What a custom home costs to build in rural Ontario.
The line items most owners don't know to ask about — septic engineering, hydro setbacks, three-phase service drops, frost depth, well capacity. Where the budget tends to grow and where it doesn't.
Field Notes
The journal.
Notes from our builds — what we learn from the township engineer, the trades, and the land. The first ones are being written now. Leave your email and they'll come when they're ready.
The case for a separate shop: don't put it under the house.
Why the working shop, the equipment storage, and the guest cottage almost always belong in their own buildings. What the principal residence loses when you try to combine them.
Three cladding choices that age the way you want them to.
Cedar, charred shou-sugi-ban, and rough-sawn pine — what each looks like at year one, year five, and year fifteen. How to think about the build at the year-thirty mark.
The Class-A road allowance, and other things the township engineer cares about.
What gets approved fast, what gets stuck, and what we've learned about three Ontario townships' particular preferences after thirty-three years of working in them.
By email
Field notes, when they're ready.
Occasional and long-form, written by Caleb and Jordan.