Finished House Picture (Views and Gardens Welcome)

[t.s]

the bay in the views is chaloklam bay, looking from the mae haad side toward bottle beach. in this pic you can see koh ma way behind us over the ridge.

the house is directly over ao hin ngam.

Take nothing away, it's wonderful... my only concern is - does it not frustrate on a hot afternoon having that beautiful expanse of sea in front of you, but no way of easily getting down for a swim?

there is a stairway to ao hin ngam below, but it is a trek back up. Mailibu beach, mae haad, and chaloklam are all literally 5 mins away. it really hasn't been an issue unless its scorching. high ceilings (3m) really help as does the constant breeze through the house.

as i mentioned we will convert the watertank on the roof to a to plunge pool.

we did not do a pool at the time of building out of environmental concerns, but will implement gray water recycling and rain collection systems, so it seems time.

i think it would be far more frustrating to be on a "seaview" property that is 5k from the beach in which the sea is only visible when the wind is moving the trees.

many have suggested a zipline!!!

it is also tsunami proof at about 100+ meters above sea leve

Edited January 29, 2010 by t.s

[villagefarang]

t.s

Lovely place. I like the fact that the interior does not compete with, or distract from, the beauty of the views. Do you have any salt spray problem that high up? We lived on the windward coast in Hawaii and there was a film on everything all the time. Played havoc with anything metal.

[t.s]

t.s

Lovely place. I like the fact that the interior does not compete with, or distract from, the beauty of the views. Do you have any salt spray problem that high up? We lived on the windward coast in Hawaii and there was a film on everything all the time. Played havoc with anything metal.

thanks, that was the idea.

and yes, it is like maintaining a boat. the railings will need replacing in a year or two as they were put in before hammerite was available in thailand.

we keep telling ourselves that if you have to have problems, the house is a good problem to have.

as an aside, i try to bring guests up after dark, their reactions are always gratifying, then they see the view in the morning.

Edited January 29, 2010 by t.s

[t.s]

i like it but the roof over the bike shed looks kind of odd.

[gorber]

3 br (2 up, 1dn), 4 bath, billiard room, western + Thai kitchens, dining, living room, etc. Cheers.

Your place looks great

I like your Thai style gazebo, was thinking of putting something like that in my place straddling a fish pond. Any advice for me?

Thanks. The "sala" was made by a local constructer using "old" wood, wagon wheels, etc. included fan and lights. But, it was about 30K delivered. They look simple enough to build but probably need tools that I don't have here. Anyway, you can find these things many parts of Thailand. I sent the wife to bargain as she's good at it and thus hopefully avoided the "farang price". Cheers.

Here is our sala. Specifically it is a some (rhyming with home).

It only cost 25,000 baht.

[Royspurs]

3 br (2 up, 1dn), 4 bath, billiard room, western + Thai kitchens, dining, living room, etc. Cheers.

Your place looks great

I like your Thai style gazebo, was thinking of putting something like that in my place straddling a fish pond. Any advice for me?

Thanks. The "sala" was made by a local constructer using "old" wood, wagon wheels, etc. included fan and lights. But, it was about 30K delivered. They look simple enough to build but probably need tools that I don't have here. Anyway, you can find these things many parts of Thailand. I sent the wife to bargain as she's good at it and thus hopefully avoided the "farang price". Cheers.

Here is our sala. Specifically it is a some (rhyming with home).

It only cost 25,000 baht.

Looks really nice Gorber! what about the maintenance on such detailed woodwork?

[GungaDin]

Here is our sala. Specifically it is a some (rhyming with home).

It only cost 25,000 baht.

Nice one gorber.

What timber do they use, old teak or something else?

cheers

[gorber]

Looks really nice Gorber! what about the maintenance on such detailed woodwork?

I don't really know yet. We don't live in Thailand and I bought it on our last trip in November. We will be out again in July for a month, so I will see how it has held up.

Nice one gorber.

What timber do they use, old teak or something else?

cheers

It looks like teak, but I am not an expert on these things. It is certainly solid, especially the main structural pieces.

cheers,

Andrew

[Shuguk]

Answer to post No 328......having problems trying to answer the usual way.

Hi again. Yes I have been back and located and fitted the flashings. Initially I was thinking of flashing just the gables but on my next visit (soon I hope) I will do the sides as well. I think it`s going to look ok.

The fruit trees are coming on fine with a loss of only 3 from about 40 trees/bushes. These have been replaced. You can now see the 4 lines of trees and again I think will look ok. Trimming I hope will take care of any height conflict, but really I am no gardener, fingers crossed cos I just want it all to look nice. Already mangoes and olives are giving fruit.......yea.

Only decision now is to decide what to do between the trees. I put down weed killer but as the ground is fairly flat maybe I should have just cut what was there and see what it looked like. Ha, mistake number 100 on this project.

The back of the house? I have given Mr security man the option to do what he wants and I think it will be vegetables.

What we have done is utilised the river and now have a `primative` watering system with the help of a portable pump. It works and that is the main thing, I am sure we can titivate and make it look better.

