We are Alex & Elaina
We met at Penn State in 2016 while getting bachelors degrees in mechanical engineering. After graduation, we got typical 9-5 engineering jobs to fund our DIY and homesteading hobbies.
In the search to buy our first house in 2019, we felt like everything was overpriced (even then). Most homes were either cardboard-sheathed tract homes on a quarter acre in a subdivision, or an old house in major disrepair.
We eventually went under contract on the tiniest house in town (940sqft) for $72k, but during inspection found substantial termite damage and retracted our offer.
That experience changed our path dramatically.
We realized that spending years fixing and flipping poorly built houses until we could afford our forever home was not the path for us. Going through the mortgage pre-approval process for the tiny home in town was an eye-opener. Seeing the chart of interest vs. principle paid over 30 years (along with the final total) did not sit well. This brought up the question:
How hard could it be to build our own house?
We changed our focus from searching for houses to searching for land, and in May 2020, found 6 acres within our budget. The planning began and we immersed ourselves in learning about how to build the best home possible. This included energy-efficient design, high quality materials, and building best practices.
The initial plan was to build a big dream house from the start..
But the price of building materials skyrocketed post-COVID.. and we didn't want to take out a loan. We decided to split the project in half to keep the build within budget, starting with an addition-ready, 2 bed/1.5 bath garage apartment.
We knew we'd need to perform most of the work ourselves to build debt-free but we were up for the challenge.
Our engineering experience taught us that every successful project starts with a good plan and Alex spent countless hours designing our home and drafting detailed plans.
We broke ground 2 years later in March 2022
and quickly realized that starting smaller was the best decision we have made to date - all the reasons why are explained in the Build Guide.
Around the same time we bought land..
we started documenting our homesteading and DIY building journey on YouTube (@MasonDixonAcres) and Instagram for our own memories and the joy of sharing with others.
We posted 1 video a week and quickly realized our passion for sharing our journey and helping others along the way.
We decided to take a huge pay cut and both leave our corporate jobs to work on our own projects, educate & inspire others through content, and enjoy life full time.
Fast forward to now..
After years of building, we have realized exactly what our mission is going forward:
help others build their dream home & homestead.
The journey of building our own home has been life-changing and has brought us so much joy and fulfillment. The path hasn't always been sunshine and rainbows but it definitely has been worth it. We want others to experience the same joy and fulfillment while bringing their dreams to life.
We created our first major product, The No Regrets Build Guide, to do exactly that.