel framed.

There are so many products, and I dont know which one to use SOme of the insecticides that are effective, stain the wood green. Others, I dont know how safe they are. A clear incsectide that the ferreteria sold me, turn out not to be an insecticide at all. This, I learned after applying it for 6 hours in the heat.

2008-02-23T13:39:00.002-05:00

If I had this all to do over again, wat would I do differently? I would not do it. Lord almighty, I am weary. Every day for now 18 days I have been working on this project. Driving, talking to people, lugging wood, nailing, bleaching, draninig, mixing cement, carrying, paying, spraying...its all getting to be too much.

The budget for the project was 2500. Its going to be closer to 6000 even then, I will have to get lucky. I have no idea how this is going to get done, even with me working full time on it every day for a month. I wanted to visit nicaragua and that plan is gone. Now I just want one day to read, or study spanish.

after 18 days, this is all that is left...

teak the whole house. Put in the roof joists. Buy and build the metal roof at 11 feet of the surface and 20 feet off of the ground without electricity because my source is drying up. dig a septci field, create a sewage system, plan and build a kitchen, add sinks and drain, cement a shower, install a shower, install a toilet, bug spray the house, seal the house with sealant, build new footers, build doors, windows and seceruity screens, get building permits, water permits, electricity permits, then get all those hooked up, build an electrical system with junction boxes, wiring, and oputlets, return faulty materials, buy new ones, and sort through all the advice I am getting in my bad spanish.

Thats it.

I am frustrated. Emensely. I was so in over my head. I am going to finish this thing. Too many people have worked hard to see it through, but I wish I had not begun right now. Maybe tomorrow will bring a sunnier disposition, but I am exhausted, bone weary.

2008-02-22T21:58:00.002-05:00

By 4 today, we had a deck, a floor, and all the walls framed. I learn so much from walking the canadians work, that often I just watch. They fly over th wood, and striaght lines and walls emerge from piles of warped melina wood. We have two walls teaked, and the rest to do tomorrow.

I spent several house today spraying incesticide on the wood,and then applying teak seal to the wood to prevent more of the buggers from entering. My hand sticks together even after a late 2 hour surf with Cory.

we have burnt out two extension cords. Many of the costa rican tools are faulty and shoddy. This slows us down. So did the 2 hour electricity outage today.

But we have a house. The high ceiling is perfect for a fan, and makes it feel spacious inside. I am exhausted and crash each night into a deep deep sleep. Neither the howler monkeys, nor the brothers in the bueno, can wake me. I sleep each day tll 8, then surf until about 9 30, but still, the Canadians beat me up the hills and have massive progress made. This is like the elves and the shoemaker. They eat all the mangoes I can feed them, and I try to get them all the mangoes in Nosara gladly. They listen to metallica, and joke, and laugh, and fly over the wood. I cannot express my gratitude enough. They are doing this for a couple of sandwiches and 5 bucks each for their rooms in the enchanted forrest. Thats it. Like a miracle.

2008-02-19T21:57:00.004-05:00

I am 32 years old, an intellectual preoprty attorney, and today, I wired a bang box from an illegally tapped power line. This is what Costa Rica will do to you.

J, a local, helped explain to me last night in the dark, how to steal electricity. I took his 200 feet of 6 guage cable and wired it into my neghbor's pole. Problem is that non eof the 20 amp slots would turn over the saw. A

At first, I suspected the saw. J told me that power tools sold in central amareica are not manufactured in the US like the ones we buy. This one was made in Brazil. Aparently they do not last long, and need to be replaced often. I went and raised hell about this with Daniel at the ferreteria, but he just plugged it in and showed me that it worked.

Later, I tried to splice the 200 feet cable into an extention cord. The ends were too wide and would not hold. I threw it down in frustration. Yik.

Team Canada moved more wood in 2 hours than I did in 3 days. They made a chute from 14 foot planks,and just chucked the teak down. Impressive. I found them testing out the tensile strength of the local vines on one of my trips up and down the hill trying to get us power. All in all, it was a frustrating day. 8 hours of looking, no power, no generator

I moved from Lucy's back to the bueno tonight. Good to be amoungst the borthers again, thick in fogs of cigarettes and other things, and in the kitchen learning from college age kids how to really make masa work for you.

2008-02-18T14:40:00.003-05:00

I am so many days bhind, I am just going to blow thorugh this.

We got the footers in and then had to fight elecricity issues. You cannot, for reasons unknown to me, rent generators in Costa Rica. You cannot, for that matter, rent anything really. So it was the option to buy one, for 1100 dollars, to to figure another way out. The first day, we hijacked power from an outdoor outlet of a neighbor. We used the foot stool and the back of the car to sut the heavy 2 x 8 x 14s into footers. Then I dragged them down the hill. It was a lot of dragging, and soon everyone was exhausted. Lynn was holding boards for dad to but, Paul was taking measurements, and Mike and I were hauling lumber up and down hills. We ended exhausted.

The next day, we used another neighbors electricity with his permission. this sped everything up, as we were working closer to the pile of lumber. Dad cut like a maniac, and I chucked wood down the hill then dragged it to the building site. Paual and Mike adn Rebecca managed to reect the posts, and lter the joists one by done.

The neghbor cut off our electricity the next day, so I drive over to inquire of the loca restaurant if they had one. Debbie and her mom could not have been warmer or more charitable toward a neighbor, and they lent me thier generator. It turns out, by coincidence, that they hail from my father´s home town´s neghbor. There was a lot of catching up done, and we ate at the vista Paraiso overlooking gioness. Everyone felt more civilized. With the generator, we moved more quickly, and had the deck framed out and teaked by the end of the day. We stood on it, and imagined the house, and looked at the view and felt accomplished.

Dad and Lynn went with Mike and Rebecca to Liberia the next morning, and Paul and I struggled that day to get the 10 footers into place. We got all the joists in but the last one before dark fell and we could nto see anymore to work.

That night, I met with B, who runs a hotel here, and she reminded me that some of her guests were open to helping me finish the project. They were 4 canadians on vacation from novia scotia. I dont know if it was the idea of building in the jungle, or bordeom, or heavy drug use, but they agreed to build the surf cabin.

O Canada!Our home and native land!True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Canada has recued us. Not all of canada, but four surfers from Novia Scotia.

I met them a few nights ago in the Casa Tucan. They listened to my unfortunate tale of building int he jungle, but were interested. In fact, they told me that they did construction in Canada, were here on vacation and a bit bored.

Well, I found them a few nights later, and they again offered to build the house with me. This saved my ass so completely, I could have wept.

I postoned my trip to nicaragua, and took them up tot he site today after we surfed this morning. They are true professionals. They looked at the site, estimated 2 days without a compresser and a hammer tool, and 1 with. I am looking for another generator for them, and a triangle.

Did I mention I love canadians?

2008-02-18T14:36:00.004-05:00

The wood was late. Man was it late. TO arrive on Monday afternoon, it was still missing as the sun set on Tuesday night. I kept checking my email for messages from Jin Lan. They mainly consited of asking for a phone number.

We were living in the jungle, there was no phone and if there were, we would never have on up in the mountains. When we turned in that night, I checked the email again, to learn that the wood had aarrived, but that the drivers could nto find the site. They wre driving around the hills lost. I met them at the cafe de paris while the team ate dinner. There was another problem. They had run out of diesel fuel. This required me to drive 45 minutes to nicoya, one way, to fill a drum of deisel, and then back tot he site where I had lead the wood truck. They had just finished makeng a staggering pile of wood, and it was midnight. They watned payment, but I only gave them 300 until we checked the wood order. I slept at one. It was a long day.

2008-02-18T14:33:00.003-05:00

The next day, paul and rebecca tied 3, 4, and 5 foot strings to make right angles. Using this and a line level, we laid out the remaining outline for the footers. We were forced to cut one small tree that was in the middle of the house. We used the machete to do this. THis was my first logging experience with a machete. Everyone took a swing. Mike especially had a vigor for the machete.

We put the other 4 footers in the ground, after tamping the soil by heavy up 100 pound buckets of concrete, then poured water around them and shoveled in dirt. We had a foundation. I stood and looked at the footings for this future casita. It looked good.

I think it was this night that the building crew drove to Olga's and we ate on the beach, mariscos, and fish and imperial beer.

2008-02-18T14:23:00.002-05:00

Where was I? Mixing concrete? oh yes.

So, dad and I turned over 5 5 gallon buckets filled with quickcrete when we realized we hadn't enough. No problem, I would got to the ferreteria (Hardware store...or where you buy ferrets, the dictionary was unclear). I drove down the hill, only to discover that the hardware store was closed. It was sunday after all.

On a recommendation, I drove to the the chicken wire supermarket, and outside there was a concstruction crew working. I talked a worker into selling me a back of cement, then drove tot he internet cafe to find out how much aggregate you need. I stole some sand and we had our footers after mixing the last of them in a borrowed wheelbarrow.

The next day, we had a hard time finding paul and mike and rebecca. They were finally all located around 2, and paul and dad and I headed to the plot to find the location for the house. They all presented problems, this one was too steep, this one in front of K House, this one in a tree. We finally agreed and dad cleared the area with a machete while paul and I measured out the house with a tape measure.

The next day, Dad and Paul and I went to the hardware store. THis is where I started to make small whining noises. I brought down as many tools as I could cary, but they were not many and we needed everything. Add to that that I cannot take the stuff home and that I was already 1000 over budget, adn we had a serious case of being cheap. We bought a bosc circular saw instead of a stanley, because it was half the price. cable was a dollar a foot, so we bought two extension cords. 3 hammers, nails, a sqaure, a hand saw, some string, a shovel, and a step ladder amounst others. They have an odd system where you cannot look at the tools, but our spanish was poor enough, we irritated them into letting us. Dad and Paul were aghast at the lack of junction boxes and crimps for electrical systems. I was feverishly trying to use beginer spanish to translate, circuit breaker, and grounding wire, and other things not covered in Espanol 1.

That afternoon, all 6 of us went up the hill. Using string, and a tape measure, we measured the back line. Dad sharpened stakes with the machete. we dug 4 holes and buried the cnocrete footers which I had dragged literally, down the hill. Paul checked them with a level, and they looked, pretty damn good. I was amazed at the high of seeing those footers in the ground, rder from choas, the footings of a house in the jungle.

2008-02-16T20:55:00.002-05:00

we have a floor. 10 foot joists, and a deck made of teak. Paul and I slammed it together today after dad and Lynn and Paul and I spent yesterday cutting boards with a borrowed generator. But it looks good. You can stand where the house is, even if you have to stradle the joists. It seems like little until you know what we went through. too tired to type, more later.

One of the great things about this project is learning about my land. I am really really excited about K house now. THe land is just, well, rich.

Pura Vida.

2008-02-14T19:51:00.002-05:00

I need two hours to tell it all.

I have 5 minutes.

I built a deck. A real deck. Not alone, lord not alone. Paul and Dad and Lynn and I built ont he work of Mike and Rebecca and we have a deck today. A teak deck.

Mess after mess. Dad arrived and we had to find a way to make 8 footers for the house. Truth is taht I had started working ont hat a day before. I went to the ferreteria, where I was helped by a nice tico, who speaks greeat english and has a great sense of humour. After an hour explaining what i was trying to do, I left with 250 ounds quick crete and 8 buckets.

I mixed one with a shovel and a machete as a tester. I was not set the next day. Dad and I mixed them more slowly, pouring the concrete, turning it iver, adding water, rins lather repeat. We did this in the back of the surf dorm, Solo Bueno. The guys inside kept creeping out with encouragement.

We ran out of cement, and went to the hardware store. It was, of course, sunday. I asked someone there who might have concrete and he advised me to try the super market. I did, and they didn´t but at a nearby construction siute I talked a guy into selling me a single bag of portland cerement. Dad and I drove to the internet cafe to learn how much aggregate we needed. 66 percent. I went to another construciton site and borrowed some sand. We mixed the final two in Mateo´s wheelbarrow's.

More later.

2008-02-13T19:41:00.002-05:00

Disaster.

There is so muich to write, but right now, I have changed from putting out fires, to wondering if I should just stop work, eat the 2100 dollar loss and abandon the project. What a d*mn mess. The wood arrived, or at least someone´s wood. We cannot build a house with this. The wood is all the wrong size. And too short, not too long.

More later.

2008-02-09T12:09:00.000-05:00

I now own 250 pounds of concrete. QuickKrete, quick dry stuff. I have 8 5 gallon buckets. All of this I was able to obtain in my bad spanish. Now, I am going to try to mix them. I will, no doubt, screw something up.

THe hardware store in NOsara is impressively well appointed. THere was a kid there, Daniel, who spoke as much english as I do SPanish and he was most helpful in pricing out options.

Jin Lan, of EcoTimber, is on the case. 2000 board feet of teak arriving on Monday. Plus we have Gmelia, a semi hard wood, for the skeleton. We hope to be ready to start pounding nails on MOnday afternoon. My big thanks though to Jin Lan, who has been incredibly felexible, gave us a great deal on sustianbly harvested teak and was a great resource in our project. I would recommend EcoTimber to anyone looking to build in CR.

OK, I have to pick up Dad and Lynn in Liberia, mix 400 pounds of footers, and find everyone lodging. in 3 hours.

2008-02-08T13:06:00.000-05:00

There is a trick to sharpening machetes. It involves a file and a bit of time. I learned this last night. Actually, I arrived at my land only to find out the machete was not yet sharpened. SO I walked the land adn looked for a location to situate the cabin. There were monkeys in the trees watching me the whole time. I told them they would not have to move, that I wasn´t going to cut down their trees. Then I realized I was talking to monkeys and I wondered if I had been drinking enough water.

Ok, off to make footings now. There is, apparently, a big hardware store downtown nosara. We will see. I need 8 buckets, a lot of concrete and a lot of water. This is going to get ugggggly.

M.

2008-02-06T20:58:00.000-05:00

I just got into town. Nosara that it. I am downtown right now, thinking of where I will stay tonight. I am so tired, I cannot even think of it. I might sleep in the car. Maybe something will make more sense after dinner.

There is much to tell, but it will have to wait until tomorrow.

M

2008-02-05T11:30:00.000-05:00

Away we go.

And what an away it will be.

I am leaving for CR tomorrow morning. To arrive tomorrow afternoon. For everything I did, something was left undone. I dislike the feeling, but its...well, its going to have to work.

Paul finalized the plans, and we have made a contract for delivery of teak and hardwood to the property. Jin Wah, and again, I think thats his name, felt sympathy, perhaps, for the project, and deducted 50 dollars a sqM from the price for us to help us meet our budget. The project is still going to be ove the budget, but that budget was largely decided by available moneys, and not any realistic idea of how much this is going to cost. Paul has done an admirable job of keeping this project within reach without comprimising the scheme. We decided not to clad the interior of the building to save money. Paul rearranged the studs and bracing to make it more aesthetically pleasing.

I am deciding right now, whether I will check bags and bring tools down with me. I have few applicable tools, but every savings counts.

In other news, its February 5, and there is still no bid. I am not suprised or dissapointed, just reporting the news for those of you who follow this.

2008-02-03T02:23:00.000-05:00

As anyone who shops at whole foods can tell you, going green ain't cheap.

Teak, sustainably and locally grown, is about 650 a square meter. There is a 13% tax to the sale. I dont know what this tax is. A wood tax? Government really starts to look a lot like a protection racket after a while. Without the protection. The guy we spoke to Jin Wah, or something like that, seems straightforward and responsive. four days to cut and process the wood. Delivery to the site for 300 dollars.

There is a semi hardwood that is locally used to build frames. its called....shot, I cannot recall. Paul told me. Its about the same as teak per foot. There is a low quality teak for 400 a square meter. There is another wood for covering the inside. It can be manufactured at 1/2 inch thickness, for around 600 a sqM. Not cheap this stuff. The total price tag for all the wood is about 3000, plus tax. Thats too much right now. This is holding us up. Paul is doing all the negotiations, and for that, I am endlessly thankful.

I dont know where we will find tools. I suspect we need at least a generator, a circular saw or a table saw, shovels, hammers, drills, rules etc. Dont know if we need a compressor. Since it is out of my pocket, and I dont have any access to electricity locally, I have to buy the generator.

I heard there is a hardware store in Samara. I dont know how much they have, but that is a good site better than Liberia. I am sure we can get some materials from Nicoya, but again, I dont know what.

The other problem is the footings. We need 8, but the original plan was 4 foot sono tubes of concrete with metal braces on top. Well, I have seen someone building one room hunting shacks in trapezoidal concrete footers. It would be great if that were sufficient.

2008-01-31T01:54:00.000-05:00

Its late here, hardley enough time to pound out a post, but I need to catch this blog up pon developments before I let that slide over to yet another day.

First of all, you learn a lot when you are actually doing it. For years I have been interested in green design. There is nothing in the world, however, like actually constructing a place, or trying to teach you how difficult the process actually is. There are so many areas ripe for green internvention. Some of them have obvious imrovements. Others present perplexing problems. This will be a real help with the work on K house begins.

For example, I am learning about PVC, and septic fields. Moving water, or sewage, requires pipes. Pipes are something that I thought little about prior to grappling with the surf shack. Now I realize, there are choices to be made. PVC, which is so toxic it has been pulled off the shelves in UK toys, or copper, which is a heavy metal which can lead to poisoning, lead, see copper, or various other matierals. PVC, it turns out, is only toxic when molded, but is generally considered safe when straight or not superheated. Interesting. well, what about the primer that holds the pipes together? Do I want that in my drinking water?

As I said, so many questions.

