Like a lot of Americans, I had to make some significant adjustments in my life as a result of the 2008 financial crisis and the severe recession that followed.  When my 401k became a 201k, it became obvious that I could no longer afford to live in the place that I had called home for 17 years.

Fortunately, I had a path to recover from the Great recession and eventually regain what I was about to lose.  Years before I had acquired six single family houses as rental properties.  Over the years I have become fairly skilled in remodeling, having done major remodels on five of these properties.  I sold my house in 2010 and moved into one of my rental properties, with the idea of doing a major remodel of the house to re-create a smaller version of the custom home that I had to give up.  This would require me to live in the house while I gutted it and re-built it; something akin to indoor camping.

What follows is an account of the design and implementation of that endeavor.