Shug.

When trying to send this post as a reply this comment showed up...."The number of opening and closing quote tags does not match. Please fix this to submit your post." What the heck does it mean?

[villagefarang]

So dragon fruit, mango, olive, some kind of palm and not sure about the rest. Looks like you got rid of the peppers. We found some things didn't do much the first year but started to take off after that.

I think things got messed up when you did an incomplete quote on #327. When I tried to quote you the normal quote function wouldn't work. If you don't want a complete quote you have to be careful to keep the very first and last quote markers and the ones related to your selection. All others can be deleted, usually.

Thanks for the update. Sorry I missed it earlier.

[Rimmer]

SNIP

When trying to send this post as a reply this comment showed up...."The number of opening and closing quote tags does not match. Please fix this to submit your post." What the heck does it mean?

Nice house, lovely views That really is the only kind of house to build in such a beautiful area isn't it?

If you have this problem with the code tags and can't fix it simply delete ALL the previously quoted text.

Then highlight and cut and paste the text you want to quote then use the editor box (little icon second from the right on top of your posting manager) to wrap your quote in new tags.

[tb86]

some more photos from today

[whiterussian]

Not my house. Down the road from my land. But one of the few farang houses I like the look of. Looks better when the rice fields are pea green. Mountain range both side front and back. Land probably only cost under a mill.

This is my humble land! What to do with the red bricks!? A walled garden maybe? My own observatory? A Yabba lab? Naam, do you fancy a real antique tobacco shed as a gazebo?

Buyer collects.

Rimmer, your garden. wow! Now I remember why I wanted to be rich! re: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/post-a81187-PondHouse.jpg.html

Most of the other houses... Kitschtastic!!!! My wifes collection of concrete toadstools and terra cotta kissing garden fairies would fit in perfectly.

Just need a farang flag waving from the gate

Edited March 28, 2010 by whiterussian

[villagefarang]

That is indeed an idilic house location and would be beautiful surrounded by lush green rice fields.

As for the tobacco shed, that is a keeper. You have only listed a few of the potential uses. I would get rid of those load speakers, though. Public nuisance and a health hazard.

[cdmtdm]

Not my house. Down the road from my land. But one of the few farang houses I like the look of. Looks better when the rice fields are pea green. Mountain range both side front and back. Land probably only cost under a mill.

This is my humble land! What to do with the red bricks!? A walled garden maybe? My own observatory? A Yabba lab? Naam, do you fancy a real antique tobacco shed as a gazebo?

Buyer collects.

What area are you in ??? looks nice and peaceful .............

Rimmer, your garden. wow! Now I remember why I wanted to be rich! re: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/post-a81187-PondHouse.jpg.html

Most of the other houses... Kitschtastic!!!! My wifes collection of concrete toadstools and terra cotta kissing garden fairies would fit in perfectly.

Just need a farang flag waving from the gate

[villagefarang]

Not my house. Down the road from my land. But one of the few farang houses I like the look of. Looks better when the rice fields are pea green. Mountain range both side front and back. Land probably only cost under a mill.

This is my humble land! What to do with the red bricks!? A walled garden maybe? My own observatory? A Yabba lab? Naam, do you fancy a real antique tobacco shed as a gazebo?

Buyer collects.

What area are you in ??? looks nice and peaceful .............

Rimmer, your garden. wow! Now I remember why I wanted to be rich! re: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/post-a81187-PondHouse.jpg.html

Most of the other houses... Kitschtastic!!!! My wifes collection of concrete toadstools and terra cotta kissing garden fairies would fit in perfectly.

Just need a farang flag waving from the gate

Looks like someone is having trouble with quoting and replying so I highlighted the new text. Apparently he is a six foot two, 99 year old male living in Chiang Mai.

Edited March 29, 2010 by villagefarang

[whiterussian]

Morning!

Oh it's a lovely area... It's outside of San Kamphaeng (Chiang Mai). Right next to National Parks. This is what is behind the mountain range behing the house... nothing...

If anybody does happen to need land outside CM, Houses, Hotels or even Hotels in Phuket, please PM me, as I will get a kickback from my real estate broker...

[villagefarang]

Our O-so-HISO light skinned Russian member surely lives in a beautiful area. I was just wondering. As the OP of this topic, do I get a percentage of the kickbacks?

[Naam]

latest garden pictures:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Naam-s-Pond-...01#entry3505301

[villagefarang]

latest garden pictures:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Naam-s-Pond-...01#entry3505301

Beautiful garden. Well worth a look.

[unsuredebra]

Been looking at all pics, some beautiful houses here..

Does anyone know of a rough guide to building costs in Phuket per sq metre or a starting point, we had our house built but got ripped off thru the build then the 2nd one she was good but seemed over priced we were desperate position, but she was recommended

The first builder was going to do the shell, we had to buy roof tiles, windows, fittings inside and paint, then in the price was labour, cant remember of hand how much he quoted for this.. we are debating about having another house built so are looking around at the moment.