Paul and I held a design meeting this Monday to implement the breakthrough of turnign the design along the slope, to decrease the hieght over the ground, and decrease the depth of the house for airflow. This Paul immeditely translated into a simple and really strong design, with one corner of the shack completely open. Paul and Scott also persuaded me to add an indoor toilet. Frankly, a little discussion into which I was ambused by Vera, Pooneh, and Rebecca regarding the prosepct of relieving oneself on a box in the woods was all the prodding I needed to consider more fully a more gentile manner of waste disposal. Problem was, we now need a septic field. Paul and Scott presented a very simple system,a 3 foot pipe with a trap leading to a 50 gallon trash can fulled with water, then a PVC pipe out of the can with a cap and holes bored in that drains into a septic field. Its simple and effective.

Tonight, I had a talk with a one Bob Long, a plumber in Washington state and father of a colleague of mine. He was very helpful in talking to me about our plumbing system, and generously offered to sketch a system out over our floor plan. I will send him the plans tomorrow. In addition, he offered to ask a friend of his who specializes in septic tanks and field for the most basic approach possible. This is extremeley useful since, accourding to his daughter Ash, there are a lot of people in the area who build one room hunting cabins that they use seasonlly. Almost precisely our situation. This is reall wonderful.

And Paul wins the gold star for his work yesterday. I dont know how he did it, but he tracked down a teak seller in Costa Rica, EcoTimber I believe it is called. He then wrote an email explaining our situation, had it translated into spanish, and sent it on. he then began a long series of eamiles with thier sales representative. In short, I think we might, through Pauls efforts, have a commited supply of timber ready and to be deposited to our site before we evern leave. what a relief.

Other interesting things involve tinkering with showers and cisterns. Paul and I went over some ideas to build a resevoir in the drain pipe to provide water for showers and dish washing during the rainy season. This will be useful for imlementation into K house. I think we will need a much larger cistern though, and bury it. Although Guillermo and I discussed a resevoir off site, used for watering the grounds. So far, for the surf shack though, we are totally off the grid. I also saw some solar laterns, going for around 80 dollards which charge in 12 hours and burn for 3-7.

This is so exciting.

2008-01-24T15:49:00.000-05:00

The design committee for Plan A is meeting tonight. In anticipation, I took out two books form the library...one on woodworking with power tools, the other on alternative building materials. They both look to be about 20 years old. Paul has his ticket. So do Mike and Rebecca. We all went to a Band of Horses concert last night, marred only by ticketing and towing. Thats my crew though yo, and we are going south to make a house. Dad and Lynn are looking to come down...well its hard to tell when since they dont need to purchase a ticket in advance. Dad still weilds some post avaition benefits.

Nothing happening still on the project. I am waiting, contentedly, under the bhodi tree.

Oh, I read about teak and cedar as building materials today. Really interesting. Teak can be hardened by burying it under ground for a few years. temples in Thailand, over 500 years old, and exposed, uncared for, to the elements, are still standing and the teak is in great condition. I guess Guillermo was right about teak as a building material. Its a great choice. Aparently, the walls of Plan B, and maybe Plan A, are going to age into a silver grey. The roof will be blue. Still not sure that Corten steel is the right product for the tower, but all three proposed materials were red/pink/orange in hue and will be a wonderful counterpoint.

Ok, more later.

2008-01-23T17:38:00.000-05:00

What does a structural engineer do? well, frankly, I could make an educated guess, but the fact of the matter is that I did not know anything concrete about the function of one of the core members of the design team. So...I went to wikipedia...there I learned that

"Structural engineers are responsible for producing engineering design or analysis. ..Experienced engineers would be responsible for the structural design and integrity of an entire system, such as how a building in its entirety resists vertical and lateral forces on it without collapsing or failing to function.
The role of a structural engineer today involves a significant understanding of both static and dynamic loading, and the structures that are available to resist them. The complexity of modern structures often requires great creativity in order to support and resist the loads they are subjected to. A structural engineer will typically have a three, four or five year undergraduate degree, followed by a minimum of three years of professional practice before being able to be considered fully qualified.[5]
Structural engineers are licensed or accredited by different learned societies and regulatory bodies around the world (for example, the Institution of Structural Engineers in the UK)[5]. Depending on the degree course they have studied, they may be accredited (or licensed) as just structural engineers, or as civil and as structural engineers."

well, so there you go. I suppose that the tower, though only 29.51 feet in hieght, will generate a more aggressive architectural, and loading, challenge than those ordinarily encountered in Nosara building. I am glad that Guillermo reviewed the work of the prior enggineer critically, and I hope that the new one is more creative and competent. I dont actually know the name of the guy we are using, but if his work is good, I will pass it along so that you all, loyal resders, might benefit.

2008-01-22T13:49:00.000-05:00

Update: Its the 22nd. No bids are in yet. Guillermo has been diligent in nagging the contractor, who last promised that I would get them by yesterday.

In other news, I have been informed that Guillermo fired our original structural engineer. He felt someone else could do a better job an hired someone with whom he was worked before whose work is more accurate and creative. Good to hear. All the permitting is in place to move forward when the bids come back. Crossing fingers....

Oh yes, and I saw that the interior images were posted on Guillermo's site, look under K house. Note though, if you read the project details, that the house has 3 bedrooms, and it is a zendo the house has, not a yoga studio. I dont do yoga.

Plan A has a green light. Paul has designed a teak one room cabin, with a shower and a small kitchen. Screen doors one one side, a window on the other. The walls are actually a porous membrane, with spaces and screen between the boards. The bathroom would be remote from the site. electrical systems set up for solar panels, and a catchment and cistern system for water. Simple really. The design is intended to compliment K house. The teak cladding certainly echos it, as does the deck. The roof might be a different material, unless I can find the same material which is being used for K house roof.

Does anyone out there know what teak sells for per board foot, and where we could get it? I dont want to use a toxically sealed product, and teak, or cedar, both of which are farmed in Costa Rica, though I am not sure they are native, would be natural protection from bugs and from rot.

Guillermo gave his approval of the project. I think, in the end, this is going to make me a much better client during the building process of Plan B (K House). I bet spending a week on the land will also teach me a lot about the site. I am going to think about how to get a view from the projected height of the tower.

2008-01-19T17:22:00.000-05:00

Plan A?

Most of you, my loyal readers, have, from time to time, heard me refer to the building project in Nosara as Plan B. There are two reasons for this...the first is that at the time that I bought the land in 1999, I was working in NY and it seemed that everyone with which I worked had these backup plans..."if this doesn't work out, I am going to be a DJ...If this doesn't happen for me, I am going to open up a recording studio...I am giving this one more year and then I am going into motocross". I tagged this phenomena Plan B, and even used to start conversations with it..."what is your Plan B?" Everyone knew what I meant and thier Plan B's usually told more about thier dreams and desires than what they were currently doing.

When I bought the land, my plan B became "I am going to just uproot and move to Costa".

The second meaning of the double entrendre comes from a time when I was a judicial clerk in Pensacola Florida, dreaming with a buddy of mine on the phone. He and I, over the course of an evening, decided that the property might very well be valueless, so why not assemble the collective manpower, brain power and creativity of my friends and build a surf shack. A trip to Costa in 2005, with Ian and Jmer, pictured waaaay below on this blog, educated me about the value of the land I owned. I decided then to pursue a building project that would maximize the value of the land, and embody a life long dream to design a serene, airy, modern, green home. That dream is what became K House, but it was plan B for me.

Well, I am contemplating reopening Plan A. No, not a return to NYC, but getting my friends assembled, and leaning on thier support, thier brains, their backs and thier friendship to get to CR and build a one room surf shack on EE-25. This would not stop or even threaten Plan B, but K house is taking much longer than I had planned to come to fruition. I had imagined tht being the case, and now, realistically, I need to assume that from now till completion could be a year or more. I have a break now, between jobs, and more importantly, I have great friends with a desire to go to Costa, and a wicked combination of skills.

Paul and Scott and I are getting together tomorrow. I am going to bake some chicken, chill some beer and clear the dining room table. we are going to see if we cannot design a surf shack. Paul is an architect, Scott, amongst other interesting thins, is a real estate developer who has been following his interests in green building. Me...well, I am some hack who loves design, creative solution making, and surfing costa.

Now, there is no electricity on the place, no running water. Further more, we dont have a building permit, but from what I understand, you dont need one in Costa to Build less than 750 sq feet. the land is graded, and we have a thimble full of actual experience between us, but here we go....

So, the opening thought of mine was to dig down into the grade, lay a concrete foundation, and use cinder block construction. Why cinderblock? Well, that what everyone else in Costa seems to use. I wanted to make a sod roof, and partially bury the thing to decrease its visual footprint. Furthermore, I conjectured, by partially burying it, I could use the lower thermal value of the soil to cool the shack.

Paul, and my dad, questioned that approach. They pointed out that we would need a lot of concrete. A lot of it. more than we could make at the property. We would need a truck. Now, I dont know jack S--- about getting a concrete truck to a site in Nosara. Dont know what it costs, who to call, how long it would take. nothing.

So as it stands, we are thinking 150-200 square feet. Timber construction, pressure treated wood for the frame, and teak paneling for the rood and sides. The front would be glass. A small deck. Then, perhaps, an outdoor shower (Cistern driven) and composting toilet, a single light, a full sized bed, 2 burners for cooking, and some chairs, a small table and a hammock. My Dad is a handy and capable fellow...he is going to serve as our foreman. He has the most grey hair so that makes sense. He has a degree in electrical engineering, so he is going to help us add electrical systems to the plans. Furthermore, we are counting on him, and my step mom, to keep the troops on task and the quality of the work high. I am hoping they dont bring a bullwhip. We need a plumber too to add some pipes into the plans. the hope is to add solar panels one day, and maybe lead water from the house. But until then, we are off the grid. That is not hard, since the grid is nowhere near this place.

How crazy are we?

the list of unknowns:

Where do I need to go to find building supplies? There is a huge place in liberia. I am sure that is sufficient. Can I get them in Nicoya? What about in Nosara? What supplies can I get in each.

How on earth do I get the supplies to the site? A truck. I have to rent one. Can I hire one? Can I hire a big one? One that can move glass?

Can I get teak? Is it expensive?

What is available? Could I get a solid glass door set to just drop in? If so, how do I get it to the site? Man, if I could just hire a truck from Liberia to the site, and drop off all of the materials in one go....

Do I need a permit? I dont think so. No water, no electricity, under 750 sq feet.

Composting toilets...what on earth do I know about them?

Are there recycled materials available? Old tires, old wood...anything?

Is teak and wood construction doomed to rot and destruction?

Look, I am in over my head, but not by much. Anyone out there have any advice, or any warnings? Anything would help. I am kinda just jumping in this. I am keeping it as simple as possible. but I can use anyone's guidance.

With thanks.

By the way, this is the exciting part, the roster looks at least this good:
Me,
Dad
Lynn,
Scott
Paul
Mike
Rebeca
Chris(?)
Ian(?)

Can you imagine how overwhelmed I am by this? this house will be built by love. It sounds hokey, but this is an old fashioned barn raising, with my goodfriends all becoming part of this forever. And dont worry about us...there is going to be lots of hiking and surfing and touring, and surfing, and sunning and surfing and eating and surfing and...well, you get the picture. Its not all work. We have a very relaxed schedule.

Ok, signing off.

2008-01-16T18:59:00.000-05:00

Grrr. GRRRRRRR.

Its the 16th. Maybe this date sounds familiar to my regular readers. No? How about the fifteenth. As in "The bids will be back on the 15th". That makes the 16th the-day-after-the-day-the-construction-companies-were-supposed-to-finish-thier-bids. And, in case my dander has not alerted you to the outcome...they ain't here.

I checked. I looked in my email accounts. I looked in the mail. I looked under my couch. Not there. No, the construction company is definitely late.

Yet, I sit here with a state of nearly Zen like calm. How? Easy, I recently purchased US to Tico conversion software. I plugged in the date "Jan. 15th", pressed GO!, and it translated it to "Sometime in February. Maybe. Stop pushing us you anal retentive gringo."

Pura Vida. Pura Vida.

For the record, I in no way blame D0 and Guillermo. Every time line target they have given me they have hit. I know that Costa does not work with the watch like precision of the US. I dont really care, its my own expectations that are causing me suffering. I let them go, and laugh. The process has always had its own time table.

But for the record...Grrrrrr.

2008-01-14T16:06:00.000-05:00

January 15th.

Tomorrow.

This is the day I am to recieve back rebids from construction companies. Is anyone else giddy? No? Just me? Well, alrighty then. I am a bit nervous. I know what I can realistically work with in terms of numbers, so this is largely, I think, a binary outcome, going forward or not. I want to go forward, of course, but emotional decisions are seldom good ones. Especially when there is an investment component to the outcome.

None the less, this has never been an entirely rational enterprise. I followed a lot of intuition in buying the land, finding an architect, and focusing on an approach.

I will let you know what I hear back.

Thanks for staying with me on this.

2008-01-09T18:07:00.000-05:00

Ticking.

I know. I have not posted in a while. I have...well Guillermo has, submitted our design for rebidding with some reductions in scope and engineering. Cross whatever you can spare that the bids come in low enough for me to move forward. They are due back January 15. I dont know what that means in Tico time. I hope it is actually on that date, so I can make plans to get down there and oversee this project for a little while, or sell if I need to.

Got to give it to Alex Knott over at nosara realty...he prophesied that the one thing that would save costa rica for over development would be soaring prices.

Out.

2007-12-03T14:03:00.000-05:00

Its frustrating. In my life, I have generally been in a position to affect outcomes. I feel so emotionally tied into this building project, and now that we have hit a snag, I feel fairly powerless to affect things.

From my end it looks like this...we work as a team to design the building. I see it take form and shape and start to see myself in it. Then there is a large financial barrier, and now its like lobbing suggestions into a black box. Guillermo and his team can alter the plans. The contractor can change his bid. The structural engineer can vary structural systems. But I get to just sit and wait, and see what they all come up with. Until they do...I cannot do anything. Grrrr.

So I wait. At some point, I will get a number. Or maybe a set of options, or a talk with D0 about what I can opt to reduce and that which I need to have: materials, spaces, etc. And then I will get a number. Then its to me. I will then see if that number works, and what financing options are available. But until then...I wait.

Yours,

Frustrated.

2007-12-02T16:02:00.000-05:00

With thanks to Luis Diego Quiros, a costa rican archietect who I have written about before in this blog, there was an article published in Nacion that discusses the recent rise in raw material prices for construction in costa rica.

http://www.nacion.com/br/2007/diciembre/01/br1334553.html

This is required reading for anyone building in CR.

2007-11-26T14:13:00.000-05:00

Its the tower,

Guillermo recently invited me to revisit the plan to have the tower as part of the project. Without it, he pointed out, there was no problem getting under budget. He asked me if I was considering letting that feature go.

It was an easy answer, though perhaps ultimately an unworkable one: Until I know, for certain, that the lowest possible construction costs are still outside my bottom line, the tower must stay. Its the reason for the building project. Until I conceived that I could get the the view, I was content building the place myself with plans I would buy from Home Depot. I have the labor. I have the skills and friends who have done it. I can get a view of Olga's from anywhere on the property. But to see Guillones required a real professional. And once we had the professional, and estimated the budget, it was time to really build a dream, and not an outpost. The budget was derived from predicted future sales price, and the sales price has been estimated with a view. Thats it. The view is King. It drives the project, and the only way to get it, is that tower.

I am crossing everything that will cross that we will make that budget.

I will let you know when I know. Hope with me.

2007-11-19T00:55:00.000-05:00

Still, the horse may talk...

Guillermo emailed me to let me know that he entered into discussions with one of the contractors and with structural engineers to get the price per square foot number lower. He claims that they were able to decrease that number significantly. The other moving variable in the equation $/m2 x m2, the m2 part, is also being altered. Guillermo is already preparing a reduced version of the plans, one that decreases the width of the indoor, outdoor gallery/throughway from 5 meters wide, to 3.5, or, for those of you fellow American hopelessly stuck on the standard system, from approximately 16 feet to appx 10 feet. Seems a little odd to decrease that part of the house, since it is nothing more than a wood deck really, but if it significantly reduces the price of building, then its on the table. Further, the paved driveway and the back pork are to be reduced. Alternative materials are being considered, including choosing a polished concrete floor instead of teak. A shame, but a change I am warming to. And I do love polished concrete...I am just concerned that I am the only one in the world who feels that way.

I will let you know what DatumZero is able to do.

and now...a gallery of polished conrete.

2007-11-13T15:31:00.000-05:00

I have been a bad blogger. I neglected my lovely page here, though, to be fair, there was not much to report. Then there was something to report, but i was mired in temporary shock, then depression, anger, disbelief, acceptance...whatever those seven stages of grieving are supposed to be.

The source of my happy fun mood: The constructions bids came in.

Let me back up.

Way back in 2006, when this project evolved from a dream to a reality, I laid out my total possible budget for building. I reached this amount through researching building prices, researching home sales prices in Nosara, particularly in Section EE, and looking very very hard at my financial situation. I discussed this with my fearless financial advisor [Actually, he has a lot of fear, which is why I work with him. My own fear circuits are largely inactive, except when math is involved. But I digress. In the end, I estimated that I could afford 100k to build, with the understanding that a 5-10% budget variance was possible.

When I contacted architects, and held my interviews, I used the number of 85k for discussions. That was the number under which I held my discussion with DatumZero, and which I have used as my basis for saving for this project for the last many months. In fact, I refinanced my house, a decision based on the deteriorating US housing market and a 5 year ARM more than anything else, but paid to open an equity line. I did this because Guillermo and team had overcome a functional hurdle to the overall disposition of the property which included a radical variation from the original plan. The tower. At this point, I was awaiting bids, and expecting numbers in the 120k range.

Imagine my surprise when all three bids came in at 300k.

