Gulf Islands | Building a Cottage

You got your land.

Now what?

How do you go from the above, to this?

Expert builder Andrew Van Wersch's first Savary Island Cottage

I recall with a shudder how naive my wife and I were back about fifteen years ago, when we decided more or less on a whim to buy a little piece of land on a Gulf Island. We went shopping, quickly found what seemed a very reasonably priced lot, and put in a low offer. How lucky we were that the offer was refused!

We knew absolutely nothing. Real city slickers. We knew ziltch about wells, electricity, septic systems, building and health permits, transportation and labor costs. We were a real estate agent's dream victims customers.

Ha! Look at the picture at the top of this. Unless you are an expert builder with experience in building on islands, or you are fortunate enough to know such an individual (rare!), unless you know about even a fraction of what will be involved, watch out!

Oh, it can be done. There are tons of places, and lots of nice ones, that have been built. But there are also tons of stories of people paying far, far more than they ever dreamed possible to achieve their dream. And even sadder stories of those who bought only to find that they could not get septic approval, or who ran into other serious glitches.

So unless you really know your stuff, or know someone who can lead you, buyer beware. It may be best to consider a place set to go. One that someone else has handled the nightmare challenges of building on an island.