Brian Bishop Long-running builds, small experiments, field notes, photos.
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Physical

Katy Manor House build

Katy Manor: First Year (2023)

The first public note from our house build: one year of buying land, breaking ground, learning slowly, and getting a real structure under roof.

August 2022 through August 2023

Katy Manor with siding installed, windows in place, and early deck framing at the front.
By the end of the first year, Katy Manor had windows, doors, siding, a roof, and the beginnings of a deck.

Katy Manor is the house Calleen and I are building ourselves. This first post covers the first year of visible progress, from August 2022 through August 2023. In that time we purchased the property, broke ground, built a pier and beam foundation, framed the house, got the roof on, installed doors and windows, sided the house in metal and fiber cement, and started on the deck.

That list makes the year sound tidier than it felt. We thought we would be farther along by now. Instead, we learned the pace of a project like this: do the next hard thing, recover, learn what you did not know before, and come back for the next one. It has been the hardest physical thing I have ever built, and it has taught us patience in a very practical way.

The property itself has made the work worth it. The view is the thing we keep coming back to, along with the quiet of the country. The house backs up to pasture, and cows often drift into the field behind us. Ludo remains skeptical of these giant dogs.

One pleasant surprise has been the town. I was worried about that part going in, but working with the small-town process has been easy and generous. That has made a hard project feel much more possible.

The site before construction began.
Early beam work as the foundation started to take shape.
Outlining the footprint before the bigger foundation work began.
The foundation dug out and ready for the next round of work.
The first visible structure on the site: foundation work beginning in the open field.
A lot of the first year looked like this: checking, adjusting, and checking again.
Calleen and me with the first walls up.
The stick frame made the project feel like a house for the first time.
Wrapped, windowed, and cold enough to remember.
Sam visiting during the wrapped-house stage.
Oona visiting after the exterior started to take shape.
Ludo keeping watch over the pasture and its suspiciously large dogs.
Metal siding going up and changing the whole feel of the place.
The view is still the best argument for the whole thing.
Windows, doors, house wrap, siding, and the steady conversion from frame to shelter.
Metal and fiber cement siding together, with the exterior starting to feel finished.
Starting the deck posts, which immediately became its own project.
The neighbors behind the house, as seen from the property.
By the end of the first year, Katy Manor had windows, doors, siding, a roof, and the beginnings of a deck.