No, don't imagine it, see what that looks like:

Guillermo sent me a document with these bids and a lengthy discourse about the ramifications. he led in true Douglas Adams fashion with this message: Do Not Panic. But I panicked.

300k? Are you joking me? That number hardly even reflects the original number. I mean, what am I dealing with...the Bush administration?

A calmer reading of the D0 document showed thoughtful reductions in building to help lower costs. This included not paving the drive, removing the entry work, reducing the depth and the length of the gallery, and terraces. Still, even Guillermo's best back of a napkin alterations could only get us to 217k.

I want to be clear. I dont hold Guillermo or D0 at fault here. The pathetic dollar, the increase in labor costs and a raging commodities market are all at least at play. still, I cannot go forward with these numbers. Guillermo told me that he had a meeting with one of the contractors last week, reviewing options to decrease the cost. I followed up with Ari, to find our walking away point in this project. Its a dream, I dont want it to become a nightmare.

I have done some additional research to discover what value I could create in my home. I estimate that number at 490, based on a similar house in EE for sale. They also have a view of the water, a similar size plot, 3 beds, 2 bath, and an awkward property orientiation that requires elevation for a view. At that amount, minus the likely value of the naked land, building a home for 300k would reduce the value of my property. Even if it comes out even, I dont want to lock up every available piece of capital I have, with no return on it until I can rent it in 9 months or so, in one investement. I cannot do it. Its too much. We need to get to 120 or less to make this work.

Feedback, and condolensces are welcome.

2007-10-30T14:03:00.000-05:00

The wheels of progress turn slowly. I have submitted all my permitting documents, and I await the return on those. Plan B is still without a construction company, and we have not yet broken ground. I must admit that a completion date of the new year is almost impossible, much less improbable. But I have taken out an equity line against my house and I am ready for the investment when the project is ready to begin.

I will keep everyone posted. Thanks for the continued support. No one is more eager to get started than I.

2007-09-27T10:55:00.000-05:00

Ok. I am not officially a bona fide member of the Nosara civi association. I got word this morning that the NCA received my check, my dues, and were able to deposit the check. I paid, for whomever is interested, in dollars. Thats right, in Costa Rica you can deposit directly a check drawn on foriegn funds. Interesting. I wonder what the colone has been doing lately against the dollar. It seems like the entire world has a better, relative, economy. The Canadian dollar is nearly 1:1, the aussie dollar is up, the euro is at record highs against the dollar, even the mexican peso is up against the dollar. Let me write that again: the mexican peso is outperforming the dollar. But I have not checked the colone. I wonder if the two economies are so dependant the the dollar is dragging the colone down. I wonder if the locals will even want to take dollars next time I am down there. I wonder how this will effect construction and material costs. I wonder if China has left any steel in the entire world for the rest of us, or if I am going to have to recycle.

I wonder if copper is even affordable. If China is going to give the DR congo 5 billion to develop thier copper mines, then my guess is that copper is expensive. I think Corten it is. Hrdwoods, thank god, are local and should be affordable, but all other raw materials might come dear.

Intersting

2007-09-25T12:31:00.000-05:00

Air conditioning.

I have had someone ask what my approach to climate control, within Plan B, will be. [Thanks Peter].

The overall plan in this house is to demonstrate the efficacy of passive cooling systems by making the entire house independent of mechanical air conditioning units---with one small exception.

The house will be constructed off the ground. This allows the winds to pass underneath the house and to cool the floor. The house is oriented directly along the prevailing trade winds, so we can depend on those winds blowing perpendicularly to the house's breadth.

The roof of the house will have two walls, creating an air space in between the two, for the same breeze to flow through, and to act as insulation, without relying on toxic materials.

There is a gap between the roof and the walls of the house, with operable windows and screens. These gap allows air to flow through even when the windows are closed.

The house is a single depth. This mean that opening windows and doors will allow the winds to pass easily through. They will not get frustrated in deep hallways.

The bedroom itself is partly underground. It is the only earth moving we are doing. The depth of the cut into the earth should cool at least two of the walls of the bedroom to the uniform 54 degrees of the earth.

There will be overhead fans, which can be used to move air. Moving air feels 10 degrees cooler than still air. This is a mechanical intervention, of course, but not invasive, and I hope to have the fans solar powered as soon as solar panels are scalable.

The exception is the last room of the house, which is glassed off, and which is climate controlled for the purpose of running an office or computing. It is the humidity, rather than the heat, which is the danger, but the best way to control that humidity will be the availability of an air conditioner in that bedroom/office, which can be turned on, but which cools only that room.

Loyal reader Peter P addresses his concerns with solar:

"In regards to solar: I would love it, but not making enough sense to me now. I can see massive improvements in Solar coming in price and efficiency and that makes me want to wait. Plus, I am counting on CAFTA to drop import taxes. All that may make it a real deal when I am ready. Also, I want a pool, so that takes a bit of power. If electric is free and the timing is right, I might do Solar as for tree hugging, and backup electric so I don’t have to live like a hippie."

Peter is dead on. As much as the media hype might lead you to believe otherwise, solar is not scalable. The people and grocery stores and businesses that you see in the US making the conversion are only able to economically do so because of the subsidies and tax breaks offered US citizens. The US as a market for solar almost does not show up on the world map of solar power consumption. Over 80 % of solar panels are sold to Asia. That is because solar v. oil, and solar is going to lose, but solar v. darkness, and solar wins. I mean, these people have no grid to rely on, so solar makes sense, because it is the only option.

I want solar, and I expect that we will see oil hit 120 dollars a barrel or more if the dollar keeps dropping, but right now, it is not the most efficient choice. I believe that green is not only the morally correct choice, but that it will prove to be the economically correct choice also going forward.

As an aside, Peter also tells me of a house he saw in Tambor which cools the pantry, so that produce lasts longer. Interesting idea that.

2007-09-24T16:42:00.000-05:00

In an effort to keep those of you who follow this blog up to speed on this project, the answer to "how is it going"? is this:

The water permit is not yet resolved, but progress might be being made.

There is a hold up because the paper work for the permits to build were lost. I use the term lost broadly. Guillermo asked me to sign the documents and send them down next day mail. He asked me to get a tracking number. I screwed up, leaving the package with the mail department and asking them to send it next day and get a tracking number. They sent it US priority mail, which was "lost". They did not get a tracking number. Guillermo told me, after I dropped this ball, that the mail service in CR opens the mail looking for goodies and then discards it if there is nothing of interest to them. This vexes me, but now I understand the reason for his clear instructions, I will use Fed Ex or DHL to carry all documents from here on out. What a disappointment. You get used to things getting where you sent them in this country. generating new papers, signing them and sending them will be guaranteed to cause a 3 week delay. It already has.

Guillermo and Datum Zero and I have a meeting on materials that will occur in the future in NYC but when and where are not clear. Perhaps soon. I hope so, I am eager to get this thing moving.

DZ is interviewing contractors and builders for bids. I dont know where we stand in this process. Obviously this will be the determining factor of whether we can get finished anywhere near the Jan 1 2008 goal. The team is more important than the time line though, and I am interested to hear about our options.

Thats it, I think. Personal affairs have been taking my attention from the blog and this project, but I am now able to focus on it completely.

As always I thank you for your continuing interest.

2007-09-05T19:36:00.000-05:00

A bump.

In order to get a water hookup from the city of Nosara, it is necessary to get a letter of authorization from the Nosara Civic Association. I applied for such a letter and recently was denied. The response was that no new water permits were being granted on new developments.

From what I understand the Nosara Civic Association was instrumental in halting overdevelopment of the Nosara area. They refused to allow water to flow to projects that did not follow the civic plan. This was effective in preventing overzealous developers from creating hotels and 90% density lots.

I am puzzled as to why this measure is being applied to me. First of all, I have owned land in Nosara since 1999. Thats nearly 8.5 years now. I bought this before the land crazyness began. I bought the land to develop it, one day, but was waiting the right approach. I dont feel like it is proper to put me in the back of the line when I have been a land holder in Nosara for all these years.

Second, Plan B is intended to demonstrate to people that development can co-exist with ecology. I have not cut any exotic hardwoods, I have not created a retaining wall and filled the land as many people have done. The design nestles onto the landscape; its piers allow it to kiss hte landscape and use little earth movement.

I am building a roof that will catch water for cisterns to reduce my reliance on any water, in addition to managing run off. It seems counterintuitive that my project should be stopped when it is an education in how little one can ask from the land.

Third, without another option, I will, eventually be forced to consider the advice that I get from real estate agents: build a retaining wall, cut the parcel in two, cut all the trees, fill the land and sell it as two properties for someone else to develop. I dont want to do this.

I am having a hard time getting a response from the NCA. They have been nothing but pleasant in the past when I have contacted them. The last I heard from them, they were requesting association dues. I sent an email asking how to effect payment, as they left no transfer banking number, but I never heard a reply. I hope they are willing to work with me on this.

2007-08-24T12:07:00.000-05:00

Local talent.

My friend Madison, who I have known since undergrad, has a talent for decoration. At a time when we were all pinning posters on our apartment walls and luxuriating with matresses thrown on the ground, Madison's apartment was a showcase. The most amazing thing was, and still is, that she is able to accomplish these complete tranformations for about what we were spending on the posters and mexican blankets.

Madison lives in italia now. But this has not stopped her talent for interior design. She has completely redone the house in which she lives now, with her husband Chris, and the results are stunning.

Ok, this is her kitchen. She did not merely renovate it, she created it from scratch. She even built the walls that define the kitchen space. The tiles, appliacnes and counter tops are all her creation.

I really like this kitchen. The busy blue interest of the mosiac tiles compliments the industrial feel of appliances. The stainless steel looks almost commercial, but certainly utilitarian.

Here is another look...

I also love what she has done with the bathroom, again, choosing flooring, appliances and finishes.

Oh course, when you have a view like she does, it pays to invest in your home.

2007-08-17T14:33:00.000-05:00

This is another image from that Dwell shoot that I am using to get an idea of what the inside of K House might reflect. See here the wood wails? I dont know what you call that material, the wood used on the walls. Is it regular hardwood flooring used on a wall? It might be.

You can see that the Marine Plywood ceiling, or what I think is the Marine Plywood ceiling, is highly laminated. I dont know if I like the way the shine comes off in the images. Om the other hand, it brightens a place up tremendously. Anyway, these images of this house in Dwell are interesting as a starting point. I am curious how K house will be similar or different.

I have been spending time lately cataloguing concrete finishes. Its a fascination of mine. You can dye concrete, polish it, seal it, embed quartz and other rocks, texturize it, darken it, harden it, lighten it. Its amazingly flexible. I dont know what finish we are exploring in the kitchen,but the possibilities are endless. For that matter, I dont know what the interior treatments are like for the vertical element. The bedroom, I think, will have a settled darkness, like a cave, with one end brilliantly lit in day night. The zendo, I think will be open and light, serene and simple, but how that translates into building materials is going to be interesting.

2007-08-14T10:51:00.000-05:00

Ach,

So, as part of researching images for this project, I subscribed to Dwell magazine, an architectural digest for people who are not architects and need things explained to them in really short easily understood words. I like the pictures.

At any rate, this months issue had two houses which seemed to very closely parallel things that are going on in Plan B. The first is a house in LA which appears to have wood walls, a wood exterior, and marine plywood ceilings.

Note also the lifted ceilings with the windows underneath that open, presumably, outwards. The hardwood floors are like my projects, but there are, of course differences too.

Here, in the Dwell image, you can see that there are portions of white tile, or white stained concrete. Its hard to tell which. I kind of detest light floors like that. Oh course, now that I look closely, it might be carpeting, which, with the added texture, might work, but I am not using carpeting in CR< class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">is wider, by far, than mine, thus it employs beams supporting the roof, whereas in Project B, the walls are the weight bearing instruments, and there are no columns.

The one thing this house is doing that I would like to avoid is that sense on internal impermanence. Many of the walls are so thin, they look like temporary structures, without having the elegance of a Japanese screen, but just looking kind of cheap.

Interestingly, It appears that the roof in this house, above, has a skylight. I have never seen a skylight in CR, which could reflect the heat of the climate, or the limitations of previous construction companies.

This image, from another part of the magazine, shows a house that also has aspect paralleling Plan B. You see the tower, which, I believe, is made of Corten steel. This is in LA, again, if memory serves (I lost my copy of Dwell). There is a small porch off the front of the tower, and the full glass wall giving a view to the ocean. More subtley, but still in the spirit of Plan B, is the fact that the builder either planted or left the native flora, hiding and cooling the house from the street. This is an aim of Project B. We [attempted] to leave all the mature local flora, the cocobolos, the oaks, and the other trees. It is to be hoped that with the slope of the hill, the vertical element will, like this tower here, peak above the forest, and, in my case, under the canopy of the larger trees. It will be, this way, camouflaged, cooled, interactive, and complimentary to its environment. Still not sure about the Corten. I am on the fence. Sometimes I love its texture, sometimes I am concerned about the next owner, as I appear to be one of the few people I have met who likes it. I did talk to someone knowledgeable about urban planning in Pittsburgh who told me that it was necessary to rip down a lot of experimental Corten building since the rust stained the pavement around the building and covered the windows onto which it dripped. That would be a mess.

Anyway, I think these two images taken together anticipate my project to a degree.

Let me know what you all think.

2007-08-03T17:46:00.000-05:00

LABORATORIO DE MATERIALES CARLOS ARAYA S.A.
TEL/FAX. 229-0303, E-MAIL: labcaraya@racsa.co.cr

That is the name of the firm that I used. Guillermo thought their survey was really very good. They were at market, so if you in CR and are looking for someone to do soil testing, they have my recommendation.

2007-08-03T14:24:00.000-05:00

We have soil reports.
They are in Spanish, so I cannot read them, although loading them into BabelFish is very instructive:

Dear engineer: We presented/displayed the ground study and the results to him, made in located lot in Nosara, Nicoya, Guanacaste, whose 3223.31 area is of m2, with number of real folio [], property of [] where the construction of a condominium of two levels projects. The ground study contemplates to profile of the ground, unified classification, capacity of support, establishments, level of laying of foundations, laboratory tests. In case of some explanation it sírvase to indicate to us and we will take care of to him with much pleasure.

So far so good. I am pleased that they will take care of to him with much pleasure. I suspect that this translation is only going to get worse...

Reach The present study involves tools and technical procedures pertaining to the branch of geotécnica engineering, with the primary target to make an evaluation of the physical-mechanical characteristics of the present ground in the interest site, this way to raise the appropriate geotécnicas recommendations for the technical feasibility, design and construction or maintenance of civil works to develop in the investigation area. It is required to determine type of ground, the capacity of permissible support of the ground in different layers, profile of the land, and geotécnico lineament for the construction of a condominium of two levels. 2 Description of the Work were made three perforations to percussion by means of the method of standard penetration (SPT) according to ASTM 1586, in the P-1 perforations and P-2 was reached the depth defined initially of 4.20 ms. In the P-3 perforation the bounce of the standard equipment also appeared and with the use of the end trepan (TP), the depth reached in the P-3 exploration was of 3.00 East m.s method allows to know the consistency grounds according to the number of blows NSPT, for penetration of 30 cm as well as the continuous taking of samples for classification, description of the ground and laboratory tests. From each perforation samples for the classification of the ground in agreement with the SUCS are obtained (Unified System of Ground Classification), each 60 cm, according to the standard method, when using the TP can be known the support capacity but the sampling accomplishment is not possible. From the recovered samples the natural humidity is obtained, limits of Atterberg, graduation.

Franky, Babel Fish makes more sense than some of the first year associates with which I work.

I will not continue this exercises. The soil report looks very professional and complete. Once Guillermo and DatumZero have had an opportunity to work with the reports, I will let you know what they think and then make a recommendation to work, or not to work with this firm.

In the mean time, we press onwards, now working with a structural engineer to find new and creative ways to make a house that will not fall down.

2007-07-23T14:31:00.001-05:00

Hello readers,

Its been a while, and for that I apologize. The reason for my absence is two fold. first, and less interesting, I was submerged at the office in a series of 14 hour days that lasted 2 weeks.

Second, and this one is germane to the building project, I was trying to confirm that I indeed owned my property. Yes, you read that correctly.

One of the reasons that I was able to buy the land cheaply in Costa Rica, is that I was not facing, at that time, a lot of competition driving the market up. The Guanacaste peninsula was not easily accessible, for example, the river bridge at Tempesquie [SP] was not yet build and Liberia was a much smaller airport, and therefore the land was unknown. Another reason for there being not much competition for land in Nosara at that time, was that it is daunting to buy land in a foreign country, in a foreign language. There is much uncertainty, and uncertainty creates risk, and risk, in turn, depresses prices.

I bought the land from a local who sold real estate. He was representing the owner. I never spoke to, or heard from, the owner. I, on the agents advice, used a real estate agent in Nicoya, who treated me well, and spoke English. But the fact of the matter is that I knew nothing about land deals in Costa Rica. I knew nothing about deeds and titles, and land records. I was fortunate, perhaps, that everyone in the deal was honest and everything was recorded properly, for I could not have been much more naive when it came to the transaction. You hear, on occasion, horror stories of people buying land that was not for sale, or buying land that could not be sold, or developed. This is not always costa rica, of course. This happens here in the United States. But frankly, I felt very exposed, standing in the law offices of Ceasar Jiminez in board shorts and flip flops with naught but a year of college spanish and faith.

I checked the Rigistro Nacional on line, and learned that my land was registered to a USEKARA SA. An SA is an anonymous society. Like a corporation in the US. It was possible that I was USEKARA, but since I had never heard this word before, it only made sense in the attorney had selected it for me.

I began to worry that the land was registered to someone else.

