Operation Freedom Forty

So, this is what operation freedom forty looks like people.  Our new house is located nearby the fishing village of Salinas Grandes, which is on the coast of Northern Nicaragua just about a 25 minute drive into the city of Leon.  

We were told in December that our house would be turn key move in ready in February. Looks like we'll be moving in next week!   Don't worry we never believed for a second we'd be closing on this house in 60 days from that day in early December.  We are in fact aiming to move in this fall for the entire winter. 

We are having a zinc roof put on the house.  The metal framing is complete and the zinc will follow hopefully in the next two weeks. The zinc will be covered by a layer of clay tiles. (Seen in the previous post.) The ends of the clay will be filled in with cement to keep the bats and lizards OUT! The inside of the roof will be lined with cane which looks really nice when complete. The cane itself is treated to detract bugs before it is hung.  Any metal framing will be covered with wood and then stained a natural colour.  

Front entrance of the house.  We will build a dip pool out front here. The water will help cool the house.

Nothing moves quickly when building a house in any country.  This house began in early October. The house is only 900 square feet.  If you look closely at  the photo above you can see the workmen are beginning to smooth the walls under and around the windows.

Side view of the house. Ocean to the left.

We have plans to add natural fencing down our lot lines comprised of short palm trees for shade and privacy and cactus for security.  These plants are native to this area and once we are down there living we can spend the time to keep them watered so they will establish.

Other side of the house with side door.  The outdoor bathroom & shower will go on this side.

We have seen plans and actually stayed in a hotel with an outdoor shower that drained into the root bed of the tree which was within the privacy wall of the outdoor bathroom.  We have definite plans to work with a similar model for our second bath.

Of course Big Daddy P has been researching solar power for the hot water heater in the shower and to add to along the line so that we can support the electricity to power the house. Electricity in Nicaragua can be spotty and is very expensive. Besides that, we like the idea of existing off grid as much as possible. 

We have left a large portion of our lot on the back side of the house undeveloped at this time. We want to see how life in Nicaragua will unfold for us before we commit to building anything more. If all is working out great then a two car garage with a full two bedroom two bathroom suite with 360 degree views of the ocean and volcanos will be built on top of the garage as our main living space. That will leave the little house as a full time rental and to house our guests. 

Given that we've bought and built on a kick ass surf break and we are only 2km to Puerto Sandino surf break we anticipate a lot of visitors and a healthy rental return on our investment!