I may have mentioned on this site somewhere that Baker Acres Studio had plans to expand. Well they have come to fruition after lo these many years of searching for the perfect site at the perfect price. In the next few blog posts, I will attempt to recount the long journey to where I am now, which is that I have broken ground on a new, purpose built recording studio.
3 years ago I inherited part of an IRA account from my father who passed away. It was not enough money to retire to the Caribbean, but enough to do something with. My wife very generously said I could do what I wanted with it. My plan to rebuild or enlarge Baker Acres was born.
My original plan was to just tear down my current studio (the charming little wooden shed I’ve been recording in for the past 16 years) and build something with more room. But I rejected that because it doesn’t have plumbing and I don’t want to have strangers coming in my house to use the bathroom. So I starting looking for a building to modify into a studio. I looked at, and rejected several commercial buildings as they were too expensive. I looked at several houses. Even made an offer on a foreclosed home but never came to a deal. I agreed to a price on a piece of raw land in a location I liked but the deal fell through because the soil on the property would not drain properly and I could not get a septic permit. This took most of two years and as you might imagine was a very frustrating roller coaster of emotion. This is my dream I’m building here…
When my wife and I bought our house 16 years ago, I remember learning that a previous owner of our house was an old friend of my mother’s and that he still owned the adjoining wooded property behind our house and would be willing to sell it to us if we were interested. At that time, we had just bought our house and couldn’t afford it. But last Winter I remembered this conversation and began wondering if the property would fit my plans. I dug up this man’s phone number and gave him a call. As it happened he was still interested in selling the land to us. After a bit of thought and discussion, we made a deal and the land was procured. The next hurdle was a septic permit. After several weeks and multiple phone conversations with thoroughly bored and uncaring bureaucrats, I was able to get the prized permit. Future builders, be aware that everything takes WAY more time than you’d expect. Everything. If I am learning anything (and I’m learning a ton) in this process, it’s patience.
This will conclude part one of the Baker Acres Studio story. This is more typing than I’ve done in months…
more next time…
JB