Fortunately, Guillermo, in his recent trip to CR, called Sr. Jimenez on my bahlf and the matter was quickly resolved. My name is on the local title, which is the one that counts, and only the national registry has not updated their records. It was a very welcome e-mail to receive. And thanks to Guillermo for doing what I would have had a very hard time doing without speaking Spanish.

With that, on to Plan B.
Guillermo recommended Marine Plywood for the paneling of the ceiling of the horizontal volume. I quickly had to look up what it was. Now it looks like clear wood panels, you can check on line for yourself, but Wikipedia, what would I do without thee, informed me that:

"In construction, marine plywood is a specially treated plywood that is designed to resist rotting in a high-moisture environment. Marine plywood is frequently used in the construction of docks and boats.

Advantages of marine plywood
Durability - small scratches through painted plywood may expose the interior to water. Inexpensive plywood may not last long when it is damp
Strength - marine plywood is stronger and has consistent mechanical properties: no voids.
Workability - marine plywood is usually easier than fiberglass to cut and bend
Resistance to Warping - marine plywood (with the exception of Fir-based plywoods) will resist warping or check

Disadvantages of marine plywood
Cost - Marine plywood is much more expensive than standard plywood. Costs for a typical 4 foot by 8 foot 1/2 inch thick board is roughly $75 to $100 US or around $2.5 per square foot. This is about three times as expensive as standard plywood.
Marine plywood comes in several common thicknesses:
1/8 inch (3 mm)
1/4 inch (6 mm)
3/8 inch (9 mm)
1/2 inch (12 mm)
3/4 inch (18 mm)

[edit] Standards and ratings
Marine plywood can be graded as being compliant with BS 1088, which is a British Standard for marine plywood.
There are few international standards for grading marine plywood and most of the standards are voluntary. Some marine plywood has a Lloyd's of London stamp that certifies it to be BS 1088 compliant. Some plywood is also labeled based on the wood used to manufacture it. "
www.wikipedia.com

Now, there several dozens of types of wood used in marine plywood, and which one will be used in Plan B, I don't know, but the material choice makes sense- low warp, high resistance to moisture, flexible. I like it.

And that's about all I have for now. We are filing for permits, and the soil report should be done anytime now. Its exciting, and I am looking forward to breaking ground.

M

2007-07-11T12:39:00.000-05:00

Harmonics.

My father raised a good point in the execution of Plan B. The long thing horizontal volume of the house is completely flat. He was concerned that under a regular and high wind, that the walls might produce a harmonic, likening the problem to the chapel in the Air Force Academy, which vibrates like the interior of an airplane wing in the wind.

I likened the horizontal volume in this thought experiment, to a xylophone key.

I think the idea is that a variation in the face, some sort of featuer, would decrease the winds ability to run along it. I dont know if this is possible, likley, or can be tested. But it is an interesting, and valid, concern.

2007-07-04T17:56:00.000-05:00

The image you see below is one of a set of 4 delivered to me by Guillermo and his team at DatumZero. My impression on seeing them probably mirrored yours---Oh My Heavens. I was stunned by the accuracy and detail of the images, but taken by the outcomes of the project thus far.

The images are so close to real life, that a friend to which I showed them had to look closely before she would believe they were not photographs. I dont know what the software is that does that, but it is amazing.

Two of the images are of the interior of the house. One looking in each direction through the horizontal volume of the house from the gallery. The living room looks very warm. Pale wood floors, and wood walls. Until this treatment, I had not thought about the collor or materiality of the walls on the interior. GUillermo, in San Jose, had intimated that they would be wood, but we talked about a white washed plywood constructions. I still do not know for certain that the walls here are wood. They might be concrete. Concrete can be textured to look like wood. Still, it appears that at least for now, the walls are wooden both outside and in. The sliding glass doors took shape and form in the presentation. I saw how they stand, and slide, and open.

The frame of the house is steel. Blue grey gunmetal. It will be an austere counterpoint to the wood, and the surroundings of Plan B. I saw, in this images, for the first time, how the roof floats over the house. There are small windows at the top of all the wall, allowing the house ot be opened, and for the wind to blow unimpeded through the house, as well as under and over.

The kitchen warmed my heart. The floor is polished concrete. [authors note- I had concrete floors onces in florida and learned to buy more dishes than I needed. Plates and glasses do not bounce, they shatter.]. There is a prep island/breakfast bar, floating from the counter space. on the counter is the oven, stove, and hood as well as an indutrila strength sink. There is a floating spice rack, or light, over the prep space. The wall behind the counter look to be covered in grey green glass, or tile. wonderful. The overall effect is asian in line and simplicity, and french in utility. Wonderful. There is a dedicated space for cookbooks, and then I think spice racks and pantries. I am really pleased.

And there is so much light. The house is floating, almost naked. It will still feel secure becuase it will let in the trees, and the green and the color of the soil, but there will never be a reason to turn on a light until the sun sets.

I cannot wait to see the treatments for the tower, or the bed room. But for now, its my move. I have not yet paid the soil engineer, and I need to. I was trying to open a Costa Rican bank account to save myself the wiring fees which will mount up considerably as we move forward, but so far have not found a good solution. I need to get him moving. everyone I know asks...when will it be done. I tell them, winter, probably new years. But none of that is going to move forward until this soil report is done.

These pictures are the first time the tickle of inevitability has touched me. For a moment, I sould see myself there, feel myself there, in the breeze, having a drink, looking at the view. It makes me uncomfortable, in a good way, like my feet want to be there.

Stacy, my good friend, asked me if I was anxious to have it ready. I told her no. The process has been so fufilling, so invigorating, that I do not want to rush a moment of it. I told her that the most important part of the process was working to enunciate a vision and finding someone who shared it. This has been the most gratifying experience, working with datum zero. I suspect they may not be for everyone. They will not be of much use if you want size, or a victorian, or a house anyone could build. But seeing my dreams sporatically translated into blueprints and digital images has been a high I had not imagined.

2007-07-03T12:33:00.000-05:00

'nuff said.

2007-06-28T18:53:00.000-05:00

This blog has been, depending on my mood, about costa rica, architecture, building, or building and architecture in Costa Rica.

Well, this almost does not fit, but it was so intriguing and takes green building ideas to a very immediate level, I thought I would post it.

http://www.simondale.net/house/

Its a how-to on builing a low impact woodlands home. I am purusing the site for tips and interesting insight.

2007-06-15T16:56:00.000-05:00

Its not time to reveal it, of course, but Guillermo and his team delivered today a 3-d rendering of the house with imagine to reflect the materials, location, and over all feel of the place. It is, truly, stunning. I will share it one day soon, but for now, I must report, that I am too taken with it to write much more. Its great.

2007-06-11T17:06:00.000-05:00

Why is grout white? Whose idea was that? After a weekend cleaning up grout in my bathroom tile, I think I see the utility in polished concrete floors and dark colored grout in tiles. Wow.

2007-06-06T12:38:00.000-05:00

Its about time.

I was in Portland Maine the other weekend, and talking to my good friend Ari, when he noted that though he enjoyed my blog, really understanding the project without a visual representation of the house was a little bit of a stretch. He is completely right. For the over thousand people who have been kind enough to check in and read my blog, I think it is time to show you one of the early models that is quickly becoming my home.

Guillermo sent me some jpeg images of those K House for post on this site a few months ago. I picked this one as representative of the organic proposal, now the direction of the home. This is a model that Guillermo created as a proposal for our first meeting this winter. It has progressed greatly since this point. I now have 3 dimensional renderings of the project, with floor plans and details, but for now, I want you to see what was before me at the beginning.

Here it is, K House. (sans tower).

2007-06-04T13:01:00.000-05:00

Soil borings,

Guillermo sent me a recommendation for a party who can perform the requisite soil borings for Plan B in Nosara. He told me the costs associated with the operation are consistent amoung the companies that do it, and that he had had a good experience with this one. Those costs are roughly 670 USD, with 30 percent paid now, and 70 at completion. The name of the company who will perform the borings is Carlos Araya S.A. I will let you know if he was good.

I am interested in the results, in finding out that which is under my home. Is it clay? Loam, is there any rock? Since the direction is turning toward piers, I think the soil mix is less important than it was, but I am curious just how the land is laid in Costa Rica.

2007-05-29T15:36:00.000-05:00

Guillermo sent me an e-mail today about a prospective construction company, called Entelligant. They are located in San Diego USA. They specialize, as I am learning, in lightweight, low waste, modular building structures that are designed to be strong, and environmentally friendly.

Each facet of the design and building process has been fascinating. It is such a dense and rich subject. The construction of the house itself is now revealing the layers of decisions beneath it.

Prefabricated materials will also take the onus off the local building crews to perform complex building. Labor costs are the majority of construction costs, so it is to be hoped that the prefab pieces will greatly reduce that cost as well as responsibility.

In short, Entelligant aims to provide improved building materials in prefabricated form that reduce costs and the requirement for skilled Field crews.

The videos on their website showed the basic plan for building foundations. It involved 6 steel piers, driven into the soil, and then a steel skeleton laid over it. They appear to save costs and decrease variability by using automated labor in the construction of the prefabricated sections.

They are already building one project in Costa Rica. I do not know their reputation. There is no other mention of them on the web site. Guillermo is recommending that we put them in the mix while considering our construction options and I think they are quite interesting.

2007-05-24T15:47:00.000-05:00

The Nosara Civic Association

A call, I would say, from the Nosara welcoming committee. In doing research regarding the availability of property managers for Plan B, I ran into Bobbi Johnson, in the digital sense. She is the secretary for the Nosara Civic Association.

Now, I know a bit about the Civic Association, or at least I thought I did. They used to be in charge of the water utilities in Nosara, and used them to great effect to control developers. I don't know if it was by that leverage, or by other means, but they are in part credited with maintaining the balance between the ecosystem, the native inhabitants, and foreign growth. In fact, that is their stated mission on their web site.

The purposes of the Asociación Civica de Nosara are to promote the material and intellectual growth of all the inhabitants of the area known as "Playas de Nosara", without distinction: to promote the region's progress without interference with the local culture of its prior inhabitants or the area's scenic beauties. It shall furthermore watch over the protection and conservation of the regions flora and fauna, striving to maintain the natural ecological balance.

They sent me a dues bill, and before I paid it, I looked into that to which my dues would go. According to the Web Site:

Your support, both financially through dues or donation as well as through volunteer opportunities, returns to you in a variety of ways:
Helps to maintain the integrity of the local airport
Contributes to the preservation of the beaches
Contributes to the preservation of the green belts
Helps to maintain ecological balance in the area by encouraging the reduction of pollution and garbage
Provides humanitarian support during natural disasters.
Provides a legal fund to support environmental causes and to inhibit improper development of beaches and wetlands
Provides emergency repairs and safety protection of the roads

If all that is even half true, then its the best 175 dollars I have ever spent. But wait, there is more:

Membership in the NCA also provides you direct benefits:
Reduced health insurance rates through the NCA group plan
Provides a channel for member businesses to present products and services
In the future, the NCA plans to expand in the following areas:
Help channel new business to our NCA members
Increase the distribution of NCA's helpful community information booklet
Continue the evolution of the NCA website to provide access to comprehensive information about all of our community and updates of current events

Strange, me being the member of a civic association. What is next? the PTA? No matter. I look forward to seeing what these dues cover, and what the efficacy of the association is like.

2007-05-23T15:39:00.000-05:00

A great comment was posted in response to Marco's cautioning on environmental stresses on my place. In case you missed it:

grounded ideas said...
Some of the comments that Marcos has posted are fairly valid IF one has limited knowledge on the construction process, I can not make an educated guess on his background. There are some interesting examples to examine on local architecture that could possibly resemble some of the designs that Michael describes.Nosara happens to be a very humid area during the raining months, a lot more than the northern areas of Guanancaste, it is actually due to its density rather similar the the areas of Puerto Viejo, Limon, atlantic zone.The architecture on those areas represent a rural architecture based on wood construction, large overhangs and breathing roofs. Quite like Bali, vietnam, jakarta, the caribbean etc. Humid rainy conditions over extended periods of time.Such structures in Limon have been standing there for decades, their wood facades are wholesome and colorful and eventhough one can notice the wrinkles generously provided by the rain and sun, they all appear to have a certain longevity that has been punctuated by character.90% of those structures are not sitting on the ground, this condition provides cooling and isolates the possibility from humidity entering the structure.I do believe that the approach described by you on the construction systems could work really well, my only concern would be: 1. Make sure the construction is well detail to avoid insects, (as much as reasonably possible) and animals to enter the structure.Keep your details simple for easy maintenance.2. Your overhangs should at least extend 1 meter away from the periphery walls where possible.3. The maintenance of wood structures is no less or more difficult than concrete, concrete as well catches Fungus, it peels, it chips, it needs sealants etc.The care for wood if well treated t obegin with should not be more involved than its counterparts.It does have some advantages, it is much easier to replace damaged pieces down the line, if the structure were to need it, like changing upholstery to an 15 yr old couch. As long as the main structure is sound, the problems to encounter should not be of more consequence than others.4. The swiss pavilion at the entry of nosara (what i like to call it) has been there for about 9 years, it is all sheathed in wood, it is holding quite well. A good test of time. All the best on your project.

Grounded Ideas, I don't know that I know you. You know Nosara well enough though that you might be a resident or a neighbor. I hope to meet you one day soon when I am living down there. Thanks for the support. I agree that the direction that my place chose, that is elevated from the ground, should control the moisture problem in a similar manner to the elevated homes in Puerto Viejo, or Bali, or even Vietnam. The air circulating underneath should prevent molding and humidity from building up.

It is interesting that so many of your recommendations track the directions that Guillermo and I have been trying to follow- Simple details for maintenance, tight fixtures and apertures for insect and animal incursions. I have expressed to him the minimum overhang that I think is needed for the place, to keep it protected from the sun and water. I think that what the plans indicate are a minimum around 1 meter, but of that I need to be sure. Still, I agree with his point, and Guillermo and I have discussed this.

He is right, that all materials require maintenance: a fresh coat of paint, sealant, varnish, oil. I guess that Cor-ten steel is different, in that it is more or less maintenance free, but the point, as Guillermo once put it, is that a house is like a car---It needs regular maintenance, and care.

Thanks a lot grounded ideas, for, well, er, your grounded ideas.

2007-05-21T15:18:00.000-05:00

My good friend Gil sent me

2007-05-19T16:38:00.000-05:00

Criticism,

Well, perhaps critique is the better word. From a Costa Rica BB that I frequent to get valuable information regarding living and building in Costa Rica, and at which I have posted this blog, I received the following, interesting, email from Marcos:

Good luck on your project. But I think your creative ideas will soon collide with the realities of building in Costa Rica. The reason you see 90% of the homes and buildings built with concrete is because that's what's work best with the elements here. It is no fun sanding and varnishing wood every year because of the sun and rain. Don't create any spaces for insects or rodents to make a home or have fun ridding your house of their waste and noise. Open areas?? Have you seen how many insects there are after the first few rains??? And wind. If the wind hits your house when it's blowing full force in January-April, your roof and house better be able to take it or you will see your roof in the waves in the morning!! Most Architects try to charge a fee of 10% of the value of the construction. With all of your consultations, is that about what you are paying?? I would like to see a photo of the final product and how much you ended up paying per square foot of construction. You scored on the lot, so the rest is easy! Enjoy!!

He raises a lot of valid concerns.

First, construction. I am going to guess that if I cannot find a building crew that can accomplish what is needed, that the whole project wiats. Or stops, or changes, but I am not at terribly concerned about that to tell the truth. There are, even in Nosara, increasingly more sophisticated builders available, juding from the increasingly more sophisticated building projects I have seen. There is a house in my niehgborhood which looks about 5-6 meters wide, but is 3 stories, maybe 4, tall. It is a tall column, and so far, looks well built, if a little intrusive.

I believe the outside of the house, and perhaps the interior also, is going ot be largely concrete. Not the floors, but the walls, and the foundation. There will be steel framing for the entire structure, honestly something I am excited to see in practice and in execution.

Pests are a problem. I dont think that I am creating any problems in particular, but I did express to Guillermo that I was concerned about the roof, which has two layers for colling and to decrease the thermal shock of the day heats, might harbor animals. He told me it will be finsihed with metal screens. I think that pests, and animals, are being taken into account in the design.

I am not paying a 10% fee of construction. Guillermo and I settled on a set fee that does not change whether the project grows, or shrinks. this fee compensates him to do the project, without much for profit left over. He a select few projects a year, and chooses them based on how interesting a challenge they present. I have been very pleased with the cost. my friend, who is a real estate developer, was very impressed with the cost.

Using estimated costs, Guillermo's fee would equal just a little over 10 percent. When I compare his work with the buildings in the area, his attention to detail, professionalism and vision, I am, at least so far, very pleased, and think he is a steal. Then agian, I dont think he is doing this project to get rich. I think it is a statement. It is a statement, a dream, for us both.

I would use him agian in a heartbeat.

I will post a picture. I will post images along the way. It is going to be something special, and, as you pointed out Marcos, I got a steal, this is just gravy.

2007-05-11T14:00:00.000-05:00

20 years from now...

this is a thought experiment. I am going to try to assume hard environmental conditions, worst case scenarios and hard wear for 20 years on Plan B, and try to imagine what problems would be present in 20 years. In short, a tour through the house 20 years from now, after several owners, spotty maintenance, rains, sun, soil movement, wind, etc... Maybe this will help me identify weak spots.

Lets begin this tour of horrors shall we.

