Mike and Patti Bacon and Hudson
After several months of construction the Bacons have moved into their retirement dream home. Although it is smaller in size than their previous home, the amenities it provides are allowing them to live large.
The Bacon's finished home.
We caught up with the Bacons about a month after they moved into the home. After the initial hustle and bustle of moving, arranging furniture and unpacking, they were settling in to the home nicely and already enjoying many of the new amenities.
“The home is very convenient, being all on one floor. It simplifies so many things —even getting dressed in the morning. Before, I would have to come downstairs to eat breakfast and then go back upstairs to get dressed for work,” Mike said. “Now everything is very convenient.”
“I’m really enjoying having a door right off the bedroom to let our dog, Hudson, out,” said Patti. “I also love the central vacuum, and the shower in the master bath —it’s so spacious.
Mike, who recently retired, has been enjoying the bonus room that they furnished especially to be his getaway at home. “I’ve nicknamed the bonus room the ‘man cave,’ and I’m really taking advantage of it,” said Mike. “I have my computer, TV, a bathroom, fridge, exercise room – I never have to leave!”
Mike's "man cave."
Though the home is much smaller than their previous home, the Bacons are happy with the layout and the convenience of one-level living. “The floor plan has met our expectations. I wish the guest rooms and the dining room could be a little bigger, but when you downsize like we did you have to compromise—you can’t go smaller and still have gigantic rooms,” said Patti. “The master bedroom exceeded our expectations, though. I love the size and feel like it’s a suite more than just a bedroom. I can relax in the sitting area and not feel like the whole room is filled with just our bed.”
The finished dining room is an elegant place to serve meals.
The master bedroom is one of Patti's favorite places in the new house.
Mike continued, “I like the plan better now that I see it built than on paper. The pass through from the kitchen to the great room is nice because it makes the space feel open. It also creates a serving bar, and we’ve used it a lot to have a quick lunch or snack. I think it’s very difficult to envision how large the rooms are and how the layout will feel just from looking at the blueprint. It came together for me more after the sheetrock was in and I could really see what the rooms were like.”
The kitchen has plenty of cabinets and counter space.
The Bacons made several modifications to the original plan, including changing the garage door from a front entry to a side-entry, adding two feet to the garage so the upstairs bonus room would be larger, adding a bathroom, closet, and exercise space to the bonus room, and creating an unfinished storage space on the rear of the home.
“One of the things we are glad we did was putting a bathroom and closet upstairs in the bonus room,” Mike said. “That way it could be considered a bedroom if we ever sell the house, but in the meantime it’s really convenient for us to be able to use the bathroom and not have to come downstairs. We also are glad we added the grilling patio off the porch and the utility closet outside. It will make the garage function better because it won’t be so crowded with tools.”
The outdoor grilling patio is an addition the Bacons appreciate.
Patti particularly enjoyed the building process and the fact that they built custom rather than buying an existing home because she liked being able to choose exactly what she wanted.
“One of my favorite things has been getting exactly what we want instead of just being stuck with what’s there, which we would if we bought a house that was already finished,” she said. “We picked our carpet, tiles, all the paint colors, plumbing and light fixtures—and we had fun adding details like the strip of cherry wood in the flooring that differentiates the dining room from the great room.”
A built in window seat is the perfect place to dry off after a shower.
The Bacons also enjoyed a good working relationship with their contractor, DSR Builders, Inc. of Greer, SC.
“He was very good,” said Mike. “We’d recommend him to anyone. They did what they said they were going to do, and when it was time to close on the house we only had a handful of things on the punch list, which was a real treat.” Patti concurs. “At our previous home that we built many years ago we had a legal pad full of items that had to be fixed in the end, and had to withhold money from the builder just to get it done. There were no issues like this with DSR. Working with them has been smooth sailing all the way.”
Mike and Patti have also been enjoying entertaining family and friends in the home. Their oldest daughter and her fiancé live in town and have come to have dinner several times, and their youngest daughter who lives about three hours away has come and spent the night in the guest suite. “We’ve had almost our entire family come to the house already and most of our friends, too. Everyone has been very complimentary,” said Patti. “They all love the paint colors and think the house looks great.”
The Bacons did exceed their initial budget for the home, a common occurrence among people who build.
“We went over by about $14,000,” said Mike, “plus we went over a little bit on appliances we bought. The cabinets, plumbing, and landscaping were where we went over the most.” Overall they are happy with their choices, though.” With things like carpet there are different prices, but you need to look at the pad and the carpet quality,” said Patti. “Same with paint—we have a lot of different colors and it costs more to do that. We spent a lot, but we also got a lot for the money, so we’re happy.”
Mike and Patti offer advice for staying in budget: “Get your allowances early in the game and go out and shop before you sign the contract. If you find that your allowance isn’t going to cover what you want, then you know you’re going to need to negotiate with your builder. You don’t want to get a builder who gives you a low-ball offer and then you wind up being way over in the long run. If you peel back the onion, you’ll see that the lower offer doesn’t cover anything.” Overall the Bacons are satisfied with their home and looking forward to spending many happy years living in it.
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