In October 2006 I made some money taking naseba public and decided to invest some of it and build a dream house in the South of France…
I found, which in my mind is the perfect property…a house that has about an acre of land in La Turbie, France which is a small village directly above Monaco (10 minute drive)….I wanted this house so much that I completely forced the deal.
From the house, I have an unobstructed, near perfect view of the Mediterranean sea, a perfect view overlooking Monaco, I can see Italy and when the weather is clear I can see all the way to Corsica…in my eyes, I can see the world.
The property had a small three bedroom house that has a rock solid, perfect foundation. There was a small, yet good size swimming pool and a one bedroom guest house that the previous owner had constructed, and it was brand new and in perfect shape.
I got a couple experts, both experienced with expansion and development and they helped advise me on how I could develop my small house into the ultimate.
We started work in the beginning of October 2006.
At first, all I wanted to do was expand a little bit of the original house as well as make the swimming pool bigger.
I figured that over the coming years, my wife and I would further add on and develop….and in a few years the house would be perfect.
the initial work on the house went very easily and quickly … we tore down walls, expanded the foundation… put up new walls …. and the house started to look incredible….I could see all the potential and opportunities in front of us…
and then I stumbled on my climb….
instead of doing things slowly, furthering the rock solid foundation of the smaller house as we had originally planned….after speaking with experts, I figured why wait … I can afford to do it all , so lets do it all right now…
Upon reflection …. essentially, I wanted it all … and I wanted it right away….
I had the experts increase the pool to 20 meters in length and 7 meters wide (its massive)… but the way I see it, I have proven over the past few years that I can definately swim ….
I also gave the architects the freedom to decide the size and expand the balcony/ patio to something that is incredible a place that I can sit and look over Monaco, Italy … in my eyes the world — but much earlier than we had planned….
everything was beginning to look perfect….
throughout my life, I had dreamed of being the owner of such house and now I was building it and instead of taking 3 years to do it, like we had planned … I figured that we should/could do it all now.
Because I am certain in the future of this house… I allowed the two original board members to have more freedom with the strategy of the overall design, in some ways going against what I wanted, thus they expanded the new section of the house and the patio to something magnificient - of course more expensive than I had budgeted, however, I was easily sold because I wanted the house perfect, right away.
In June, We had someone come to see the house, a friend of the builder and he offered me 3 times what I paid for the house … but I am not interested in making a quick euro….I want the perfect house so we can enjoy it for the coming years and one day will make loads of money selling it, so I easily turned down the offer.
The house was originally meant to be completed within 9 months or so, but as we expanded and took on more and more … the completetion date was put back…the original board members, the experts … completely jerked us around and did a mediocre job of construction.
I am not passing the blame onto anyone because ultimately, it was my responsibilty….. but I had chosen the wrong team.
One day, in the beginning of this past summer (the house was still not completed) the bureau in the local french gov’t department that gives the building permits came to check on the work …. and as the builders had overexpanded from the orginial permit… the government stopped us from building further.
Make a long story short …. we had to stop building the house for a good 5 months and the french government told us that our builder have built 90cm too much …. and they expect us to tear down 90cm (which is less than 3 feet) of the front of the house…which is nothing at all …. but an absolute hassle to rearrange the structure of the house, not to mention a very expensive mistake.
What started as a great, fun project has turned into a great adventure, much more difficult than I invisioned …
Everything about this house has been a battle, not to mention all the money I have invested into it.
We are currently suing the builders and architect….they owe us 70,000 euros and they have completely disserted the project …of course with my money.
Oddly enough … I am normally a very stern negotiater and I negotiate everything all the time … but in the beginning, I was less strict and much more soft … probably because I had become a little bit rich …. I definately spent more money than I had to because I was not being so strict on what we were buying as well as what we were paying the builders…
Now … I am back to the old school… the style of character and leader that helped me succeed in the past…and I am saving a lot of money just by being much more ontop of things.
Throughout all of this, I have kept a very positive outlook. I never gave into negative feelings or frustration. I never thought about stopping …. or quitting.
I will not fail.
After all, as I have said many times in this blog … “the best things are the hardest to get…”
Finally, we moved into the house last week …. the outside patio and pool are still not 100% finished, but everything else is finished - not perfect, but consructed & expanded — with beautiful potential.
I am being a bit dour because the truth is my house is gorgeous -although it is not 100% completed it does have a rock solid foundation and will one day be perfect.
I have a new architect and builder who have come highly recommended and they have a lot of experience…they are not just selling me the dream, but making it happen.
my wife and I are suing all the people that have dicked us over and we have three different lawyers that have informed me that we will win for certain…
I do not plan on losing.
This is the first house I have ever constructed, thus the past year and two months has been a massive learning experience….if I could do it all over again, I would definately do things differently…but making mistakes is part of life — its learning from them and climbing higher which is the most important.
…. as of today, although the company is not yet perfect, it has the ultimate foundation for future expansion and growth.
Surely … I made a few mistakes on the climb…and I probably expanded too much, too quickly … but I reflected on the mistakes I made as a new home builder …. and I have chosen a much more experienced, dynamic and reliable team that is working with me to develop the house into its true potential.
My goal is still the same … and I will not stop until I reach this goal.
thankfully, it is not easy …
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One Response to “don’t call it an allegory…”
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December 24th, 2007 at 8:31 am
Dear Scott,
After reading about the building of your house and the strong rock foundation you chose I believe you are not only a great leader but a wise one.
Especially on Christmas I have been thinking of what kind of message I wanted to send to you after recently finding out you believe more in climbing mountain than dancing and flying?. I understand you have to make this choice to keep your army strong. I hear you on that one.
What happens after they have reached the top of the mountain? I believe there is more? I know there is a staircase into to then moon and the rest of the universe.
Once you have reached the top of the mountain you need people to be dancing and flying from there, to reach even higher peaks of never ending self-fulfillment.
It has been a long nine month waiting ? but now people believe in ?A life is wasted without LEARNING: MAKE IT HAPPEN?? and corporations have begun to see us as a total inspiration providers.
You are building houses and we are building inspiration for people to know there is a universe of dreams beyond the roof of their houses— and to have stories to tell their children at night about where they should go after climbing the mountain. The journey never ends as you know….
So ? we are here to dance and fly with you to achieve success, and even after we won?t stop! Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones! Anna