I drive down the drive way. It is crushed rock. Over the years of grading it has developed a sage in the middle, and water pools there. Not a terrible problem. I park in the garage. The concrete footpad is cracked, but still there. The roof over it though has not faired so well. It was shaped roughly like an airfoil, and a high wind lifted it up, and ripped it off. The car, therefore is not shaded when I park. I walk to the walkway to the Gallery. It would be better to walk to my bedroom, but I like this walk. The gallery that horizontally bisects the house is weather worn. It has not been well oiled or water treated, and now it is dry and cracked. [Is that true? What do I need to do to maintain the gallery in its original shape? is concrete a better material than wood? California decks need to be replaced, dont they? I mean, eventually, that wood will get rotted, or dried out, and be cracked. Or maybe not. Maybe this wood is sealed, with a verithane. Maybe this hardwood does not face the ravages of pine. Ok, not to self: Ask Guillermo about this or do research.] The wood no longer matches with the wood that has been shaded, which is still in great shape, and looks like an indoor hardwood floor.

I slide the gate back. It opens part way as the runners have come untrue over the years and the heavy gate has jumped the track. [ I have NO IDEA what the gate will be like and how hearty the runners etc. This is complete conjecture]. ok. Inside...the gallery inside looks pretty good. The roof here is fine. The windows over the sides are ok. There is water damage at the deal between the kitchen and the gallery, where water from the tower has collected and broken through. [This is a part of the plans I cannot discern. How is the water to escape this area. It is probably provided for, I just do not know how.].

The kitchen: I turn left and enter the kitchen. The appliances are a bit rusty toward the bottom from the salt and sea air and humidity. Could this have been prevented by making sure air circulated around them. Ants, of course. there are ants. This is probably impossible to prevent. The hardwood floor near the window to the west is sun damaged. This is because of the late afternoon sun that is not excluded by the roof line. [Note: this is not going to be as big a problem in this part of the house as others. The roof line here will extend between 2.5 and about 4.5 feet when shading the kitchen. Depending on the height of the ceilings, and the angle of the slope of the roof, this is going to provide sun, at worst, until roughly 4 ish in the afternoon]. The rest of the kitchen I will have to return to at a later date as it is still largely undersigned, and I cannot accurately analyze it.

Crossing over into the living room, there is tremendous damage to the floors in front of the picture windows. These windows swing up, and their attachments with the roof line create a sloping backward into the home. On days where the windows were accidentally left open and a rain storm passed, the windows served as a funnels dumping water into the living room.

The trusses/beams are in pretty good shape. I am going to admit I know nothing about roofs, or roof construction and tell you that I don't think anything is going awry with the roof. I hope not.
The windows themselves are shut. The pulley system that was supposed to help them raise and lower is broken. {I have no idea hwy it really would, or would not break. I don't even know what this pulley system looks like}.

Looking at the roof line on the slope facing side of then house, we can anticipate the sun entry to a greater accuracy. Looking at the drawings, I am going to estimate that the roof line will hang over the house 3 feet. I will assume the top of the exterior wall is going to be 9 feet. This is where the math gets worse. I don't know the roof angle, so I will estimate it being 90 degrees. It doesn't really matter, we can still solve for the angle at which the sun will enter the house without it, but if the roof angle is less that 90, which is is, the roof line will hang down a bit. Still, if we take 3 and 9 as the legs of the right triangle, creating a ratio of .33, and take the tangent of that angle, we find that the sun will first strike the floor when it is 18.26 degrees from straight over head. I do not know what time of the day, 18.25 comes out to be, but I am going to guess that you will have light in the house from, oh, 9:30-11. That's because the hill blocks the sun for the morning, and then the sun passes overhead. Bad math, sure, but let me tell you, it sure was fun to dust of the scientific calculator again.

Ok, back to the roof. Some of the beams extend beyond the roof. These, we will imagine in this nightmare, have not been varnished every year, and now are greying, dry, and need replacement. This is showing me that I need to learn about wood care in the tropics, and the degree of exposure to sun and heat and rain that they can endure and maintain their composure.

The gutters may have broken at some point, and the water now courses over the side. gutter maintenance is going to be a regular effort I will suppose. Not that big a deal. this is probably an issue with every house.

Ok, this might be overly horrific, but lets imagine that the slope has moved just slightly. The footers on which the entire structure stands have shifted. Yikes. That happened to a house in which I lived once in CA. My parents yelled and cursed a great deal. It broke the house in a way, and you could see cracks going down the walls. Maybe the steel frame will prevent this. Maybe the fact the footers rest on the soil, and do not necessarily drive into it, will prevent them from being moved with the slope.

The bedrooms face the same problem as the kitchen, sun damage where the sun comes in the window for a great portion of the day. There are trees...perhaps there is enough shade? How much longer must the roof be to prevent this exposure? Do I have any idea what I am talking about?

The tower.

The greatest fear I have is that the stair case to the terrace has become unstable. Oh, maybe not in year 1, or 5, or 10, but 20 years down the line...has the terrace become a wonder place to be, but a nightmare to approach? Those stairs are, currently cantilevered, which I like, but I have no idea about the long term structural integrity. What happens when wet leaves land on them, and the rains soak them. Over time, we have metal fatigue. Metal fatigue is very real, and requires only a very small variation past the flex point.

Which also leads me to consider the metal skin of the tower. Metal expands at a greater rate than concrete. What happens when the skin, day after day, grows further than the concrete to which it is anchored? Do the fasteners break? Is it possible that the wind will cause the skin to vibrate when it blows by? I don't know, but harmonics, while kind on the ears, are hard on building materials.

That's about all I have. No doubt few of these will come to pass, but it is always smart to kick the tires. Let me know if you can think of anything else, and, as always, thanks for your readership.

2007-05-08T15:08:00.000-05:00

I am learning a lot about Nosara in the research I am passively and now actively pursuing. Here is a clip from the business plan I am preparing for another project, which gives you a little more information about this place in which this blog is set:

Nosara:

Nosara is a small, inland Tico village in close proximity to several kilometers of Pacific Ocean beaches. Nestled into the beach zones beside Playa Guiones, a gorgeous white sand beach, picturesque Playa Pelada, and the stunning black sand beach of Playa Nosara, is a small community home to a diverse international population, known as the “American Project”. The village of Nosara provides the American Project with several grocery stores, a top notch medical clinic, a gas station, car rental agencies, the Ebais Medical Clinic, and an airstrip serviced twice a day from international airports in San Jose and Liberia. The international American Project provides hotels, fine restaurants, a national bank, internet service, city lights, a natural aquifer providing immaculate water, two world famous yoga institutes, bakeries, cafes, schools, day care, public libraries, and clinics, just to name a few amenities. Nicoya, a large city about 45 minutes away by car, provides residents of Nosara with access to a full hospital, international bus station, and an undergraduate university, in addition to full size grocery stores and all the other services associated with a city.

The beaches of Nosara are considered by many to be the gems of Guanacaste’s Gold Coast. Unlike many beaches discovered by tourists and sun worshipers, the beaches of Nosara remain in their natural state as national parks and sea turtle refuges. The beaches have remained nearly pristine due to the diligence of active expatriate communities that have maintained a twenty-year environmental campaign preventing large-scale, high-density development that would encroach upon the Maritime Zone of the beaches. The success of these conservation efforts is now world famous and noteworthy in itself.

Not many beach communities in Costa Rica have developed so conscientiously nor are set up to do so in the future, however:
[b]ecause the village of Nosara is several kilometers from the beach, and because most of the land near the beach has been zoned primarily as a residential community, Nosara has been spared the sort of ugly, uncontrolled growth characteristic of many other Guanacaste beaches. All of the hotels here are small and spread out, with most tucked away down side roads. There's none of the hotels-piled-on-top-of-hotels feeling that you get at playas Flamingo, Tamarindo, and Coco. In fact, on first arriving here, it's hard to believe there are any hotels around at all. Nosara has long been popular with North American retirees and a handful of Hollywood celebs, and they too have made sure that their homes are not crammed cheek-by-jowl in one spot, hiding them instead among the profusion of trees that make Nosara one of the greenest spots on the Nicoya Peninsula. If you're looking for reliably sunny weather and a bit of tropical greenery, this is a good bet.
-New York Times, quoting Frommer’s guide.

The town of Tamarindo, once prized for its laid back beauty, is now heavily developed, and criticized for having lost its tropical environment to the greed of developers. Malpais to the south, not five years ago an immaculate beach with hardly 100 year round residents, is now crowded with multi-story buildings obscuring the view and marring the beauty of the land. The preservation efforts and the controlled expansion of the area are just two of the reasons why Nosara is likely to retain its value over the years. Nowhere else on the Guanacaste peninsula are houses and structures mandated to be set back 200 meters from the beaches. Nowhere else in the Guanacaste are greenways and parklands deeded into the development to separate the houses and restrain the possibility of future overcrowding. Only in this section of the Guanacaste exists a united and international community ready to defend the value of not just their land, but their idyllic way of life.

Many foreigners have chosen to make Nosara their home. Executive surfers, outdoorsman, fishermen, investors, vacationers, and retirees contribute to the community. They come from Europe and the Americans. Actors Woody Harrelson, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins all have homes in Nosara. The Omega Institute is also opening a facility in Nosara. People who look to buy in Nosara are looking for a tropical sanctuary, and not a quick profit. They are invested in the present and future of Nosara.

The American Project:

Directly bordering Playa Pelada, Playa Guiones and Playa Nosara is the “American Project.” The project was begun in the late 1960’s by an American developer, David Alan Hutchinson, from which it gets its name. Hutchinson intended to lay out a golf course community of some 800 lots, but that development was ahead of its time and never finished. The roads, power and water system, however, were put in place, establishing the initial infrastructure for Nosara. While interest in Costa Rica and Nosara simmered, the trees that had been cleared for cattle ranching grew and matured into secondary forest. Early Nosara residents set aside the area originally planned as a golf course and created “green parkland areas,” which today are full of maturing trees, fauna, water ways and wildlife. These natural green corridors meander between subdivided lots of 1/4 to sometimes two or more acres. The area was first populated by nature lovers and isolationists who built modest homes among the woods and enjoyed this serene and unique ocean side setting.

As idyllic as this may sound to some, the beaches of Nosara remained quite remote, isolated and underdeveloped until very recently. The local economy subsisted primarily as a surfing destination due to the consistent waves of Playa Guiones. Recently, bridges were put in place over all the rivers south of the area making year-round access possible from the city of Nicoya. In April of 2003, a new $35 million bridge spanning the Tempisque River opened, shortening the eight-hour drive from the capital, San Jose, to four hours. The opening of a new international airport in Liberia, a two hour drive to the north, has also simplified access and put the beaches in convenient reach and attention of a new generation of residents and tourists.

Today, a new group of people are discovering Nosara. Some newcomers choose to live year round, others rent their homes to grateful tourists or annual visitors. New businesses are opening to offer services to the next generation of nature and ocean enthusiasts seeking an ocean front lifestyle-community. Europeans and Americans alike are finding the town cosmopolitan, serene, and attractive as a retirement and tourism destination. Everyone enjoys the freedom of this unique setting in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The American project is divided into lettered sections.

2007-05-02T11:34:00.000-05:00

My heavens.

Yesterday Guillermo sent me the preliminary 3-dimensional renderings of Plan B. There is nothing new in the design, so I will not make any comments about the structure in particular, dear readers, but I would like to take this moment to adequately describe how I feel about seeing my home in 3 dimensions and in color.

2007-05-01T12:10:00.000-05:00

The Ugly Parade.

Dear god, I finally found it.

Everyday that I surfed Nosara, Guiones actually, and looked shoreward from the blue waters and pristine beach, like a beautiful woman with a gaping eye socket, the lush and tropical beauty of the land was marred by a house so grotesquely envisioned, so egregiously ugly, so monumentally hideous, that I could not bring myself to take a picture of it if only to remind myself that the end of humanity itself as a species is not necessarily a bad thing.

But I found it on line, and apparently, they are trying to sell it.

Features:Casa Pacifico, with over 3,700 square feet of construction, was completed in 2006 and is being sold turn-key and fully furnished with high-end furniture and appliances, including Euromobilia kitchen and with 10 meters of granite surfaces. The property has been designed and executed with painstaking level of detail not found in the area and is in move-in condition.

"Painstaking level of detail". Absolutely. This design must have caused great pain to the architect unless he simply fell asleep on his autoCAD keyboard and then woke with a terrible hangover and sent it on to the client who was a deaf mute, and building it must have been akin to an execution for the poor tico constructing company that accepted the role of mangling their own homeland. My god.

Apparently even the real estate agent found it advantageous to avoid taking pictures of the outside of the house, but there is one image on line, and I bring it to you, and I beg you: please, please please, unless you are going to cure cancer with the profits, do not ever build anything like this.

No, even this image cannot do it justice. You have to imagine that the owner of this gem owned an entire forested hill overlooking the pacific. His tribute to the land, and the decades of reforestation that rebuilt a functioning ecosystem on that hill was to bulldoze the entire thing, and cut the top off to shore up retaining walls. He paved the whole damn thing, and slapped this monstrosity up there.

The other side of the house has a matching cylinder...thing. I dont know what the point of these are, unless it is to offend God. The other cylinder thing faces the same way. The house is in varying shades of pastel. There was enough concrete used to pave a freeway offramp (which, incidentally, is a far more beautiful structure than this house).

he wants 2.15 million. If I had 2.15 million, I would buy it, then hire a team of Czech explosive experts to blow it up. I would then dance around the smoldering ruins chanting "the wicked witch is dead". I would urinate on the flames. Its hideous.- but I have probably communicated that by now.

Its too much to hope that the new owners will have the good taste to implode it, but again, if you visit Nosara, implore you, for your own sake, avoid looking to the northern side of the beach.

2007-04-30T16:00:00.000-05:00

Shade...

The tower could be a very hot box. I know Guillermo and I talked briefly about how screens would provide shade for the project, but I am not certain, truly, how this will work.

I believe the idea as it was being formulated was to use screens that would cover the windows from the searing Costa sun, but could be raised to provide a roof line. Lightweight, locally available, etc. Still, I cannot picture then. It could make the tower like a tree, with the panels as leaves. One day adding solar capacity would make it more like a tree. Jesus I sound like a complete hippie right now.

Guillermo and I went over the roof line while I was in San Jose. I discussed extending its leaf like shape just slightly to provide more shade for the terminal bedroom/office. As it reads right now, the roof line almost touches the house over this portion on the end. I was concerned that in all times after midday, the room will get direct sunshine into it. Now this is a functional concern. It may not, with tree coverage, even be much of an issue. Furthermore, there may be aesthetic reasons that the roof line should meet the house at the point. I find that I love the plans, the approach and the aesthetic, thus I spend most of my time gazing at the plans trying to shake out functional questions and weaknesses or preferences.

For example, I mentioned that I was concerned about the trusses which would hang, in some areas, past the house and un protected into the elements. Costa Rica rains a lot. I am concerned, as I explained to Guillermo, that over the years the trusses would require considerable upkeep or replacement as the sun, and then the rains, beat down on them. Guillermo mentioned the idea of extending the roof line using a translucent material to cut the UV and shelter then from the rain. I like that approach, but I wonder what the two versions would look like. It would be great to be able to know for sure if the belt needs the suspenders, you know?

So I guess the point of this post, is how and where, will shade be provided over the house? The gallery, yes, the kitchen, sort of, the bedrooms, some of them, the tower, I dont know. Its is clear from Costa Rican architecture, that avoiding the sun is the key to comfortable living in the tropics. I think Guillermo is doing a good job of transitioning from indoors to outdoors and blurring the line of which is which.

But what about that tower?

2007-04-26T18:20:00.000-05:00

Solar.

I do not think that solar panels are scalable and efficient in Costa Rica currently, but they will be soon. I need to remember that so that I recall to leave hook ups when they are available at a cost that is reasonable to thier energy production. I wonder, at that time, how large panels will be? Fortunatly, the sun is abundant and we know in what direction they should point. Will they need roof mounts? I dont know. I dont think I have thought about this sufficeintly.

Perhaps they could be installed over the windows in the tower to double as shades as well as energy collectors. Perhaps they can be located remotely from the house.

2007-04-23T18:21:00.000-05:00

On cleaning and decks.

One thing that I have learned from my experience of owning a third story brownstone, is that cleaning the outside of the windows is a major pain in the *ss. This is mainly speculation, since I have not done it on most of the windows, but frankly, I don't even have a sporting chance when the best opportunity for reaching them involves hanging my fragile noodle out over Tremont street by 50 or so feet. If, as Le Corbusier says, a building is a "machine for living", my machine has some serious design flaws, like a Bavarian Motor Works vehicle, that drives like a dream, but requires a plumbing tool, a contortionist, and a quart of astroglide to get in to repair.

I am trying to avoid this limitation as best as possible with the Plan B. repair and maintenance should not be a surprise, but part of the design.

My first area of concern is, strangely, not the vertical element, but the horizontal house. The living room, if I am reading the proposal right, has two massive windows facing the ocean, which, according to Guillermo, are going to be operable through means of a pulley system. They will open outward. Now, unless I miss my guess, or I befriend a 18 foot tall Tico, I cannot see how I am ever going to be able to clean the monsters. Or, for that matter, the windows/doors in the bedrooms. The windows on the other side of the house, even those not at ground level, are very approachable as there is a deck from that side below them. It allows easy access and I could, and will no doubt, be able to walk outside, stand on the deck, and clean the tall glass.

I wonder if the solution is as simple as a deck on the other side of the house, mirroring the street side deck. It is an approach I know that DZ and I have spoken about before. That would certainly take care of the bedroom windows, and perhaps I can clean the living room windows by closing one, and opening the other, and leaning out with a long handled squeegee.

We have the same problem in the kitchen also though, and we have not even gotten onto the tower. On the tower, I expect cleaning difficulty. The windows open, and so perhaps there will be vantage points from which they can be reached. Perhaps the Zendo can be cleaned from the terrace on top?

Does this all seem picky to you? I am trying to imagine not only what seeing the house will be like, but what it will be like to actually live in Plan B. As things arise, I write about them. Stimulus, response. Nothing terrible sophisticated here.

