Home Construction

Park City • When Nolan Murray, 25, moved to Park City for a job on the ski patrol, he hoped he would find a place to live near his work. But as soon as he saw the prices for rental housing, he realized he wasn't going to be able to afford anything locally. Murray said he considered moving to Salt Lake City, but felt that the daily commute would be dangerous in his old car if there were snowstorms or bad road conditions. Instead, he has been sleeping in his car. It isn't the first time Murray has lived out of a car — he previously slept in his vehicle while living in Arizona and fighting forest fires — but Park City's cold winters make the situation uncomfortable. He tries to make it work by bundling up in a sleeping bag and comforter while parked in an empty business parking lot. He showers at his gym and brushes his teeth when he gets to work. Mornings are the hardest part, according to Murray. "Once you get out of the sleeping bag, it gets cold,...

Travelling in 2020 hasn't exactly been predictable, so for lots of people booking a holiday in the UK has been the best bet. And hey, when we've got incredible beaches, great cities and ace Christmas markets, why would you need to go anywhere else? Something else that might take your fancy this Autumn is a hot tub break in the UK. Picture this; a wintery lodge or cabin with a steaming hot tub outside, perfect for enjoying a mulled wine or two in, before jumping in front of the fire with a Christmas film on. Literally nothing sounds better than that right now. Best hot tub lodges in the UK Ardgartan Argyll, Scotland You'll love the location of these cosy cabins for six in Argyll Forest, which have a hot tub on the terrace with views of tranquil Loch Long and snow-capped mountains beyond. When you're not hot-tubbing, there's hikes in the woods and jeep safaris in the Trossachs to enjoy. Silver Birch cabins from £555 for four nights mid-week, that's £92.5...

Drive through an older urban neighborhood and the odds are good you'll see a few Tudor-style houses. The bigger ones evoke posh manor homes while the smaller ones suggest cozy cottages. But big or small, they share some architectural DNA — asymmetrical design with a steeply pitched roof, tall peaked gables and tall narrow windows. Tudor architecture originated in England during the 15th to 16th century and enjoyed a burst of American popularity around the turn of the 20th century. By the 1920s, Tudor Revival homes were all the rage. "Tudor homes are so historic for our area. There are so many in Minneapolis and St. Paul," said designer Bria Hammel, owner of Bria Hammel Interiors. But there are not so many in newer suburbs like Lakeville, where most of the housing stock was built long after the Tudor Revival's heyday. KilChoe and Erik Wikstrom have long been enamored of Tudor-style homes. Still, when they moved from Texas to Lakeville about 10 years ago, they...

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2020 was the year for the record books, in so many ways both "good" and "bad".  Namely the emergence of COVID-19 had a profound effect on our lives and applied a nearly ubiquitous need to evaluate our lives; how we live at home, how we interact with our families, co-workers and our communities at large.  One very true story is that 2020 fundamentally changed how we live in our homes and forced upon many of us, a deep review and re-evaluation of our living spaces. We had to pivot our lives, shrinking the geography of our key activities, now working, schooling, exercising and playing all from home. Multi-tasking daily activities with multiple people all in the same space forced us to reflect, dissect, and evaluate how we live in our homes and how we ultimately want to feel in these spaces.  Let's take a look at emerging trends on home design and home building for 2021 from the impacts of COVID-19.  Trend #1 – The Rise of the Home Office  Due to physica...

HOUSTON – Have you ever heard of a 'barndominium?' It's the latest housing trend that adds a modern twist to small-town farm-charm. Technically, the name does the describing: 'barndominiums' (or 'barndos') are big metal or steel structures that have been transformed into beautiful living spaces. Think barn + condominium. It's by far one of the hottest new ways to build a home not only because of their beauty, but barndos are also very affordable, energy-efficient, and low maintenance. Stacee Lynn, aka 'The Barndominium Lady,' has designed nearly 150 barndominiums all over the country, with no formal design training. She is a self-taught designer, contractor, and decorator…that designed, built, AND LIVES IN her own barndo in Cleveland, Texas. Stacee Lynn and her husband Oliver were nice enough to give us a tour of her magnificent Cleveland property, and with so many 'wow!' factors, you're guaranteed to want one of your own...

Workers and volunteers with Habitat for Humanity of Tuolumne County are nearing completion of two new homes in Parrotts Ferry Village, a planned, multi-home community of affordable workforce housing in Columbia, which the nonprofit began developing in 2011. On Saturday, qualified home buyer Alicia Cragholm, a working, single mother of three children ages 5, 8, and 10, came to paint interior areas inside the single-dwelling home she plans to move into in April. Cragholm, 33, a current resident of Sonora, has worked full-time in a dental office for nearly three years, and before that she worked in restaurants and retail. Like other Habitat for Humanity home buyers, she had to apply to the nonprofit to see if she was qualified and complete more than 50 hours of financial stewardship, budgeting, and home maintenance courses. "I had to apply three times before I was accepted," Cragholm said. "April 2017 was the first time, then again about a year later. ...