BEFORE...

We're Bob and Kay Schmieder. We lived in a rather ordinary stucco house in Walnut Creek, California. It was built in the late 1950's, and although it was well-built (the water heater worked continuously for 40 years!), we wanted a new house, one that was more comfortable, roomy, and was, shall we say, a bit more exciting. We spent perhaps 5 years figuring out what to do, and a good 18 months with the architect, finally getting what seemed like a good PLAN. We searched diligently for 2 years for the right person to build it...