The House of Jobe: Erica's experience making a home with DEN plans

1. Introduction

Mike: We can start with an intro. Uh who do we have on this podcast? Who's the special guest? 

Erica: This is Jimmy Dean sausage. 

Mike: Amazing. And Jimmy Dean is what kind of dog? 

Erica: He's a 12 pound long haired English cream dachshund. That's a tongue twister, say that five times as fast as you can, but name's fitting; Jimmy Dean sausage.

Get it?

Mike: Amazing. Well done. Well done. 

Erica: Oh, you know, you gotta run with it. Maybe there'll be a Nathan's in the future. I don't know. 

Mike: Ah! 

Erica: But he's the guard dog. He was a big, he was pretty much project manager. Um, Jimmy Dean. Yeah. 

2. Erica's Background and Journey to Building

Mike: Well, for, for folks who are going to listen to this, um, what's really, really cool about this interview is that Erica, uh, who's about to introduce herself.

Like -we've known each other for years at this point, you know, like when DEN first got up off the ground, before she had property. You know, when like this was just a pipe dream, uh, and, you know, now, several years later, we get an opportunity to check back in on the project. So with that can you introduce yourself and tell us who you are, which DEN design you built and where you built it? 

Erica: Ok! So yeah, originally from North Carolina. Greensboro, North Carolina. Grew up with a family of builders. Everyone's a builder, um, on the Jobe side of the family and yeah, I guess it runs in the blood... yeah, after 15 plus years of DJ'ing, I kind of want to transition into building, remodeling, I've already remodeled a home and Airbnb'd that and sold it and did... fairly well, which helped me to do this project with you. 

Like I said, I grew up in North Carolina in the country, and I just kind of wanted to go back to my roots. Love North Carolina, but it's too far from New York City. Really want New York City to be tangible, you know, via trains, two hours, as you, as you know, I think you're up in this area, um, through Hudson and yeah... found four and a half acres near Cairo, New York, and started, yeah, started the process. Took the proceeds from selling my house in Perlink, and just dove right in. Uh, probably the scariest thing I've ever done, uncertainty. Uh, but you know when you really want something and you can feel, like... I'd already, even when I spoke to you a hundred years ago, but like, 'hey, how do you do... how does this work?'

You're like, 'well, you need land'. Okay, yeah, okay, land. My list. It's like so funny. But even when I spoke to you, I'd already seen this house. I'd already decorated. I already, I knew where the couch was going to go. I knew, like I lived in it. It even had a smell, like I guess that's manifesting. Um, yeah, so I believed, even though it was challenging, that it was going to, it was going to happen.

Oh, and the plan I picked, um, yeah, a thousand square foot A-Frame. What's the exact model? 

Mike: I think it's the A-Frame house. 

Erica: It's one of the OG plans . The reason I wanted the thousand square foot A-Frame, it's just not a lot of maintenance.

Like, it's really, really easy to clean, take care of, the energy bill has been awesome. You don't need a big house. It's just me, you know, it's just Jimmy Dean and I. It's just great for me or I think it would be awesome for like even a couple and like a kid. 

Mike: On that note, who are you? What's your name? 

Erica: Oh, who am I? Oh, that's right. Erica Jobe. 

Mike: Awesome. Awesome. So we have another A-Frame house that's like not too far from you. Have you ever ever visited Potsy and his project? 

Erica: No, but we need to be buddies like immediately. 

Mike: Yeah. Cause you, you both have designed, you know, designed and built A-Frame homes that are within like, I don't know, probably like 15, 20 minutes away from each other.

Um. 

Erica: That's awesome. 

3. Why Build an A-Frame

Mike: Awesome. So you've renovated a house. You come from a family of builders, right? As you approached this project, what made you decide to build something from the ground up versus, you know, potentially just buying like another renovation project?

Like, why did you want to do something brand new? 

