I had this idea to turn the whole house into a jack-o-lantern. I picked up some poster board at the grocery store, and the boys and I blocked out the windows. 7yo designed the teeth, carefully sketching them on paper before getting out the ruler and scissors.
I wonder if we’ll do this every year.
Happy Halloween!

Last September, David and I finally made our plans official: we called a few contractors and started getting bids based on the hundred-fifty-something draft we had created using the Better Homes and Gardens software. After multiple calls and interviews, we settled on Ace Bridwell and his company, Superior Renovations.
Within a few weeks, we sat down with a loan officer at our bank and discussed construction loans, an alternative to a home equity line of credit.
The next year moved fast…
We got married in October.
We went to Germany in November.
In December, we finalized our designs and moved out of Erwin House.
In January, we signed the bid with our contractor and closed on the construction loan with our bank.
On February 1st, the demolition of Erwin House began. And so did its rebirth.
In the meantime, I finished my Master’s degree, accepting the university President’s Award in April and my diploma in May.
We watched our house grow along side my belly. The belly won the race, and our daughter was born in the rental on June 17th.
We moved out of the rental at the end of July, and into Erwin House in August.
And after multiple rounds with University Federal Credit Union (aka Hakuna Matata), we finally worked out all of the kinks in September, making our first official Erwin House mortgage payment in October.
What a wild and crazy ride.
David and I have discussed continuing to design homes for others, using our unique aesthetic and understanding of usable, efficient spaces. We’ve been asked to help guide the remodel of a Stenger home in west Austin, and we’re looking forward to seeing it mature.
There are still plenty of projects to work on here at Erwin House. We’ve not yet installed the ModTile backsplash in the kitchen, and the speakers and stereo have not yet been connected to the whole-house wiring. We have shower curtains to hang and pictures to frame. There is plenty to keep us busy.
But the bulk of this project is behind us. And the truth is that we are ready to move on to other projects. I have a book to finish and a marathon to run. David has some much-needed waterskiing to catch up on, and we interrupted his voice and piano lessons to, well, build a house and have a baby.
We are so pleased that we have been able to share all of this with you. Your support, suggestions, experience, and senses of humor helped make this so much more fun than we anticipated!
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be working on changing the ErwinHouse.com interface to make it a more accessible reference for those who drop by. We don’t plan to continue updating daily like we used to; there just isn’t that much going on here. Of course, we will update our Flickr streams as new stuff is completed… and we’ll be keeping a close eye on all of YOUR projects.
So, from all of us here to all of you out there, thank you — and good luck!
David Erwin and Christiane Woodley Erwin
October 2006