The Making of Maker Farm

An update on how things are going with our big studio build project on Maker Farm!

It’s been just a little over one month since we started our big Maker Farm studio build project, where we’ve set out to build a large, custom-designed barn/studio on our nearly 100 acre land we recently purchased. You’ve been asking us how it’s going and we have updates!

The foundation for the new studio is in, the steel supports are up, and the first wall frames went in today. Now that it is taking shape in the field, it’s becoming so much more real and exciting. We can see the size and shape of rooms, the views from doors and windows, and about how it will look against the trees.

That said, it hasn’t been all unicorns and rainbows over here. We had some issues with the foundation, and the studio location had to be moved a bit to the south and west to relocate it to a slightly higher elevation with better soil. This move cost us extra, so we’re working on finding ways to cut back in other areas to compensate. For example, I think our driveway will just be gravel now, rather than asphalt. But hey, we can always do asphalt later down the road.

The plumbing that goes through the foundation is also done, and you can now see the general shape of the studio. This area here is the front, this is the back, and the large room you see here is what we’re currently calling the workshop, and it’s where we’ll be recording new videos for JenniferMaker once it is complete. The smaller rooms on the sides are for storage of supplies and tools, offices, a nice big kitchen and laundry room, and a great room, or multipurpose room, with a fireplace and stairs that lead to a huge loft.

The steel supports for the loft went up in mid March and really show how high our studio’s ceilings will be, which we requested to accommodate our special equipment. It was really cool to watch them put the supports in place. They were braced to make sure they didn’t budge while the concrete was continuing to cure.

Today they started putting the wall frames into position. They constructed them on the ground, then lifted them into position, then braced them. You can really get a sense of the size of our studio with the walls in place… it’s big! The framers are doing a great job!

I also think our builders, AR Brouwer, are doing an excellent job! They’ve been updating us every step of the way and are very efficient. I’m super impressed with how well the build is going!

Our cameras are also doing well at helping us capture the build. We’ve got the drone up and recording things whenever something interesting is going on. We use a DJI Mavic 3 Pro and we’ve been really impressed at how close we can get. And we have a special camera pointed at the build 24/7 that we can zoom in and out to see nearly any aspect of how things are going. We’re using it to keep tabs on things, but also to create a timelapse of the entire project, which is really exciting.

The video we linked on this page has some shots from the drone and our other cameras so you can really see how cool this project and property is! See if you can spot the fun shot we got of the walls going up!

The framing is scheduled to continue through the rest of this month – we’re really excited to watch it take shape. We’ll record it all and share it with you!

And while that is happening, we’re planning to till the field near the road in preparation for planting sunflowers, so we hope to share that with you as well. It’ll be our first experience tilling a field of this size. We’re not quite sure how it will go to be honest.

But we are getting our John Deere tractor ready, and our implements are being delivered in a couple of days. So lots to do and learn!

So much to learn! And we’re just SO happy and grateful for this opportunity – to be landowners of this beautiful farm, to build a custom studio that’s going to look so amazing, and to have the chance to GROW all the things! As always, thank you so much for your love and support!

Love,
Jennifer & Greg