Erica: Awesome question. So the house that I had previously purchased was built in 19, no, 18, geez, 1885 or 1880. And it needed a lot of work. It was fun to gut renovate it, but you're like, I just feel like you're just constantly just fixing someone else's problem, I guess, which is fine.

But there was just so much work and I'm like, I just want something brand new that I created. I know where the septic tank is. I know where the well is. I know where every little thing, if anything goes wrong in my house, I was there from day one. You know, I got the lights turned on. Like I know. I know my land, I know my property, I know my house, like, you know, inside and out, literally.

Then I can make it, I really enjoy interior designing, so I can make it my own, you know, the floors, the furniture, the tile, like, I really enjoyed just, that was my, once I got inside the house, I was like, heck yeah, man, party on, like, this is my jam, picking out the wallpaper, and it was just, so much fun.

Not all of it's fun, but, it's rewarding, you know? 

Mike: What drew you to the A-Frame house, like besides it's sizing? What about the design was really exciting or attractive to you? 

Erica: I love all the windows. Like it's, I mean, you can kind of see behind me, but I mean, there's just constant light coming in.

Like I'm inside, but I feel like... I've got four and a half acres. Like I said, I feel like I'm connected to... there's always deer walking around and Jimmy Dean probably just saw one. Also my grandparents had an A-Frame guest house at their beach home. So I just like the open design.

Yeah, just feels very open and airy and I don't feel claustrophobic in here. And.... just, even though it's small that feels like there's just so much space. And the pitch is amazing because you'll never have to worry about leaks with the snow 

Mike: And what's what's your favorite room in the house? 

Erica: Oh, man, that's tough... Hmm probably my bedroom because it's up in the loft and I chose to do tempered glass. And so when I lay in bed, I mean, I literally look out over... I have these fields... um, behind my house and I just get to look out over the fields and there's always deer, there's always animals... and there's just no obstruction between just laying in your warm, comfy bed, cup of coffee in the morning, and.... you know, nature's taking place. It's really cool. 

Mike: That's awesome. So you bought like one of our OG designs, right? Like, how did the plans help you in terms of like steering you towards building the project and like, how did the plans help you find a builder and start to understand, you know, like how much the project would even cost?

Erica: Yeah. I had a builder from the very beginning, um, a general contractor and he followed the plans for the most part. Let's just say it didn't work out in the end and you're going to die when I tell you this. I had gone to Mexico and I came back and he added a master bathroom in my loft.

I think my head exploded and I'm like, I called it a tumor. I said, 'rip that, get that off of my house'. Plus that wouldn't even, um, [have] passed code. So I got another fella, and I mean, I was like, I guess the project manager and the GC at this point moving forward after that experience. Um, and the plans really helped guide my subcontractors.

They're like, 'oh, do you want this? Oh, this won't work. Let's do this or let's do that'. They'd want to start going rogue or doing their own thing. And I'm like, 'I need you to follow the plans exactly'. I mean, I changed a couple things, that I thought would work better for me and especially in the, in the northeast winter.

But yeah, the plans helped the subcontractors to make the house look exactly like, I mean, there's no, I mean, you wrote everything out. Everything's like, it might, you know, it's like Legos, you know, it's like, 'okay, this goes there. That goes...' Like, it's very, uh, what's the word I'm looking for...

Yeah. It was just drawn out and written out very, very direct. Like this is, this is what I want. Like do this. And I also love that you guys even were like, 'these are really good hardwood floors and these appliances and we recommend, you know, these mini splits or whatever'. I like that there was a lot of guidance once you got inside the house of, of what you guys recommended.

And a full blown HVAC system, like, um, yeah, just a conduit outside and forced air and a heat pump all in one system. It actually, it was, ended up coming out less expensive than the mini splits. 

Mike: Oh, wow. That's cool. 

4. Challenges in Construction

Mike: So you mentioned that you kind of switched general contractors, like mid process, right? Like what has been your favorite part of starting and realizing this project 

Erica: Favorite part in starting? Yes. Let's see.

Mike: Favorite part of the construction journey. 

