Isabella, Bullock & Company variation on Gideon's Cabin

Updated Topology Pics 11/12/2002

Cottage on Canyon Creek, Bullock & Company variation on Gideon's Cabin

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On Saturday, July 15, 2000 I took a drive up to Clear Lake to look at various pieces of property and homes, with the intention that I might enjoy having another home which I could use as a remote office and the family could use for a vacation home.

I only found out about Clear Lake (aside from seeing it on the map) a few days previous to my drive up there, but have gone through a lot of the maps of Northern California. Most of the lakes have Government or State property around them, meaning that you cannot own land, or build homes on it in most cases, unless you get a Government lease (about 99 years typically). Clear Lake is however the largest natural lake in California, with most of the land being privately owned. There is some State owned land, as there one or two State Parks located at Clear Lake.

3 months later, on Monday, September 18, 2000, the property was recorded in my wife and my names, so we did manage to purchase it to build a second home on. Where we go from here is unknown, but with some patience I am certain that we can have our home.

After meeting with Carolee Dennet of Lakefront Properties, located at the golf course in Buckingham Park, I was attracted to the following lot. It has all the utilities run to the property, ready to build on. There is electricity, water, and cable TV. A septic tank would be required in this area to build a home on as there is no sewer on the west side of Clear Lake. Most improtant for me is the availability of cable modem in Buckingham Park. Broadband internet is a must for my work.

As a bonus, this property has 90 feet of lakefront footage, with the ability to build a dock and/or pier. It's quite a ways down to the water with large oak trees, but a path can be created as other lakefront owners have done in the past, some using golf carts to drive up and down the hillside. Our first problem will be to build a house. It gets plenty windy at Clear Lake, and a sailboat will be a lot of fun to have up there.

The above picture is of the lakefront side of the property. The only thing limiting the view on this property to the lakefront side are trees that belong to the property. This is a view of the upper lake portion of Clear Lake.

Here is the same view taken from the neighbor's yard, where they have cleared the trees out. This one view is spectacular, but the property has great views from most sides,

The above picture is taken from the property but facing lower lake. With minimal height it will be possible to get views on most sides of this property.

The above picture is taken of the street side, overlooking a golf course. This view is just to the right as the previous picture looking over lower lake.

This is the last view of Mt. Konocti, one of the great views of Clear Lake. You can see my son and daughter sitting on the property if you look closely, they are dwarfed in this picture.

I have had a dream about owning a home on a lake. I love to sail and there is nothing more convenient as to having your own boat at your own dock, located at your home...I previously lived at Lake Sherwood, in Southern California, and since have had this dream, but now it is about to be put in motion to possibly come true!

I was really busy with my work at this time, but managed to get away from work on July 22, 2000 as I wanted to see the property once again that I put a bid in for. Here are a few pictures from that day.

The above picture shows the golf course more clearly, and this is one of the homes below my property on the street side.

The above picture was taken from the golf course below and the home on the right is the roof in the previous picture . As you can see the home is much larger than it looks from the roof!

The above picture is the street side of the property, it's elevated with a large flat area to build on and a fairly steep slope down to the lake. This is the driveway on the right side.

The following pictures were taken on October 7, 2000 which is the first time to visit the property since the deed was recorded in our names (me and my wife). I met the people that own the house next door, a cute barn home. The owners were real nice and use the home as a second home also. They were kind enough to take me out on their boat and showed me our property from the lakeside. This was the first time to really be able to see where my property actually was.

Here is a picture of the property taken from the lake. On the top left you can see a house roof, and to the right of that a clearing. The top of the clearing is where the photo was taken from the neighbors property. The previous owner fenced off an area so that the deer would not eat his garden.

Here is a similar picture taken closer to the shore. The large pine tree near the top left is the same large pine tree in the picture of the neighbors property. This is one of the landmarks to use for spotting the property from the lake. The other large tree next to it and the two large trees next to it, are on my property.

Here is a shot of Horseshoe Bay from Soda Bay road,

This photo was taken over towards Soda Bay, from the lake. This is a cedar home which fits the setting very well. Until seeing this, I hadn't thought about a log home, but am now hoping to build one.

Here is a picture of a typical pier with dock. Most docks have boat lifts to keep the boats out of the water. This keeps the algae off the boats. Here is a powerboat and a sailboat, a setup like I hope to build.

Here is another pier and dock with a powerboat.

This Somewhere along Horseshoe Bay. Notice the lava rock, the water line is about 6-8 feet below the high water mark (white line on lava rock).

The following homes have been visited during my investigation to find a builder. Click on the pictures to show a page with detailed pictures of each home.

Isabella, Grass Valley, CA

Tim Bullock built and designed. This is a variation on Gideon's Cabin. Such a beautiful home, it's made my mind up for me, and I've found the builder that will design and build my home for me.

Cottage at Canyon Creek, Glenwood Springs, CO

Tim Bullock built and designed. This is a variation on Gideon's cabin, and quite a bit different than Isabella. Another beautiful Bullock & Company masterpiece!

Portola Valley, CA

Gem Lake design, built by Pioneer Log Homes, sister company of Rocky Mountain Log Homes. This is their handcrafted division and this style is a full round log with chinking.

Foresthill, CA

Custom design from Pacific Log Homes in British Columbia, Canada

Upper Lake, CA (at Clear Lake)

Built by Homestead Log Homes in Oregon.

Kelseyville, CA (at Clear Lake)

A milled home from Heartbilt Homes, Inc.

Topology pics of my property at Clear Lake.