Has anyone had a house built in phuket and would they recommend their builder.

Two good builders I know of are DCM and Roof Co and work to western standard, any others.

Kind Regards

[steelepulse]

We used the architectural firm Roof for the drawing, then a contractor that was working out of the same office. They did a job and were thorough, though not cheap, but that's what we wanted.

[villagefarang]

If you can avoid the ripoff artists, then you generally get what you pay for. Go for cheap and you get cheap. Sometimes the more expensive guy will end up costing you less, in the way of both money and headaches.

Above all, keep your cool. Abusive rants will often lead to devious retribution down the road.

[pwm]

My fiance's parents new house. Wall/gate still being completed, then plenty of landscaping to do, but the house itself is now liveable.

3 bedroom, 1 bathroom, open living room and kitchen (western style).

Basic idea is the house is for privacy and strictly close family only. Current house (shack) for Thai-style cooking and general hanging around is behind.

Regards,

Pat.

[villagefarang]

My fiance's parents new house. Wall/gate still being completed, then plenty of landscaping to do, but the house itself is now liveable.

3 bedroom, 1 bathroom, open living room and kitchen (western style).

Basic idea is the house is for privacy and strictly close family only. Current house (shack) for Thai-style cooking and general hanging around is behind.

Regards,

Pat.

Thanks for getting us back to house pictures. Will you be living there too?

[pwm]

Thanks for getting us back to house pictures. Will you be living there too?

Only when I go to visit (few days every couple of months), although one of the bedrooms is nominally for myself and my fiance. The place is in Surin (about 30km North from Sangkha) and I live in Bangkok.

The construction went very well, I have to say - I would have recommended the builder to others, but unfortunately he succumbed to liver disease just before Songkran and passed away . Given the Thai propensity to superstition about such things, we're "lucky" my better half and her family had told him to stop work prior. Apparently, if he'd died while actually working on the job, it could have attached some bad juju to the building and nobody would have been able to live in it...

Anyway, it's a basic mostly Thai-style design, with just a couple of changes submitted by yours truly (high ceilings, in particular), but I'm pretty pleased with the result, as are the future in-laws. The fact that it's remained tolerably cool inside through April without aircon is a bonus.

Regards,

Pat.

[flying]

My fiance's parents new house. Wall/gate still being completed, then plenty of landscaping to do, but the house itself is now liveable.

3 bedroom, 1 bathroom, open living room and kitchen (western style).

Basic idea is the house is for privacy and strictly close family only. Current house (shack) for Thai-style cooking and general hanging around is behind.

Regards,

Pat.

Very nice !

I like the details... Soffits, nice roof work,cupola, foundation work & more.... Nice

I am guessing with the cupola you have high/open beam style ceilings?

Would love to see a floor plan if you have one handy.

[l4gtimes]

<br />

yeah, maybe a little bit each floor is 2000m x 4 one floor is the parking/storage so i guess useable space is really more like 6000, its huge man been under const non stop for 3.5 yrs now about 6 months out now we hope in the pictures you can only see the front entrance . ill take more of the building when all the coverings come down,

<br /><br />Thats nuts !!! <br /><br />I mean square feet sure 8000 sqft is still nearly 800sqm and would be comfortably large.. But 8000 sqm ?? Nuts !! must be like >20 bedrooms to fill it. I was in a 12 bedroom place that had library's, guestwings and major space and IIRC that was 1600m and thats only 1/5th of this size.<br /><br />I mean the white house in the US is about 5000 sqm.. So its 50% larger than that !! <br /><br />The most expensive house in the USA at 150 million USD is Aaron Spellings uber mansion.. at 56000 sqft or just over 5000 sqm.. This huge thing <br /><br /><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_61djkGwfEZo/Sc5xUqffSEI/AAAAAAAAD-0/8o3c9oTSAVw/s1600/SpellingManor_AER.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /><br /><br />and your building something about 60% larger than that !! More than half again of this size !! The US's most expensive house !! I am amazed.. <br /><br />What do you need that size for ?? Entire (large) hotels are smaller than that..<br />

<br /><br /><br />

[l4gtimes]

<br />ok so im off then 24,000 feet sorry im wrong, bring on the insults.... i deserve it.... dont know why i thought 24000/3 = 8000 sqm<br /><br />well here are some pics i just took of the model the origional pics were just a sliver of the house<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Well, this thread certainly gives an open forum to the pretentious amongst us does it not???

[villagefarang]

ok so im off then 24,000 feet sorry im wrong, bring on the insults.... i deserve it.... dont know why i thought 24000/3 = 8000 sqmwell here are some pics i just took of the model the origional pics were just a sliver of the house

Well, this thread certainly gives an open forum to the pretentious amongst us does it not???

As we approach 35,000 page views I am heartened by the overall tone of this Topic. Those with abundance and those with a little less have rubbed shoulders nicely. The smaller dwellings have often been received more warmly that the larger ones. We have also done quite well without labels or condemnation up to now and hope it continues that way.

Show us your place. I'm sure it would add to our knowledge base.