Erica: Well, my favorite part is definitely the fact that I could choose everything, like the floors, the countertops, the tile, I wanted a metal... black metal roof on the A-Frame. And it sits, it's way, way, way, way back in the property, so it's kind of hidden from the road and, um, you know, I got to choose LP, I think it's LP, LP siding, which is similar, it's wood, but it lasts a little better than actual, wood would.

That's the word. And I did board and batten, dark charcoal color. So I enjoyed all the decision making for the house that was going to be, you know, the home that I'm going to live in. Um, that was my favorite part. 

Mike: That's cool. That's really cool. Um, it's interesting because, uh, I would say most of the people that, that I interview, uh, they're like, I'm so happy that all of those decisions were largely made for us in the dead zones.

That-

Erica: I'm gonna do all of that- 

Mike: And, you know, obviously, like, construction is, uh, oftentimes, you know, challenged by various issues. Like, what has been your least favorite part of the construction journey and, and what happened? 

Erica: Yeah, so my least favorite part is, um, just trying to find really good people.

Honest, hardworking people. That was really, really challenging because all the really good guys, they're booked up for like two years. Like I told you that I added a... a basement. Um, yeah, I'm going to go ahead and book the top, top people two years from now. Like I will wait, and they're expensive, doesn't matter.

Like, the quality and the honesty. Um, yeah, that was, that was the hardest part, is finding good people and that's the main thing I learned, please share this with everyone. Do not give deposits, no deposits. The amount of time I gave some nice deposits for stuff and, uh, yeah, they'd never come back.

Yeah. I mean, we all have our, that horror- everybody's got that friend. 'Oh when they remodeled their kitchen, blah, blah, blah'. So when I, to move forward really quick, when I moved on, after two not so good contractors then I decided to subcontract and just finish it myself. I'm the freaking GC at this point.

I've had it. And my rule is no money up front. So I interviewed a couple people and subs and whatnot. 'Oh, well, to start that project, I'm going to need half up front. And if you got cash, that's even better'. And I'm like, 'I bet it is' at this point. I'm like, um, 'No, uh, you do the work, you get paid on Fridays'.

And then when I found people that were okay with that, I'm like, 'hey, I respect the way you do business. And if that doesn't work for you, then thank you for your time'. I was very, very... strict about 'no more deposits, no money up front. You get paid on Fridays'. Yeah. What do you know? The house got built and no more money was, you know, taken.

Mike: Yeah. Wow. That's a really, really cool tip from someone who, uh, ended up GC' ing their own project. You also mentioned before we started the interview that you are going to school for interior design. Is that right? 

Erica: Yes. Yeah. So it's, so all of my applications are in, I'm just waiting on my high school transcript to arrive.

That's all by March 1st. Um, it's funny calling my high school and asking for transcripts when I'm 44 and I graduated 99, I'm like, man, I didn't think I'd be calling a random in high school all these years [later]. I feel like a dinosaur. 

5. Erica's Design Choices and Inspirations

Mike: You must have like a broad, you know, like a broad set of inspirations, from a design perspective.

So outside of DEN, where do you draw inspiration from, from an architecture or interior perspective? 

Erica: Best question ever. Okay. So I'm obsessed with Martin Brudnizki, probably butchering his name. Um, he is a Swedish designer. I think he's got, I know he's got an office in New York. Now I've never met him or anything, but I'm very, very, very inspired by him.

He did the hotel in New York, the Fifth Avenue hotel. Definitely look it up. Google it. He's so colorful, um, and brings different, like, you'll see like, you know, a tiger print next to a tribal print and it actually, somehow, it works. There's a lot of texture. I know it's visually, it's just very, it's stimulating to, to be in, in the spaces that he's created.

And I like Kit Kemp a lot. She did... the, um, the Crosby street Hotel, the Whitby Hotel, again, just not afraid of colors and just kind of, I guess, drawing outside with the lines, so. And my step mom, she's always done, hopefully this is in the interview, she'd like this. Uh, she's, um, yeah, she's an inspiration.

