The First Step is Land

The first thing we need to do is to increase the size of our house lot. Presently, it is ca. 900 square meters. The problem is that our lot is regulated "TU=25%." That means that the total square meters of all buildings (including garage, shed, etc.) cannot exceed 25% of the total size of the lot. In fact, it is not just the total ground space of buildings, but the total floor space, which includes basements, attics, etc. With our 900 sq. meter lot, that gives us 225 sqare meters of floor plan which we can build (ca. 2250 square feet).

Such a limited space makes any addition practically impossible. The house itself presently is 89 square meters on the ground and second floors. Since we will anyway need to build a new foundation for the house, we intend to render the basement possible to renovate (although we will not be able to have bedrooms or any 'occupiable' rooms in that basement because such rooms require an emergency exit window and the Preservation Department will not let us disturb the ground level around the house that would enable such a window). Nevertheless, a basement of 1.9 meters increases our square meter total to 139.

Already on the property, we have an outbuilding that is ca. 20 square meters. Although it is technically not preserved, the Preservation Department has said it would look much more favorably on an application if we kept that building. So now our total is up to 159 square meters.

The building regulations also require that every lot must include a plan for a garage, even if it is not immediately built. While our lot is pre-existing and, therefore, not subject to that regulation at present, when we submit an application to build an addition, this regulation comes into force. So we must plan where a garage will be located and include its square meters into our total. A average two-car garage is ca. 60 square meters, which would bring our total up to 219 square meters.

Already, that means that our addition of three bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom (the existing structure will house the living room, dining room, and two small bedrooms) is limited to 6 square meters. That would be rather cramped :-) (each room being one square meter).

There is also an additional problem with lot size. Presently, most of the un-built-upon land is on the 'public' side of the house. This is the side of the house that faces open farmland and can be viewed from the passing road and culture trail 300 meters in front of the house. The Preservation Department has already advised that we can build nothing on that side of the house because it would detract from the cultural landscape. We agree with the Department on this point, as well as the front-side of the house being the only place where we have open lawn, which we would like to keep that way.

On the two sides of the house, we are already within five meters of the boundaries so there is no space for expansion in those directions. Toward the back-side of the house there is enough space for an addition, which would require moving the outbuilding. That leaves us in the predicament of where to place the outbuilding and where to place for an eventual two-car garage.

Our lot is primarily surrounded by a single farm, except for a tiny sliver of land owned by a different farm. We have spoken with both landowners and have come to an agreement in principle that we can purchase land to expand the size of our existing lot. Since we are already going through the process of boundary changes, we have asked the primary surrounding farm if we could purchase a larger amount of land (ca. 8 to 12 'mål' (8000 to 12000 square meters or ca. 5 to 7 acres). We've also come to an agreement in principle for that purchase.

To complete a purchase and transfer, the first thing we need to do is to reduce our principled-agreement with neighbors to a specific agreement. The only real issue here is price. We have agreed in principle that we will pay full market value. In fact, due to the land zoning in question, that is the only alternative. Anything substantially over or substantially under that price would cause the application with the land authorities to be rejected. The land in question is zoned LNF (farming and nature). It is an area with steap hills into a ravine which is not farmable, but has some trees on it. So the market price we must find is the per mål price for unfarmable, partially-treed forest, LNF zoned, in the Eidsvoll region.

After agreeing on a price and other details with neighbors, than the government bureaucracy fun ride will begin. We're still not certain of all the steps, but we know it is complicated, especially with LNF land.

This Project is Still Ongoing

OK, we haven't been doing anything on this project for nearly a year, but we are turning our focus toward it once again.

The reason for our non-activity is that we have moved to Belgium for the next four years in connection with work. We moved out of our two-bedroom city apartment and do not intend to move back there in four years (with three kids who will be 15, 12 & 8 when we move back, a two-bedroom would be nearly impossible). Our intention is to have this project completed so we can move in when we return in August 2014.

So now we have a timeline in which the project must be completed (or we'll end up living with friends). That gives only three and half years. With the hoops we'll need to jump through to get past the Preservation Department, we'll probably need all of that time.

Meeting with Building Department

We have met with the Building Department. While they seem to agree with our interpretation of the building regulations and gave us a lot of sympathy, we've been told that we must follow whatever advice the Preservation Department gives. The reason is that it is pointless for the Building Department to decide against the non-binding advice of the Preservation Department because the latter has a right to appeal to the County Administrative Body (Fylkesmannen), who we are told generally rubber stamps the Preservation Department advice.

So now we are left with the advice of the Preservation Deparmtment which tells us we cannot disturb any of the four exterior walls or the ground level surrounding the house. The only alternative they appear to have left us is to build a 'detached' addition, connected to the existing structure by a hallway.

We're over our heads now so we're looking for an architect.

Big Problem !

Our building application has been denied by the Preservation Department (Fylkeskommunen). Although the area and our house is regulated as a cultural landscape area, which means that everything must remain in the proper style, the Preservation Department has decided that our individual house cannot have any exterior alterations because it is historic. This is puzzling to us because our house is specifically regulated as allowing an addition as long as the proper style, but the house has now been placed, de facto, on the historic register.

We have scheduled a meeting with the town building department, which is the agency which can overturn the recommendation of the Preservation Department. We're hoping to resolve the situation because our only other alternatives are to commence a law suit or sell the property and find another house.

Application Sent to Preservation Department

We have sent an application to the preservation department (Akershus fylkeskommune) to see if our plans meet the strict requirements for preserving the cultural landscape. With about 60 pages of forms, photos, and diagrams, we are hopeful that they have all the information they need...and hope that we get approval.

If we get approval there, then we can apply to the local town for the building permit. We had a pre-application conference, though, and basically as long as the perservation department says it is OK, the town will say OK.

Modified Floorplan

We have slightly modified the floorplan. The main change is that we extended the addition a couple of feet so that the hallway and bathroom had enough space and so that internal basement walls could be placed under load bearing first-floor walls at a couple of key places.

New 3-D Exterior Proposals

Here are the latest 3-D plans. We've extended the addition on the back to include the entire length of the house because it would be more expensive and more difficult to have an outdoor area on top of an indoor, habitable room (venting issues). We've also worked on the front porch and the landscaping in the back.