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By Virginia This Morning, February 3, 2016
RICHMOND, Va - Jason Tesauro and his family of seven are building their dream house on an unconventional lot in Church Hill. Over the next year you can follow their journey in R Home Magazine as they hire architects and builders, meet with the city’s architectural review board, and get to know their neighbors.
By Jason Tesauro
Look around your pad. From touch-screen appliances to smartphone-compatible thermostats and Amazon's voice-activated home automation hub, domestic tech is trending (Siri, Alexa, Fitz!). Like any great house party, though, the fun always seems to end up in the kitchen. Finally, there's a movement to bring digital advances to another vital room in the house: the bathroom.
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By Virginia This Morning, January 25, 2017
RICHMOND, Va. - R Home Magazine Columnist Jason Tesauro has spent the past year chronicling his family’s experience as they build their custom modern home on an unconventional lot in historic Church Hill. Jason joined us during our LIVE show to share an update on the project, and whats still to come...
The evolution of a dream home into a real home
By Jason Tesauro, January 16, 2017
We’re back. Did you miss us? Despite all of my cries about permits, escalating costs and bureaucratic backlogs, the reason you haven’t heard from us in a hundred days isn’t clerical, logistical or economic. It’s personal. During this age of national fractionalism, progressives on the coasts are striving to understand their conservative neighbors in the Midwest. For us, this took an über-local slant as we struggled to build empathy with neighbors due west of our property line. In July, cement-mixer trucks started pouring the foundation. However, akin to WWI’s Hundred Days Offensive when Allies on the Western Front finally broke through, compelling an armistice with Germany, it cost three months of time and resources to squabble over the delicacies of deeds and easements. In the end, we hashed out a temporary Alley Treaty that allowed the heavy machinery to start rolling.
Framing, at long last, began in mid-October. Thanks to the efficient simplicity of our SIPs panels, we went from foundation to framed in nine days. The interior framing and finishing continues, but the entire shell of the house, including the roof, is now in place. I’ve already cracked my first beer on the third floor, and many a friend has clambered up ladders to take in our sensational view. Because that’s where it all began.
By Jason Tesauro, October 25, 2016
Have you driven by yet? There be concrete on that thar Church Hill! The backhoe scooped out its first bucketful of backyard in July, a solid three months later than the most conservative estimate of when we’d actually break ground. But, who cares? It’s happening. With the foundation finally laid, our walls and structure promise to fly quickly up. Word on the street is that we’ll be under roof in under a month. Here’s why.
During the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago, the “Florida Tropical House” was built on the shores of Lake Michigan. Plans called for limestone, clay and poured concrete. This Modernist design wowed crowds in the Fair’s “Homes of Tomorrow” exhibition. Eighty-three years later, concrete dwellings are commonplace, but “non-standard construction methods,” as the city of Richmond calls them, continue to evolve. We’ve decided to build our home out of one of these methods. SIPs (structured insulated panels) is not yet a household name, but it soon will be.
By Jason Tesauro, March 1, 2016
In the last episode, you met an intrepid family on the eve of a massive commitment: Build a nest for seven people on a little lot in Church Hill where an expert valet could barely park six food trucks. I might blame the holiday hullabaloo for why we haven’t broken ground yet. Or, I can tell you the truth(s):
1. We have commitment issues.
2. Construction loans are a pain in the asphalt.
3. An annual super fat trip to Europe sounds damn appealing and way cheaper.
Nevertheless, we’re pushing onward. After giving the green light to our architects (in the form of a sizable check) and sussing out a loan, an email from our designers arrived: “Attached please find (drum roll...) a set of drawings for your construction contract.”
By Jason Tesauro, February 16, 2016
“Go to the end of East Broad Street and we’re the house on your right.” That’s how my wife Amy and I give directions to our place. At least that’s the plan once we have an actual house. Right now, all you’ll find is our slim spit of land squeezed between two dwellings where Broad Street dead-ends just past 36th Street and Chimborazo Park.
In early 2013, we moved into a rental down the street from Libby Hill Park with the intention of buying. By November 2014, we still hadn’t found the right house in Church Hill. We’d nearly settled on something up 27th Street, but we couldn’t reconcile the equation: real estate for seven humans either fit our budget or our style, but not both. Determined to forsake the suburban compromise, Amy ran some numbers and a new idea emerged: “Instead of buying something that half-way works,” she said, “why not spend a little more to build exactly what we want?” It meant tightening the belt for a spell, but it also meant designing from scratch a custom home for us and our five children without sacrificing aesthetics or our street cred. But good luck finding land in Richmond’s hottest neighborhood.