2007-04-20T14:03:00.000-05:00

One of the really clever things about Plan B, if you believe in really clever things, is the programmatic separation of the horizontal and vertical elements. It is, in fact, two houses in one, pivoting off of the kitchen. If it were a ven diagram, and I am finding them really funny right now, then the kitchen would be the darkened overlapping bit. Fortunately it is not a ven diagram, which is going to make the living experience a lot more pleasurable.

The question is what personalities do the two spaces have, how can they be maintained visually and experientially?

Originally, there were two staircases, one ladder like going up into the tower, and the other spiral going to the bed room. This separated the elements. This is currently under review though because of a couple of changes in the plan, and some whining on my part.

I wonder, at this point, if the materials, and feels of the environment of the vertical elements should be different. I thought of this yesterday when I was building my kitchen scrap book, and reviewing green flooring materials for a kitchen. Wood, tile, concrete all probably worked well, but when the article discussed cork, I recalled a floor I saw once, I think in Domino magazine (I know I know, what is a red blooded 31 year old heterosexual doing reading Domino. It wasn't mine. It was W's roomat...ok fine, I liked it. happy? ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?) an example of a cork floor using recycled wine corks. The mortar, or whatever it is, between the blond cork was black. I think I saw it used in a bathroom. Kind of like this, but with light cork and dark filler:

I dont know that cork, or this cork floor in particular is the answer. I really dont even like most cork floors. That is not the point. The point is, the tower could be very warm. Walls in warm colors, reds, blacks, dark greens maybe. Or the floor could be dark, as opposed to the blondish color in the rest of the house. Really, something nearly black, or espresso, in the Zendo. Or light floors with age green walls. Bedrooms are very sensual when dark with committed coloring or textures, or...well, it was just a thought. White, and open on the horizontal, warm in the kitchen (as a kitchen should be right? burnt orange, reds, deep green, stone, whatever...), and then something different in the vertical element. I dont know how this would work.

We are certainly not talking about wall paper. Or doilies. Or anything really busy, but maybe a change of approach could set it off. You will never see the vertical house from the horizontal house. It should be subtle, the change, I suppose...well, I just dont know how to work it.

Frankly, I dont know how anyone ever makes design decisions. Especially on materials. There are so many great ones. Dyed concrete flooring, unfinished concrete floors, hard woods with white stains, black stained floors, green stained floors, bamboo, tiles, glass tiles, metal tiles, ceramic tiles, cork, Epoxy, linoleum, plank wood, parkay flooring, stone, granite, etc. etc. etc. and that's just floors. Wow. What a neat job to have.

As an aside, the program for the horizontal element has been plywood walls with white stain. I have gone down to the hardware store to see if I could see an example of this...I cannot picture it. Could be great, or terrible. I dont know. If you have an image, oh blog-friends o' mine, you could send it on to me.

2007-04-18T11:47:00.000-05:00

Celings--- recently I have been thinking about ceilings.

In my apartment in Boston, I have high ceilings. 9 foot 6. On the East Coast this is not so extraordinary, but comming from California, where every ceiling is 8 feet high, it seemed novel and exciting. It still does. I love the high celings, they way they clear the box of a room, draw the eye upwards, and lighten the impact of being indoors.

That said, I realized I have no idea of the height of the ceilings in the vertical element of Plan B. They could be cathedral, or short. I really have no idea. And furthermore, should I be thinking about thier formation, that is, their materiality? Are they tiled? wood, concrete? Are they one at one level, or more? I am excited to find out.

In the horizontal element, the roof is wodden, I beleive, and broken up by teak truss'. The bedrooms are going to retain privacy by having glass finishing between the ceiling line and the truss. I cannot describe that. You will have to see it for yourself.

Soon it is time to find a contracting team. Guillermo has some leads, and we have some recommendations from people who have built in Nosara. This is a, if not THE crucial element in thesucessful execution of the plan. I hope we find a winner. If any of you, dear readers, have recommendations, I would be glad to hear them.

Budget will be a different matter. This has to be done right, but then again, if the cost outstripps my abilities, then we will have to cut corners. I dont like that, but money, like site, is just one more element to take into consideration.

2007-04-18T11:02:00.000-05:00

Doors.

This entire project was brought into focus for me when W brought me a copy of a Dwell magazine. For months I had been cobbling together images of building I liked with very little success. Little did I know that there was an entire magazine out there that focused on the type of architecture I enjoy, and which explained the approaches and process to complete amateurs like myself.

I subscribe to the magazine now, and cannibalize it monthly looking for any images that might be relevant to Plan B. Well, this month's issue, focusing on one of my favorite topics--Small spaces--, published an article on a house in Japan which was long, but which wanted access to the out of doors. The result was a sliding glass door that ran the entirety of the house, 6 or 7 panels long. Then I saw a shot in the magazine of the door fully collapsed, and I realized what Guillermo has planned for the living room and Kitchen doorways.

It looks great. Better than I could have hoped. The doors are all separate glass panels with woods frames. Each one is on a separate track. The tracks were, in the article, made of wood, and the doors ran back down then and would stack up, like cards, when open, and then slide into a glass wall when closed . I am very pleased with this. I was worried that the doors might be flimsy, or difficult to regularly operate. But the images in the article make this approach to the glass wall appear sound and simple.

In case you have not all been on board with me while I have writing about this project, one of the guiding principals of Plan B has been dependability. I did not want a house that was a sports car, beautiful and high performance, but finicky and often in need of repair. The fact is that the house is open to the elements, and elements have a way of testing houses as they test people. This door was unfamiliar to me, and I am grateful to Guillermo for so universally adopting my goals, and to Dwell for showing me now, what I will see in real wood and glass in a couple months.

2007-04-17T11:41:00.000-05:00

Towering thoughts.

I was looking over the plans last night when I had a thought about the tower and the approach to its final integration into the design. Guillermo gave me a homework assignment...to think about the purpose of each of the spaces defined as the levels of the tower. How were they to feel, what were they to mean, how where they to be used?

I thought about this a lot. I have finally begun to get some clarity on them.

The mezzanine, the level above the kitchen, should be an intimate gathering space. I am thinking about a low wide table on the ground, its top about the height of the bottom of the window, maybe a couple inches more. Pillows, or low chairs. hanging low lamps. Close friends, drinking tea, or water, or beer, under low light, with the sound of the ocean and the breeze flowing through the space. I picture raised areas against the walls, incidental perches. Occasionally, we will decide to stretch out on the cushions and sleep there. I see 5 people, not more than 7, in this space. Nestled in the tops of the trees. The kitchen should warm the tone from below, and allow for quick trips to refill water bottles and tea pots.

The top space should clear, and open and present. The view should dominate, and even awe. There should be ceiling to floor glass, so that the outside cannot be diminished. The floor should be perfectly flat. Polished wood, oriented running toward the front window. It should feel like a Zen-do, a window on the world, a ballet studio, a looking glass, like consciousness- perfect and breathless in its immediately and simplicity. There will not be much talking in this space. People will look out, and just sit and do nothing extra.

I can see it in my head with fair distinction. The bottom floor reds and blues, candles, sounds, laughter, and warm, this floor, whites and woods, and glass.

So I had a thought...and I like it. Instead of having the outdoor staircase on the right (North) side of the tower, which has always seemed awkward to me and ruinous of the profile of the upward gesture, place the outdoor stair case on the rear, on the street side, on the east side. It feels right. There, people with a fear of heights will look out to the road level and it will not seem as high when they climb. The stairs will be in the back of the Zendo, and the back of the terrace, allowing both spaces to remain focused forward. In the Zendo, nothing will break the lines of the side and front of the space. I like this. In the terrace, as you mount the stairs, you will be completely unaware of the beach view, until you crest the railing. Then...wham. I think the 11.5 foot width will permit the stair case to run here. The only obstacle I see is the water ejection port for the "flat" roof which really has a sloped roof hidden under the deck. If the staircase is Corten and the tower corten, it will add interest to have a spare cantilevered stair case punctuating the tower.

This led me to a second realization. Guillermo had mentioned that he was using spiral staircases for the bottom floors and rungs, or steep stair cases for the tower. He wanted to visually separate them. It makes sense. Still, I could no get my head around the rungs, and I, for some reason totally unknown to me, don't like the spiral stairs in a bedroom. So, I thought, swap them. Spiral Stairs to the Zendo. The railing is on the back side of the zendo. That means from the hole in the floor forward, the ground is perfectly uninterrupted. Looking back, you would see no stairs, just the door to the roof. The spiral staircase, for me, then becomes a Spinal cord for the tower, with the Zendo as the head, the mezzanine/tea room as the neck, and the kitchen as the shoulders. I think it totally works. The stairs to the terrace become a flowing main, and one climbs to the area over the head, the source of the seventh chakra, when one gets to the top. A stretch? Maybe, but tell me that does not work for you? Then stairs, of course, into the bedroom. Stairs to me are intimate in a bedroom way. I don't mind a stair case in a bedroom. One thing I like about stairs, is that they create negative space beneath them. All sorts of things can hide there, like dreams.

The last change I would make the the plans as they are, is the windows of the Zendo. Currently, the front wall is floor to ceiling glass. That is as it should be. The left wall is half glass. The right wall has no glass. I think it should go like this...

Left wall should be about half, or a third, glass. Floor to ceiling. If the building cannot support a jointless corner of glass, then a steel beams width up to 1.5 feet of a wall before the front wall. The front wall, completely glass. the right wall should mirror the left. Without the staircase, it can be done. Woodflooring to the glass. A person, sitting on a cushion before the window, will be surrounded by the view. As if completely out of doors. Like the human head, eyes on each side, and the best view straight forward.

This seems to break the riddle of the tower to me. Tell me what you think.

2007-04-15T16:34:00.000-05:00

Brass tacks---check.

ok, now onto details.

The tower was 9 feet wide. In a ridiculous episode involving me laying down on the floor of our room in the Guilded Iguana, and W marking 9 feet with a coffee sack, I tried to imagine, and "walk" in my tower. I do not use drugs regularly. I do this comepletely sober. So there I was, "walking" in my tower that exists only on paper and in a model I could squash with a converse high top, and though to myself...this is not quite right.

I brought this up with Guillermo in San Jose. Strangley, Guillermo immediately got up, measured out the distance on the grounds, and "walked" it with me. Guillermo doesn't do drugs either. This, apparently, is something architecture makes you do. So there we were, hanging out in an imaginary room, when it hit me...too small. we measure 13 feet. too much. Guillermo was right about that. Again. I am beggining to hate that. Thank god, however, that I am not trying to build this for myself. Still, it was not quite right. I imagined standing at the window with Ken and Pickle, and I thought...we need a little more. When Guillermo measured out 11.5 feet, it just felt right. personal, intamate, but in better relationship to my size. 11.5 by about 16 feet. That is interior space. It works.

The tower has evolved through the DatumZero team. The terrace is now approached by an outdoor stair case. It feels right. To get to the top, one has to leave the house, and merge the outdoor and indoor spaces. I have some interests in that stair case though. You see, Guillermo and I liked the idea of a mesh stair case, so you could see down, and it would appear light, and porous. Guillermo proposed cantilevering it from the side of the tower. I love it. I, however, am not afraid of hieghts. Sharks, yes, snakes, sure, boredom, definitely, China, sure, the rise of ethnicity as the defining force in America, well hell yes, but heights, no. But people are. People I like. People who I want to sit with on the terrace. A handrail is going to help them. I will have to think about that final design.

Speaking of the tower. I saw Corten steel. Guillermo had a sample. He and I did a little material review. Largely this involved Guillermo showing me materials and me saying "oooooh YES". Light wood floors...great. teak rafters sustainable harvested in Nicaragua...thats great, slate blue metal roof with air pocket underneath,and foam insulation....beautiful. But I am still on a Cor-ten fence.

I love the idea. No maintenance. Light. Strong. Interactive with the environment. Its exactly what I asked for. But in execution, I am not sure.

Indulge me.

this is Corten Steel.
This is a pretty nice image of it. See how it naturally corodes.?I like the red hue, I love the interaction. See how it becomes indivudual to any site? See how it reflects its environment over time?

But...stay with me....what is everyon's first impression?

Say it with me...

"Its all Rusty".

Everyone gets there. Everyone looks at this and asks who abondoned this steel and let it corrode like that. These are some pretty good images I took from the web, and still, the immediate response from 9 out of 10 observers is...

Its rusty.

Play with me.

Rusty--->

Rusty.

Now, this one I like a lot. It looks weathered, but not completely encrusted in rust. How did they get this finish? Is it new Corten Steel? Likely. Is it treated? Possibly. Is it a modern, or improved, version of Corten Steel? Maybe. Maybe. If they are making an alloy that is less corruptible, and still takes on the environment, I would like that better.

So what are the options? Anodized copper was another recommendation. I love the color. I love the feel of it. There is a Chilean building in this months Dwell Magazine which uses anodized copper to great effect. It recalls Spanish tile roofs and dilapidated timber.

But copper is a heavy metal. Could it leach into the soil? Am I creating a biohazard? Will it pollute the drinking water, or god forbid, the Nosara aquifer? I dont know enough about copper. I know they use it in cities...so maybe it is safe. I don't know.

2007-04-13T15:03:00.000-05:00

Lets get down to brass tacks shall we? How is the design shaping up?

In case you have not read, or did not recall, the basic plan reflects the organic proposal, Proposal B, below. For this reason, I will henceforth refer to the project as Plan B.

The organic approach meant a single horizontal volume, with a master bedroom anchoring the structure to the ground on one end, and a series of steel piers on the other. The house is a light, and airy, and leaves a very small footprint on the earth. It is long, 5 modules long, each module being 5x5 meters. The total length of Plan B, therefore, is 25 meters, the length of a regulation swimming pool. The vertical element intersects the horizontal volume at the bedroom, making the home now 4 modules high as well. It is not an L, as there is a car port to the south of the home. There is a terrace on top of the vertical volume, the tower, that makes a 5th floor. Thus we are 5 long, and 5 wide. The tower, however, is thinner than the master bedroom and the kitchen, which make up its lower levels. This slenderness is makes the vertical push elegant, and the interior space, intimate.

While we all walked the land, Guillermo, Alex and Natalia discovered what W and I had the day before...the land is more versatile that we had previously assumed. The grade is not unpleasant after an initial drop from the road, and then maintains a very meandering slope until the bottom of the property. Alex pointed out that the plot lines seem to echo natural instruments, the road, the creek, and several large trees.

The second observation made by DatumZero is that the house should be oriented more westerly. we walked out the site orientation and the house will now genuflect to the setting sun. The land supports the long raised horizontal volume like this without too much length added to the supports.

Noticing that the view to Playa Pelada is a lot more access able than previously expected, Guillermo pointed out the height of the bottom floor and that the bedrooms on the northern end of the house, should go to sleep and wake to views of the beach. The trade winds will sweep directly through the house, west to east.

The tower, on the other hand, should be in a position to see over Howie's land to Playa Guillones. This is very important to me. Guillermo estimates that from the mezzanine level to the upper level, I should be able to see the white sands of Playa Guillones. I don't know how he knows this. I would love to be able to get to that height to make certain, before we plan, but the fact is that the tower will have an amazing entree to the beaches at Pelada, and more interestingly, will watch the coast line snake north to Nosara and Ostional, and by turning east again, I should be able to look into the valley, seeing thunderheads mount up in the wet season, and seeing the santa cruz mountains in the dry season.

That should give you a basic idea of the plan. From here we can talk about the details.

As I said, we reoriented the house itself, to face the west. The house will be constructed between the large Pechote and Cocobolo trees in the middle of the property. I thought I had a picture of this, but I cannot now find it. Guillermo discussed with me the driveway, eventually focusing on an approach that will smooth the line from the road to the house, and the driveway tot he south of the house. Yik drive ways. necessary, but generally ugly, especially up in the mountains where I will need something to get to the beach, even if only an ATV. I doubt it thought. I will need a truck. I want the range to surf Marbella and see Costa Rica.

The rest of the details I learned on a long, long, long trip into San Jose. Without belaboring this blog, note: the trip to San Jose takes at least 7 hours when you are stuck behind trucks through the mountains, and stuck in traffic through the city. We got their late, and Alex and Natalia had understandably already retired for the evening, through Guillermo stayed and we talked from 7-10. [note: this caused W and I to miss our dinner plans across town with mohit and Eliana. I will have to make it up to all three of them one day]. I will tell more later. For now, I have to get back to the practice that is funding this enterprise.

2007-04-13T12:14:00.000-05:00

Neighbors.

Good neighbors make a good neighborhood. Like minded people, with a sense of integrity and trust, can avoid that zero sum cocoon that I seem to find myself in as a American. In Boston, I have have never even been inside one of my condo mate's flats. People steal my Internet signal, and I do not even know who they are. In Costa Rica, I have met my western neighbor, and now, I have met my neighbor across the street and to the south.

While the team was scrambling around on the land, looking at angles, thinking about orientation, noticing the shades and winds, a gringo shouted down from the street level. He called down "Are you my neighbor?" and I ran up to meet him.

He was nice enough to invite us to his house to see his place, have a beer, and see the view. Of course he was understandably concerned that my building would obscure his view. We pointed out to him where the top of the tower would intercede in his line of sight, and he noted that anything under the transformer on the phone pole was out of his beach view.

He bought his land three years ago, and built 2 years ago. I saw his house last time I was in Nosara in 2005.

We watched the sunset from my neighbor's place across the street. From there, you could imagine you actually could hear the surfers yelling to each other.

Pictures never do this justice, but here we go...

and for a finale, this is looking north from his property. This is the area where I should be able to look over the shoulder of the hill and the coast line all the way up to Ostional.