I love, I've always loved her style. It's a bit of a, a country, kind of modern style. Um, yeah, so yeah, I don't know, just, just following different designers. Uh, traveling the world, you know, I remember I was DJ'ing, so all seven continents I've been to. So I've definitely seen a lot of... a lot of hotels. 

Mike: That's awesome.

Erica: A lot of areas, but yeah, the Martin  Brudnizki is just, yeah, he makes my head explode. And most of my house is West Elm and Anthropologie. I like Anthropologie Home a lot as well. 

Mike: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I would probably characterize Martin  Brudnizki work as, as very maximalist, you know?

Erica: It's cool, right? It's so fun. 

Mike: I mean, yeah, super, super colorful, super textured. How have you incorporated this kind of affinity towards like texture and color in your DEN?

Erica: Yeah. I kept it pretty safe as far as the walls go. I use a beige kind of color and then alabaster white for my trim and stuff. Um, but then the bathroom I had a lot of fun with, I used, um, uh, RIAD, they're mainly Moroccan tiles, R I A D, and just kind of had fun in the bathroom.

Um, and again, Anthropologie... light fixtures and vanity. Uh, one of the pieces looks like it came straight out of Indonesia from Bali, which probably [is] my favorite place in the world. And then the wallpaper is super cool. I've got to find the name of the company. ASK. Anyways, that's, that's a whole story of how I acquired this wallpaper.

It's called drunken monkey wallpaper. It's a really good story. The designer ended up sending it to me for free from London. 

Mike: Oh, wow. Cool. 

Erica: Such a cool story, but it's literally monkeys sitting in trees, drinking martinis, smoking, you know, cigars, there's bras hanging on trees, but it all matches... kind of everything in the bathroom and it's just, I don't know, it's just fun.

Erica: So I thought, you know, as far as resale goes, I want to keep it somewhat safe, so I think my basement, I'm probably going to get a little crazy and when I remodel it, like I'm going to, I'm going to step outside the box and get really colorful dark walls or paneled or whatever, I'm going to have some fun.

It's always been kind of my family, like my father will build a house and then two years later, somebody's knocking on the door that they want to buy it and then he'll sell it and build another one. So you kind of want to keep things, I guess, safe.

Mike: Yeah, sure, sure. We, uh, we currently also do not have a Tiki Bar, uh, in, uh, in like our, our design roadmap, uh, so. Right, 

Erica: Gotta get a Tiki Bar, you gotta get some disco balls. 

6. Life in the A-Frame

Mike: Hell, yeah. So another question: like, how has living in this house, in this DEN, like changed your day to day life.

Erica: Hmm. Oh, it's great. So, you know, I lived in the city 18 years and I left, I did not renew my lease last March, to move into this house, but of course it wasn't ready because of the circumstances. So I bought a 2023 flying cloud Airstream, which is currently parked on the property. It's so cool. And I'm going to Airbnb that by the way.

So, uh, yeah, just the days are just... oh, so sorry. I got sidetracked. I cook more now, more cooking. Before, when I lived in New York city, always take out or, you know, I would do like a meal plan, like Sakara life, which is really good and clean. And I noticed I'm here in this.... got this kitchen and you know, I and I'm still like ordering, you know meal delivery service.

I'm like 'forget this', So I actually go to farmers markets in Hudson and get my ingredients, make fresh salads every day, trout's super popular here, so I'm always eating trout. I'm pescatarian, so I cook all the time. I make I make the best banana bread. Banana walnut bread. This is thawing out now and had that for breakfast.

So um... I feel like the days are longer. You know, I don't know, time feels like it's slowed down a little bit since I got here. 

Mike: That's really cool. 

Erica: Yeah, and I've got an outdoor sauna. It's uh, from Canada. It's the Barrel Sauna. So I have my Peloton. I call it my ma'am cave for now. My basement's my ma'am cave.

