Welcome to Ticklepenny Cottage!

Hello! A very warm welcome to everyone. Ticklepenny Cottage is the little fairy tale fantasy house that I am currently building. I have a big imagination and some crazy ideas, and this blog will document how I make them come to life. Like most home builders, I’m on a budget, but I’m finding new ways to “tickle my pennies” and create more for less. My wonderful family (parents, sister, and brother-in-law) and helping me do lots of the work myself, which not only saves money, but also builds a sense of pride in having created something with your own hands that will last a lifetime.

I hired a company that specializes in this type of home to design my cottage. I started with one the house designs they already had and then asked for a few changes, including a turret entry (because if I’m building a fairy tale house I might as well make it a castle!) It has a large octagonal great room, and one bedroom and one bathroom. There are vaulted ceilings throughout, and it comes in at 850 square feet. Here’s the initial drawing of the design.

Of course it won’t turn out quite like this. I’m doing shingles on most of the house, but the chimney and turret will be vertical cedar siding. The chimney caps will be different, but I did get an amazing round top front door, and I’m hoping to find finials like the fiddleheads for the roof.

I’m lucky enough to live in a beautiful setting. My family has a vineyard and a winery in the Oregon countryside, and I get to build my cottage near some huge oak trees with a view of the grapevines. The only buildings I can see are my family’s houses, and I have great views out ever window. I’m very lucky indeed.

Here is a quick photo journey through the initial construction.

My brother-in-law Marcus is my general contractor on this project, because I would have gone to him with all my questions anyway, and this way I can pay him instead of someone I don’t know. He and my sister just built a house a couple of years ago, and he did so much of the contracting himself that he is quite capable and I trust him completely. I hired out the basic building work, and after the framing was done and the roof was on, we started to customize the cottage by adding our own touches. Stay tuned for all of our exciting additions!