About Us

A few years ago I built my own small house in a rural setting in Wisconsin. I absolutely loved it! And when I say "I built..." I mean that I actually was the general contractor for the building process, as well as doing a lot of the finish work (mostly trim and wall texturing and painting). I say this not to toot my own horn, but to give inspiration to others, especially women, who want to tackle their own home building project.

A lot of family pitched in on the project, including my Dad, my ex-husband, and his dad. My former husband worked for (and still does) the fire department, where he had connections to other fire fighters that do subcontracting construction on the side. Lucky me! They didn't work for free, but for a very reasonable rate. A giant "THANKS!" to everyone that pitched in.

I definitely now have the "bug" and enthusiasm for small house building. Occasionally I find myself daydreaming about my next small house project. Maybe something more architecturally daring, or with an "alternative" building material like straw bale, next time is in order. Until then I've chosen to move into a tiny condo in Appleton while my son is still very young (8 now!) and being closer to his Montessori school and his friends is more important.

In putting together this site on small house building I'd like to share my journey of building my own house and inspire others to do the same. Once done it'll give you so much sense of pride and joy in your accomplishment... and your confidence to tackle anything else in life.

Thanks for stopping by!
Anne Lupton & family

Here's the house on 5/07. The house is 24' wide by 33' long (yes, 33 feet, I'm still kicking myself for not adding one more foot). Notice all the nice windows on the south face. the garage was started a couple years after the house, and turned out to be slightly bigger in footprint (26' by 36') than the house. In hindsight I should've built the garage first and lived in the upper part while the house was being built. I think that'll be the plan for the next house. Also notice the absence of neighbors. I was very lucky to find this one-acre piece in the middle of almost nowhere.

My son (the light of my life!) and I having a fun moment while raking leaves.

I'll keep adding pictures over time, but these couple will give you an idea of the house building project I talk about on these pages.

Building a house has also been a great experience for my son. He's gotten to see from day one what goes into building a small house. And now he's become inspired to become an architect-- I think very appropriate considering his love of math AND drawing. We'll see ;)