Clearing The Way For A Carriage House

Besides installing new windows on the 3rd floor, we haven't done much with our home renovation over the last few months.  We've mostly been saving our money for a carriage house.  And, building a structure like that is EXPENSIVE.  But we're determined to get one up within the next year or so.  Recently, we had a survey done on the property and from there, we'll be able to draw up the plans and apply for building permits. 

When we bought this house a year and a half ago, the landscape was completely overgrown.  We've battled it here and there, but there's still a large part of our backyard that's overrun with vines and mangled trees.  And that's the spot where we want to build the carriage house.  So, little by little, with our own two hands, we've been breaking it up.  Dave and I have rented industrial wood chippers, we've cut through vines, and cleared nasty brush.  We had a brief run in with poison ivy (well, Dave did, not me) and overall, we've made a dent in the landscape.  When we got to the point where we needed help, we called a local tree service. 

Today was the day that the tree service arrived.  Four guys worked in the yard, grinding out stumps and bringing down a few trees.  This is what I watched from my office window:

Is there anything better than watching other people do the work?  It's amazing what four grown men can do in a few hours.  I wish I had buckets of money.  Buckets and buckets of money.  I could do this all day.

So, more about the carriage house.  Similar to my inspiration images, we're shooting for a 2-story structure with enough room for two cars.  I would also like dormer windows.  And, we'll need to pave a decent driveway.  To give you an idea, I played around in Photoshop and came up with this:

 

Also, my perfectionist husband just reminded me that the "Photoshopped garage" should be over the to left about 8 more feet, but you get the idea.

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