2007-04-10T17:15:00.000-05:00

Something funny happened to me on the way to the show...

isn't that how the old set up goes?

Seriously, anyone who reads this regularly and thinks of moving to Costa Rica, check this out, and send the link on to anyone you think would be interested.

The K-house project is not just a house. It is part of a larger picture. I dedicate the approach to Nosara, hoping that through example I can encourage people to develop their plots in flattering fashion. I am not a pioneer. I owe a lot to the crusaders who fought for the 200 meter set back from the high water mark, and those that fought to maintain the green spaces and park lands that make Nosara unique on the Guanacaste and guarantee its continued beauty along side the unrestrained shotgun developments further north and south. Indeed, I could have bought, when I did, in Malpais, or Samara, or Marbella, but I chose Nosara because of its tradition of conservation and balance.

The project is also intended to generate value in the land against which I can borrow. I am not looking for a fast buck, but rather a good profit while developing an area in a responsible manner. I planned to finish the house, and then to look for another good investment, and to develop that land with a harmony between nature and homes.

This is nothing new to me. I have been fascinated and involved in development for a long time. My emphasis has been on alternative development. Places like SeaSide, in Florida, that leave the cookie cutter mold, and dare something new, and particularly suited to living, and in the end leave people with a great living experience. I love the co-housing approach, also known as intentional community, which seeks to engineer neighborhoods, instead of housing developments. Places where neighbors interact, with great open spaces preserved for their use.

In intentional community development, houses are grouped together, to allow land density variations and great open spaces. Instead of 8 houses with a quarter acre yard, the houses are private but in close proximity and share a 2 acre yard. I believe that this approach is particularly well suited to Costa Rica, where to magic is in the land itself.

It was during a description of this approach, and a discussion of its application in Nosara that I was approached by a man selling land. He owned dozens of acres for 15 years, and loved their pristine beauty so much, he deeded them to the Costa Rican Government. Today they are the registered biological preserve at the mouth of the Rio Nosara, and Playa Nosara. He held several small properties on the boarder of this preserve, and it was these, upon hearing my approach, he discussed selling to me.

His land is located in an area known as the “Pura Zona” development, one of the last stands of virgin hardwood forest left in the Guanacaste. The land itself is bordered on three sides by Biological preserve. That means that no one ever can encroach upon the peace and beauty of the land. No noise, no large ugly buildings, no dust kicked up by passing traffic. And the land is magical. I know. I spent a long afternoon hiking in it, and another dawn watching it light up.

The area is flanked with lush green foliage and loaded with birds: woodpeckers, ibises, seabirds, herons, egrets, and even parrots. The forested area is home to monkeys, coatis, armadillos, deers, wild cats, butterflies and iguanas. I saw the small black monkeys up in the trees and they called down at me. The river opens up one view, and in the distance you could see the Santa Cruz Mountains. The high water mark from the 15 year flood is still a couple hundred feet from the property.

The area was dense with virgin hardwoods. This makes it almost completely unique in Costa Rica...virgin tropical forest, only a 10 minute walk through a biological reserve to a beautiful surfing beach, without the possibility of losing your privacy. Still, you can get in a car and have access to all the amenaties of Nosara, restaurants, massages, yoga studios, Gionness beach, in under 5 minutes. I drove it four times and timed it.

So, I spoke with this German gentleman who has owned this land for 15 years and left it untouched, who has saved dozens of acres of forest for the continued enjoyment of the citizens of the area, and sold him on my vision, of 16 units, nestled in the forest, with views of the river, and elevated walkways through the trees. No clear cutting, no deforestation, no massive mansions. A community, hidden in the woods, but walking distance to the beach, and minutes from town. He was sold, and gave me a deeply discounted price.

So I am looking for investors. I am not looking to save a piece of untrammeled Costa Rican beauty. I hope that eventually my friends will buy some of the houses I will build, and we can sit on their porches and listen to the waves, and get up early, and surf alone on the beaches of Ostional. I propose to handle the purchase of the land, the work with the architect, and be on site every day for the development of the houses to be built in the forest. There is, and I have looked hard, nothing left in Nosara under 300k, and even then, you are going to fight your neighbor for the possibility of a peek of the water. On the other hand, of it fits you, and you are interested, you can live in a protected zone, look out over the Rio Nosara, live in peave and silence under a canopy of hardwoods, walk to the beach, ride the river, and enjoy the serenity of Costa Rica as it was 20 years ago.

Something funny happened on the way to the office...

Drop me an email if you want more information. I believe in this project, and I would love the chance to tell you about it, but I will only do it right. If its rushed, or not a good fit for everyone involved, I move on. I wanted to save a piece of Costa Rica, something left of its pristine beauty. This chance came earlier than expected, but hey, opportunity knocks.

firstpitchstrike@yahoo.com

2007-04-09T11:05:00.000-05:00

So after our respective cold beverages, we bounced up the dirt road to EE-25. With the trees cleaned back, one could get a better sense of the view that was going to be obtainable. From the road, one could see a straight shot to the beach to the west, and again all the way down to the hotel playa de nosara. One could even see a slice of Pelada peeling away to the north.

Now, there was not much to be seen to the west, at least not at street level. This is because Howie's house blocks the view. Hoiwe's house blocks the view because of an impressive earth moving project he must have done years ago. When I bought my land, I thought that Howie had a land on the spine of the mountain. now I realize that spine is man made, specifically bulldozer made. Howie, or the previous owner, must have built a massive retaining wall, and then pushed dirt down the hill to fill it up. The result is a million dollar view for Howie, and an obscured view for me.

Guillermo pointed out what had been done, and what nearly every property owner might do in my place: Build a retaining wall on the western border of my property and then fill it all in and build two stories on top. Nope. Not going to do it. We walked my property. There are exotic hardwoods all over it. There are gullies, and a season creek. The The land has a personality, one that I will preserve. I may be seen as leaving money on the table, but I think that someone will see what I see in the land. Its not enough to hope that your neighbor is responsible and leaves his property green for you to enjoy. It must be your commitment. I will show people that one can have their view, and leave the land unspoiled. That said, the thought of the view obtainable with land fill did make my mouth water a bit. I will freely admit that. Not to be tempted would be an ignorance of another type. I cannot think of a home in the area that did not do substantial land moving to improve their view. I have a feeling that will not be necessary for me though. Or at least this is a measure that I am unwilling to consider. Oh, this will mean no infinity pool, no flat lawn, but when you see what it will look like, a house peeking out from under a canopy of hardwoods, it will be worth the time and effort to preserve the land and its signature on my building.

On to the bad news.

Despite two strongly worded instruction e-mails from me, one more from Alex, and a phone conversation with Alex, Ashley White's husband, who I paid to clean my land, failed to follow instructions. We were clear to the point of rudeness that no tree, with a trunk over 8 inches, was to be cut down. Alex worked with him over the phone and was adamant. Yet when we visited the land, next to a pile of Imperial beer cans, we found a cocobolo tree, nearly 2 feet in diameter, cut down, and sawed into logs.

Here is that tree. You can see the unique dark interior rings of the mature tree.

"Cocobolo is a hardwood from Central America yielded by two to four closely related species of the genus Dalbergia. The best known and probably the species contributing most of the wood in the trade is Dalbergia retusa, a fair-sized tree, reported to reach 20-25 m in height. Because of its great beauty and high value, this species has been heavily exploited and the tree is now in danger of extinction outside of national parks, reserves and plantations."

Extinction.

I am upset and angry. There was no reason to cut this tree. The directions were clear and simple. It actually took more effort to kill it than it did to leave it alone, yet the chainsaws mowed through it all the same.

I dont think of myself as a tree hugger, but the needless destruction of hardwood trees is inexcusable. And this was needless. I wanted the tree. I was willing to pivot my house in whatever way necessary to preserve it. Wendy and I and the Datum Zero team were all effected and gathered around the tree. It must have taken minutes to cut. I wonder how long to grow another one.

When I asked Ashley White about the tree, when she was calling for payment for her husband's work, she told me that he told her that the tree had fallen. Fallen. Apparently in Costa Rica, trees generate a lot of saw dust when they fall. They fall even when completely healthy. Sometimes, it seems, when the fall they break off at sharp and straight lines.

And the worst part? He did this three times. Three trees. Three trees "fell" in this peculiar Costa Rican fashion with piles of beer cans and saw dust surrounding them. Three cocobolo trees.

Lord I am sounding like a hippie right now, but I had a project and a vision. My dream was to prove on did not need to insult the land to live on it. I am building a three bedrooms home. But I have no intention of displacing other living things homes to do that. I can sound like a capitalist also if you prefer...those were my trees. I owned them and paid to have them preservered. They made the land more valuable, as anyone can flatten land and put a concrete pad in, but hardwoods take time and care, and I expect to one day sell my land to someone who values these things.

This was hard to see, and is still hard. Guillermo declared that the cocobolo would be worked into the final design of the house. In this way, it will not be wasted. It was not my first choice...but three cut trees are now what I have. We talked about making them into handrails for a walk through the garden. Maybe furniture. I don't know. This, however, seems to be symbolic of the mangling that walks hand in hand with rampant development, something I hope to confront, even if just on my one acre in the hills of Nosara.

2007-04-06T11:39:00.000-05:00

So it was two sundays ago that Guillermo, Natalia, and Alex drove down from San Jose to Nosara to meet me and Wendy and to walk the land. Guillermo was in Costa Rica on another business trip, but extended the stay for a week to make our meeting possible. Then he was nice enough to rent a car and drive out from the capital, a drive Wendy and I would later learn was Ullysian in its length.

We all met in the open air patio of the Guilded Iguana and drank beer, batidos, or water according to our thirsts.

Guillermo asked me how I felt about Nosara in my return. It had been 8 years since my first visit, and almost two since Ian, Jmer and I visited it again. In my first visit, Nosara was a sleepy little beach town. I recall flip flopping up dirt roads to Cafe de Paris, and how the howler monkeys would take an interest and inguanas would scurry away. I would stash my board in the plants, and eat breakfast and drink coffee for an hour or more. I recall living under the ranchitos, and surfing sun down alone. I recall the quiet at night, and the stillness in the forrests. I remember how polite everyone was, and how isolated and primitive the area was.

Time has changed Nosara. Originally, I wanted to begin a post on this subject with the line "Its done. Its was grand while it lasted, but Nosara is over". After further reflection, I do not think that is the case, but the character of Nosara has changed, and not all for the better.

The distance between the ticos and the gringos has grown and deepened. I do not know how to measure this, but the feeling is there. The Americans and other foreigners who visited this place in 1999 where all similar in a way. They were tan, and lean from walking, and had wanderlust in thier eyes. They came for the rough edges, for the lack of electrcity, for the iguanas, for the crabs, for the bugs, for the thuderstorms, for the solitude, for the electric energy from nature. The modern visitors seem fat and comfortable. They seem to want to have thier old lives here with them in Nosara. There are now Banks, and massages, and souviener stores, and the markets stock american foods. People scream by on ATVs and everywhere everything is for sale: "Se Vende, Se Vende, Se Vende...". The land, the air, the water, it seems everyone is in a rush to sell what they have. You want to buy a beach? A finca? A forrest? Its all for sale, only cash though, but few questions asked.

And the foreigners seem eager to buy. And once they buy, they get the bulldozers running. They crush the soil, and bury the trees, and tie the land in fences. They erect monuments of concrete, and crushed rock, and granite countertops, and airconditioners. Originally, I intended a photo essay of the ugliest monstrosities in Nosara, but I became depressed and overwhelmed by the candidates. Aparently, if you have an acre, you should build an acre size house. There is no temperment, no unified design, no subtlety. Cut the trees, build the retaining walls and up goes an Italian villa, designed to fit in jersey, or Nabraska, or anywhere. I wish I could tell you that it was all US designs, but I know a lot of it is local. (I am looking at you Gecko Architecture).

This is supposed to pass for architecutre.

I take all this personally. This is the most biodiverse land per square meter of any on the planet outside the amazon. It stuns with natural beauty, yet the best people can muster in thier haste for "beach front proprty" "ocean views" or "walk to the beach", are these hideous architectural monoliths that I could design with a grease pencil, 15 minutes, and a .08 blood alchohol level if only my consciounce would let me overcome years of training in taste, balance, and harmony.

It takes no more effort, though a little more time, to build something sensitive. Sensitive to your environment- the land, the animals on it whose homes you just bought, and to your nieghbors.

I fear the developers are killing the golden goose. The views are spectacular, but people are flocking to Costa Rica for La Pura Vida. The good life. The good life is a byproduct of the land, and what grows on it. It is those green spaces, that unspoiled aquifer, that exotic hardwood, those monkeys, those parrots, that fish that create the values of these homes. In an effort to snatch and grab as much profit as possible in as short a time as possible, the developers are quickly snuffing out the very reseource that drives those profits. Soon it will be gone, and the developers with it, and the Ticos will be left with a land paved, and chopped and buried.

Its not the developer's fault particularly. There is no incentive for them to do anything but build as much as densely as possible. Cut acre plots into 1/8th of an acre. Condos for houses. Develop develop devlope, and let the next guy sacrifice his profits for greenlands.

But all is not lost yet.

Nosara still has something special in it. It has a population that prides itself on environmental sensitivity. That population agreed to deed the planned golf courses into green space. It petitioned for the beach to remain a reserve for 200 meters past high tide. There is a feeling there, a community that might, MIGHT, stem the flow of development.

Dont get me wrong. I am not advocating halting development. I advocate for sustainable, responsible development. I am not overly concerned about the earth...the earth will look untouched by human hand about a thousand years after the last human dies. The earth, and life, is far stronger than we. What I am concerned about is my relationship with that earth, and my childerens. It is ultimately very selfish. I dont want to live in LA. I dont want Cota Rica to become Miami. I like the vibe there, and I want to preserve it, even extend it.

My house is an experiment in doing just that, responsible development. No retaining walls. minimal earth moving. piers so that the widlife can pass under the structure. Minimal square footage, passive cooling, open air, open light. Cisterns for water, cells for power. It is not rocket science, it simply requires repulsing the urge to build as big as you can.

2007-04-05T18:18:00.000-05:00

Wendy and I visited the property, EE-25, by accident one day trying to get home from the super la paloma. Instead of driving into town, we found ourselves climbing up into the hills and decided to chase that trail and find my property.

We were pretty awkward about it, as I had no map and Wendy had never been there. We bungled around, irritating construction teams asking them if they knew where EE-25 was. I figured, all we had to do was find views, and then it should be near by. I was not far wrong, and with a couple false starts, we finally located the property.

The land was cleared, cleaned I should say. My ire was immediately stoked when I realized my neighbor had fenced in some of my land. Now, ordinarily, one could chalk that up to negligence, or mistake, except that that portion of my land was previously the subject of an offer to buy from said neighbor. He offered me 10k for the land, with a beautiful tree on it that sheltered his view, but I declined and gave him my word the tree would not be felled. Well, apparently my word was not quite good enough, so he decided just to take the land anyway. He tied my land with a barbwire fence, and fenced the tree on his side. What an asshole.

I was mad, but walked my property. I discovered that the decline was not as sharp as I had recalled. That was probably due to the fact that my initial, and sole, entry onto the land had come at its steepest area. From the road, I could see water shimmering through the trees. One could see, clear as day, Hotel Playas de Nosara, and the beaches of Playa pelada. I stood on the road. I stood on the rental truck (sorry thrifty). I took pictures. W has those pictures.

W discovered something amazing, the view was actually better to Playa Pelada from the bottom of the property. I had heretofore assumed that there was no view to be had from that part. But one could stand nearly 50 feet below the entry point and look out on the beach.

The wind was blowing in and I could hear the surf crashing on the shore. I don't know how far I am in a straight line from the water. maybe a half mile? not much.

There was more exploration to be done with Guillermo, but I am keeping this blog in a semi-chronological fashion, so I will describe that another day.

2007-04-04T17:08:00.000-05:00

Just got back from Costa Rica Sunday morning at 1 am. Spent 10 days in CR, most of it in Nosara. I spent a lot of time on the land, and had several meetings with Datum Zero. There is so much to recount, but for the moment, let me leave you with some images of the team.

Here is Guillermo and Alex discussing project orientation. Guillermo is out of his NYC personal, and into shorts and flops. Alex is part of the San Jose office and has been working on the project. He made some intersting observations while on the site.

Wendy and Natalia walking at the western border of the land. Natlia is also in the San Jose office and has been part of the team. She was hiking through the land in an ankle length skirt, which wins both style and dedication points.

Again, more later, when I find time.

2007-03-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

Cortel Steel. This is the material recommended by guillermo for the construction of the tower of the house. Fascinating stuff.

Weathering steel, best-known under the trademark Cor-Ten steel, is a group of steel alloys which were developed to obviate the need for painting, and form a stable rust-like appearance if exposed to the weather for several years. Wikipedia.

The steel, according to the website where it is sold under the trade name of A606, weathers better than normal steel. It is used in the construction of bridges and buildings. They have a picture of the golden gate bridge on the A606 page. Might my tower be made of the same material as the golden gate bridge?

Richard serra says: Cor-Ten is an oxidizing steel and it turns orange and then after about eight years, it turns dark brown, amber, and then holds its color. . Thats right...THE Richard Serra. If you are not a fan, its time to get with at least the last millenium.

I guess the real attractiveness of Cor-ten steel is its interaction with the environment. It evolves and grows, and reflects the elements which touch it. This is quite unlike a lot of building materials. Cor-ten steel feeds on the environment, and it changes throughout the years. It ages, and it colors. I want my house to embrace the environment in which it stands. I do not agree with Thomas Hobbes' assesment of the natural state as "solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short." Fear and ignorance lead us to believe that we can engineer our ways off of the wheel of life. Man was not content with the bounty of nature, and created agriculture to control his meals, and provide him with his preferences every day. In the same spirit man uses electric lights, encased windows, air conditioning, indoor bathrooms, carpet, and heating to seperate himself from the variations of the natural world.

