I'm tossing around all these ideas. Trying to figure out how we could get an affordable (cough, cough) house built. We both really, really love log homes, and if we build, that is what we want. But we would have to hire it done, dh just doesn't have the time (and frankly, I'd be a little worried about him doing it anyway! LOL. A builder he is not.) I am thinking about proposing this idea to dh:
Why not build the basement first, cap it off, and live in that until we can afford the rest? I mean, at least then I wouldn't have to worry about all the freaking lead paint and God knows what else in this house.
Has anyone ever done this? Did you go insane? I mean really, we only use 3 rooms in this house right now; the kitchen/family room, bathroom and bedroom. The rooms we live in now would easily fit in a basement.

edited for privacy

We have friends who did that when their daughter was a newborn. We visited and the space was great, about 24x40. They had all the traditional rooms you'd use in a typical house but instead of walls rooms were separated by furniture and shelving units for storage. They did have nails driven in across certain areas and sheets with grommets available to block an area off from view if necessary/desired (like the toilet).

They had a wood stove in the center of the space that kept things nice and toasty. I think they've now said if they had to do it over they would have also had radiant tubing laid in the basement floor to take a bit of the chill off the concrete.

It was a cozy space and got them out of the camper they had been living in while they waited for the house to be finished!

Good luck!

that would be cool!

even just to get the land...then water and electric

we've lived in a tipi...and a school bus, just to try it....
cloth diapering in a bus without running water just didn't last LOL

have you seen www.earthships.org ?

DH's dream home..LOL its built using old tires, cans and mud.

or yurts are cool if the climate is right and fairly cheap for a house...

and strawbale or rammed earth rock too...

OMG!!! What a freaking awesome idea. Our dream is to also buy some land and have a log home built. We were thinking buy some property with a mobile home and build when we could afford it. BUT I wander how much a basement would be. Hmmmm. I never ever thought of this. I even thought of building a garage/work shop and living in it. Now I am wandering if you can even have basements in CA. They don't have them here. I has basements growing up in the mid west but have yet seen one here. Hmmm. Dont mind me, thinking out loud. :) THanks for the idea!'