We've all made mistakes. As one old Vermont carpenter was once heard to say, "If you've never made a mistake, you've never built anything."
But not many of us have had the honor of building a $680,000 custom house on the wrong lot.
That's what happened in Hammock Dunes, Florida, last year, reports the Daytona Beach News-Journal (see: "In Ocean Hammock, dream house, ocean view, wrong lot," by Bob Koslow).
To be fair, the building lot was one of ten side-by-side lots, and, reports the News-Journal, "the grass was mowed short." It could happen to anyone, right? As a matter of fact, it has happened before, Debi Peterson, executive officer of the Flagler Home Builders Association, told the News-Journal. Peterson "called the mistake 'rare,' but not unique," the paper reports. "I can think of 10 in Flagler County since I've been working here for 18 years," Peterson said. "You just don't hear about them because they are not a million-dollar home that faces the ocean."
The buyers of the misplaced mansion, Missouri residents Mark and Brenda Voss, were shocked (to say the least). Mark Voss, an investor and property manager, actually owns 18 lots in the Ocean Hammock resort community (giving the builder, in theory, 18 ways to not build the house on another owner's lot). Voss said the couple was considering moving to the development one day, but may have changed their minds. "The Midwest is looking pretty good right now," said Voss.
Robbie Richmond, president of the Keystone Homes, who built the three-story, 5000-sqft, 5-bedroom, 5.5-bath house, is taking responsibility, the paper reports. "The buck stops with the builder," Richmond told the paper. "We know that. We are in the process of trying to schedule a conference call and find a fair resolution without the lawyers."