K house, as it is currently known, is an attempt to live within nature. Its open throughway invites the breeze and the elements into the house. Until dark, daylight will suffuse every room. The house is positioned along trade wind routes for cooling, and is only one room deep to allow the wind to pass through it. The corten steel too will interact with its environment, and that environment will make the walls stronger, and last longer, than they ordinarily would.

Intersting no?

2007-03-13T10:42:00.000-05:00

The new design arrived. Actually, stating it like that makes it sound as if the new plans were bundled up and dropped in by a stork, and not the effort of hard work and effort of the part of D0. But this Friday, Guillermo sent me the solution to the vertical element problem in the Nosara house. It is wonderful.

There is a certain balance in the design. The horizontal volume is 5 modules long. Each module is about 15 feet- a little more after conversion from metric. The vertical volume, added recently, is 4 modules tall, leaving a visual 5:4 ratio which grounds the building and makes the vertical elements look slender, and delicate, like a bell tower, or a spire. The horizontal volume is largely the same, and when I say the same, Guillermo noted to the in an e-mail that the break through made what that the vertical projection really only complimented the organic proposal, while it made the compact model look heavy, and grotesque. The vertical element is not one, but two stories above the kitchen, with a roof terrace. From this vantage point, I submit that it will be possible to see the sands of the beach of Gillones. This view is what is driving me. Guillermo, in our last meeting, brings up an interesting point...perhaps it is not necessary to build vertically as high as I think. The western portion of my land represents a ridge of sorts, and the land survey shows the mountain dropping away beyong it. There is not much of a rise between the proposed site for the house and that ridge, and perhaps with proper cleaning of the trees, that is, pruning them up, and leaving the upper levels, I might be able to see the beach, with a reaosnable facsimile of neighbor Howie's views, from the main level of the house. Still, I want to explore vertical. I think that the distance of the main house to that ridge will interupt the line of site, and prevent seeing the beach Furthermore, I think the trees on Howie's property could grow up too tall and obstruct the view.

Still, we are not committing to the vertical elemetn until we have properly studied the view at different hieghts. Ashley White of Nosara Real Estate is coordinating the cleaning of the site, from the street, to the proposed building site, to the ridge line. Then Alex Bravo, of Datum zero, or Guillermo, will go to the site and take images at different hieghts to get an idea of the possibilties.

My input is this...the closer I build to the ridge line, the better the view will be. This is a Geometrical reality. Drawing a line from the beach, to the ridge creates a line that is intersected at a shorter hieight the closer one gets tot he ridge line. Guillermo and I are currently exploring how the house can be situated to accomplish this, taking into account the countors of the property and the set back required by law.

My other input was the inclusion of the vertical element. Guillermo indulged my tastes. Now the organic proposal has a two story slender vertical appendage, raeaching up over the kitchen into the Blue Costa Rica sky.

There will be decisions to make. If moving the project site allows for the view I covet to be obtained from the horizontal portion of the house, then perhaps the vertical elements is deprioritized. The vertical element is going to increase the size of the house from 1600 feet sqaured, to 1900. that goes quickly from cozy to huge. ADd in a meditation room of, say 2-300 sq/ft, and we are over 2000. I guess that is not the end of the world, but I feel protestant pangs of guilt about owning that much house. More important, we are dealing with a strict budget on this project, and I dont know that the comprimises of building materials is going to be worth the cost of the vertical element if the view can be obtained elsewise. If there is no view, or only a view of the water from the horizotnal element, and I suspect there will be, all bets are off and up we go. If there is a view, then it will bear some discussion about accomplishing the other goals of the porject.

Ok, on the vertical element. it is beautiful. It allows for rain run off by being slimmer than the horizotnal modules...mabe 10 feet side. I am not certain how the floors are reached, since the spiral stair cases described in the other building plans might eat up most of the real estate if added in the vetical volume, but then again, what are our options? Outdoor stair cases, or rungs really. The western and southern exposures are completely glass. I cannot tell, but hope, that these will open. I expect they will, becuase the spire has a flat roof, with no over hang, and thus these rooms will be exposed to a lot of sun, and could get very, very hot.

The flat roof is an illusion. It is a flat roof over a slanted roof to allow for drainage. Still, can you imagine being, what, 45 feet over the ridge line and looking all around you? it would be a sea of green. Oh, and blue.

Here, Guillermo describes it best in his recent e-mail:

I think the tower will look beautiful, there are some details that are difficult to translate through these dwgs. that we will capture on the final dwgs. Such things as real materials employed for the outside surfaces of the tower. In some of the initial sketches that we internally discussed, the tower will have a material such as Corten steel or axodized copper which will give a timeless spirit, as well it will sit on a concrete base that gives a sense of permanence amd belonging.

The windows are operable, and YES, the tower has two levels above the kitchen, also a terrace with a canopy above.

2007-03-07T13:16:00.000-05:00

Guillermo is in Costa Rica. He is meeting with his San jose office and visiting some sites. One of those sites is mine, ole ee-25.

I am coordinating the clearing, excuse me, cleaning of my property. The difference is that cleaning leaves larger trees, and clearing does not. I have contacted Ahley White at Nosara Real Estate, who is helping coordinate the cleaning crew. She contacted the property cleaner, who will contact Guillermo and Alex, or the other way around. The end result is that the site cleaner will have a copy of my plot schematic, and the areas that we want cleaned.

Once the land is cleaned in the areas where the house is projected to be built, and the areas that will control my view, then Guillermo and Alex Bravo will visit the site. They are hoping to learn more about the situation of the house, and also do a series of studies that will reveal what view will be possible with the addition of a vertical element to the house. I hope they take lots and lots of images.

I will be making a visit to the site in a few weeks. I promise lots of pictures. I also promise lots of sun, surf, and cheap beer with W, but that is probably not as interesting to you as the images. Then again, maybe we can do both.

On a tangent, it was -10 in Boston yesterday with windchill. It is 90 in Costa Rica. That is an expected 100 degree shift of tempurature, and a 180 degree shift of pleasure.

I think I will buy a machete. I dont think I will need one, but I will feel like more of an exploitive capitalist if I have one.

In other news, Guillermo and DatumZero, after weeks of consideration, made a breakthrough in the vertical approach to the K-house. I have not seen the results, but Guillermo sounds very confident and excited about them. He tells me that the result is a hybrid of the Compact, and Organic appraoches, but with a distinct organic approach character. That means, lighter, longer and more open than the compact model. You all will know when I do what it looks like.

in closing, I want to tell you all that I am fascinated by sod roofs. Green roofs. They decrease the dirunal tempurature shock, decrease heating and cooling costs, and provide areable land for agriculture, or gardens. There are companies that produce panels that reduce the total weight of soil on the roof. I wonder how leaks are though?

M

2007-03-01T13:31:00.000-05:00

Humidity.

One of my concerns in building in CR is whether of not the humidity will ravage electronics. I hope to make an office where I could work, making the concept of living in costa rica while working in the Untied States a little less fantastic, and a little more realistic. But reality also dictates that computers generally are not as amenable to the pura vida lifestyle, and may require a little special support.

the question, in brief, is whether a dedicated, climate controlled, are is required to maintain sensitive electronic devices in Nosara?

I asked just that question on Costa Rica Bulletin Board: really the best CR related BB out there though there are other good ones, and moderated by John and Smudge. Here are the replies I graciously received:

Living on the Caribbean coast for two years, I know what humidity can do to electronics. Upon opening both my computer and VCR, all metal parts inside were rusted and corroded. Nevertheless, both were working just fine (had to open the VCR to extract a stuck tape).

Thanks Tony. I guess I was on to something. This is going to require attention.

I have a friend with a top end yacht. Now that he keeps the bridge and salon air conditioned 24/7 (for the last 5 years or so) he has no trouble with his electronics corroding. Before that he used to have to replace virtually all non-marine electronic gear about every 12-18 months

Gracias MiamiDave. This would seem to indicate that a well venilated house might prevent a lot of the rust and corrosion. The Organic model bettwe fits that bill with large open air ways, a high roof, and most of it raised so that passive cooling systems, read: the wind, can wick away the moisture a bit.

For the last 12 years, I've had desktop computers in our house, 200 yards from our beach on the Pacific west coast. It is not air conditioned and the windows are never closed. The only time humidity has been a problem was once we rented the house for three months to a couple, and I stored the computer in a second bedroom to keep it out of their way. I asked them not to use it, and they didn't, but to make more room in the bedroom they moved the computer into the shower of the unused second bathroom. There was a continuous drip from the shower head, and when we arrived three months later the computer looked as if it had been on the bottom of the ocean.

In my experience with our area, on the Guanacaste coast, computers and books that are kept in areas that have good air circulation do quite well. I have a shelf of books that have been in our new house for three years now, and they are just fine. The computer I'm using now also has been in use for four years and no problems.

However, while this is the case on the Guanacaste coast, in places where there is really high humidity, such as on the Caribbean coast, I know people who have had problems. I would ask your neighbors how they handle the problem. Sometimes, when books are stored in a bodega, a dehumidifier will do the trick, or simply a burning light bulb will work. To me, air conditioning is a drastic (and expensive) remedy, unless absolutely necessary.

John Howells, thanks for the detailed reply. It appears then that an open, and airy design, with great venilation, cross breezes, louvres, windows, doors all Orietned with the trade winds might do the trick. I do not want the expese of air conditioning, that is certain. The Organic model is looking better and better all the time.

Even though Gaunacaste is really dry in the dry season, it gets really wet in the rainy season.Some rainy seasons are wetter than others. September and october are the wettest months. Though I live quite close to John's house, there are apparently some factors that make a difference between his house and mine. We both have CBS construction, so that's not it.I also don't have AC, but do have a very well ventilated house.Maybe it's because I'm a bit farther from the beach and have many large trees that shade my house. In the rainiest months we do get mold and our electronics are subject to humidity related problems. We have solved this problem by using Goldenrod heaters. We purchased these at Boaters World.They come in various lengths, are inexpensive to use and eliminate any problems. I would hink that any good yachting goods store, or stores that sell piano or gun paraphanalia would also sell heating devices meant for humid spaces. They're the best alternative short of AC.

thanks Pam.

Heating.. I never thought about it. I actually really never made the intuitive step that sailing would have all the same problems.

Now I have a slightly different situation than Pam seem sto be faced with, as I am up in EE, in the hills. I chose this place specifically because it is less humid, and has a gentle breeze clearing through it. This might reduce my exposure to Pam's house's problems.

[editors aside: I have nieghbors. Real neighbors. I cannot wait to meet them.]

Our friends have a house in Esterillos (between Quepos and Jaco) right on the beach. About a month after they bought their new fridge, they noticed it was starting to get little rust spots. Yikes. However, they had one room in the house in which they put a dehumidifier with a hose out of a window to the ground outside. That room housed their computer equipment, tv, VCR, DVD-player etc. and all their books, tapes etc. That worked just fine. They had no A/C either and didn't seem to need it with good ventilation and ceiling fans.

PS: They moved the fridge to a location where there was better ventilation and the rust stopped.

Nel, thank you. I will have to make certain that the kitchen gets good circulation. But this is an approach that I had considered before. A small dehumidifier in one rooms dedicated to electronics. I want to stay off the grid as much as possible, and running it full time would be a great expense. However, it sounds like I might need run it only in the invierno, and even then, I might not need it. It will be a good thing to keep, however, the option open. I will likely not be the last owner of this home.

I agree that the location could make a difference. I'm sitting up on the crest of the hill and my computer is on the second floor, where there is always a breeze whizzing through the house, which is almost all windows on three sides. Also, I usually keep the cover of the computer off, which helps air circulate. I keep it off because once in the house we had at the bottom of the hill, deep in the forest, some ants decided the computer case would make a dandy condominium. When I returned after a long trip, I was astounded to see hordes of ants streaming out of the computer when I turned on the current. After a thorough cleaning, it was able to boot up.

By the way, speaking of ants . . . in the new house, we were plagued by bees, as you well know, but also by several varieties of ants. We had the usual large red ants that don't get into food or bother us (can't imagine what the eat), but also by ordinary sized black ants and tiny little yellow ants, so small you can hardly see them. I spread some of the borax acid insect powder around and it would slow them down for a while, but always would come back and would find anything sweet or greasy and have a picnic. But once I finally got rid of the bees, the ants were gone and never came back. (except for the red ants, they live there). What has been your experience with ants?

John H again. And he brings up the subject of ants. Ormigas. Something I need to take into account. The little red ones hurt like h*ll. But, forgetting that for a moment...in the computer? IN THE COMPUTER? Note to self- Its the insect's world, you are just borrowing it.

But, and maybe John and I will live near each other, it sounds like his locaiton is more similar to mine. And his solution sounds like the one that I am considering. constant breeze, 3 walls of windows...actually, forget construction for a moment, I want a tour. Sounds beautiful.

We also have a place in Guanacaste and also have some experience with rust. We bought a washer and dryer, new, about two years ago. Both were Whirlpool and were brand new. But after about three months, for no obvious reason the dryer top began to show rust spots all over the top, like measles. My wife thinks that it was because our once-a-week maid would put things on top of the dryer while she loaded the washer and did other chores. It happened rapidly. But a can of white appliance spray (after some light sandpapering) and the problem was solved. Two years later and still no problem.

Charles C. Thanks. I need to think about more mundane appliances also it seems.

Miami Dave offered a comment on appliances and things to avoid:

She might have used bleach with less care that it generally requires which will corrode almost anything.

We once had tenants who bleached their kitchen floor regularly. A few months after they moved in I was horrified to find the bottom two inches of the fridge, dishwasher and oven looked like they had been on a beach for years. After having to pay for new ones they finally figured out that it was not such a a great idea.

and now, for Wax and Bees:

Here's a tip we learned living in the Fl. Keys , a Very rusty environment ! We put car wax ( Turtle wax, whatever) on our appliances every couple of months and that slowed the rust Way down. For the itty bitty sugar ants, which also seek water, we used and also use here, Terro Ant Killer. By the way, John, one of our snowbird friends who lives across from the Yoga Institute, is having the reoccurring bee problem as well. They're African bees, whose behavior and hive building habits are different from other species.In the states, bee professionals use a specific pheromone to manipulate them to a new destination. I don't think they have this information or pheromone here, at least not in Nosara. So the African bees continuously return because of a preexisting oder that attracts them.This is what little I know and understand about the African Killer Bee. I do know what's it's like to be pursued by a swarm however ! No fun at all !

Turtle wax. not a bad idea at all. I guess the principal is sealant. Paint, and wax. I will have to be rigorous in my care, it sounds like, lest I end up rusting everything out.

-from Pam

Over the years, I've become a semi-expert of getting rid of bees. I've done it so many times, I can't count. Actually getting rid of them is easy, only within a week they are back, either the same dudes or a new tribe, or swarm, or whatever. Incidentally, all bees in Costa Rica and anywhere in Central America are Africanized bees. The situation is that their strain is dominant and the mild domestic bees have been bred out of existence

In our present house, the bees moved in even before the construction was finished. They were there to welcome us when we arrived with our belongings. Our property manager had an "exterminator" get rid of bees five times within a two month period, but before long, the bees returned. Spraying is only temporary.

I had a gang of workers go over the wooden part of the eves where the bees were building condominiums, drill holes to spray By-Gone and seal all cracks with silicone. That would work for maybe a month, and then here would come another swarm who somehow found a tiny hole to enter. I got so I knew the workmen so well that they buy me beer when I walk into a bar where they are drinking. They ask me to bring them goodies from the states whenever I go back.

Finally -- Maria, our maid, who had been watching the process over the months, quietly said:

"don John, you can never get rid of bees that way! Once a hive has been in the wall, no matter what you do, the smell of honey and wax will bring new swarms. Insecticide doesn't bother them unless it is sprayed in the air so they breath it. Once the bees are dead, new ones enter and start new hives."

"So, what must we do?"

She said: "First remove the wood from the inside of the wall. Then get rid the old hives as well as the new ones. Scrape all of the wax from the walls -- ALL of it -- and seal the wood from the inside with foam or silicone."

Bill Kanz verified what Maria said, saying that from the inside, you can clearly see all of the places where they can get in because light is shining through. Bill had to do exactly the same thing about five years ago, and his long-time problem disappeared.

In one afternoon, two workers did this, and no more fighting off bees! I think we finally won!

By the way, although African bees can be dangerous because of their aggressive protection of the hive, I've found them quite tame when swarming to establish a new hive. I've been surrounded by them, spraying them with By-Gone until they decide to give up and go elsewhere. In all of these years, I've never been stung once. The maid was helping me fight off the last swarm (I hope it's the last) and she got stung on her palm when she accidentally trapped a bee in her hand. (Of course, I always keep the front door open, just in case I need to make a fast exit.)

this man has the answers. thanks John Howells. I suspect I will be returning to this post at some point. I wonder if my mainly concrete construction in the walls will help this problem. There are going to be a lot of wood accents, do probably not much, but I may take this into account when selecting building materials.

and now for something completely different...Skunks?

John, Maybe you could ask Maria about those pesky little skunks that keep coming back ? ! We had to dismantle the bedroom in the wee hours one night after he had himself a stinkfest . Though we've denied him entry to the bedroom, he's never forgotten or forgiven that fact. Every so often he fires a round of his biological weapon right outside the bedroom window ! We relocated the Sapos and they found their way home, so I suspect that a skunk might have equal or better navigational abilities. Ah, the challenges of living in and with the jungle !

Ok, note to self- perhaps life on pilings is a good thing.

Thanks all.