Not the man cave, the ma'am cave. Got my Peloton down there. Jimmy Dean actually has a treadmill. I know, I know. It's insane. Yeah. I've got my DJ equipment down there in one corner. So like, it's a fun, there's a fun hangout area. I work out. I just rode my Peloton this morning. Jimmy ran on his treadmill.

So. It's just, I don't know. It's just good. I feel like an adult. 

Mike: Amazing. Amazing. Well- 

Erica: I don't know. 

Mike: You know, with, with the new school coming up, hopefully, hopefully we'll get back some more childlike wonder.

7. Lessons learned in the Building Process

Mike: If you could, you know, wave a magic wand and change one thing about the whole process of building this house, what would it be?

Erica: Oh man, I think I already answered that. I would not have given anyone money up front. 

Mike: Gotcha. Gotcha. 

Erica: That's it. That's what kind of kicked me in the butt, in the end. I'm like, 'oh man', now moving forward, you know what? Okay. I'm saying that. And then I'm really thinking I'm like, but if that had not happened, I would not have... done, you know, all of this, I wouldn't have seen it all come together. You know, you're just writing checks to the GC and he's just doing stuff and asking you kind of your input here and there, but when you're like the one doing it, like I'm the one hiring the spray foam guy for R-49 closed cell, why do I even know what that means?

I know. Crazy, but I learned that because I had to, it's like, 'hey kid, can you swim', bam off the diving board and the deep end, and guess what? The kid can swim. So that's kind of... So maybe, I don't know, do I regret it financially? Yeah, it hurt a little bit, but I'm like, man, I learned more in these past few months that I could have learned in 10 years.

8. Advice for Future Builders

Mike: Amazing. Amazing. So besides this like really great tip, on like, don't put down project deposits... If you had a friend, well -so also I just, I saw that you like introduced us to one of your friends who's like, thinking about doing, doing the project as well. So this is like our, maybe our last question of the interview and very appropriate, right?

So if you had a friend who was thinking about building their own DEN home, what would you tell them? What words of wisdom would you share? 

Erica: I would say don't rush it. Do your homework, do your due diligence and find a good contractor. And they're going to be booked up probably for a year or so.

That's okay. Sit on your land, sit on your property for a little bit, but get, just get the good guys in. And it's going to go probably... seamlessly. Like it's going to go really, really well. 

Mike: Awesome. Awesome. 

Erica: Or you can hire me and I'll crack the whip and you know, Jimmy Dean will bite ankles and we'll get it done. But...

Mike: Do you want to finish the interview with plugging Erica Jobe, general contracting services?

Erica: Yeah, maybe. I know I don't have any, I need an LLC first. 

9. Final Reflections on the Project

Mike: Awesome. Uh, is there anything else that you want to ask or, uh, tell us before we finish up? 

Erica: Let me see. Oh, yes. Um, so I have this little, this little journal that you write down, there's seeds, like, you know, drawn seeds, and so you plant, you write in the seed of what you want, and then next page, you plant the seed.

It's like a manifestation journal that I had years ago, and as I'm packing up my apartment in New York City, to move here, I find that journal. So I open it, and I'm thumbing through it, and I'm like, 'Oh, that's so cute, little Erica, look at all her little dreams'. And I'm looking at it, I'm like, man, this stuff has actually come true.

And then I read in one of the little seeds, one day I'm gonna have an A-Frame. 

Mike: Oh, amazing. 

Erica: Bam! 

Here we are. 

Mike: Woo! Uh, yeah. This is, I mean, for me, this is like one of the best parts of running this business, getting to talk to folks like you and hearing stories like that. It's crazy. It's crazy that, that my livelihood is based on making these dreams come true.

Erica: That's awesome. 

Yeah. Yeah. 

Mike: Hell yeah. Well, Erica, um, on behalf of the whole team at DEN, thank you so much, for spending some time with me today and for endeavoring to build this project. I'm so happy that it turned out great for you. I'll end the interview right there.