This week, we saw a jump in interest in our new home. First thing was that Google Maps posted an updated satellite view of our new home. Normally, in a rural area like Lumpkin County, updates happen every few years. But obviously the new picture released had been timed to coincide with the house being completed – we put the picture date at early October just as the leaf colours are starting to change. To see Google Maps page, click on the image below.
The question which springs to mind is “Why would Google give the new Hall residence such interest, timing their satellite run to show the place off to good effect whilst delaying until the building work is complete?” Perhaps they were embarrassed by the previous picture which included a serious traffic accident – a trailer truck full of caged chickens slid off the road into the trees (also visible on Streetview). However, we have reason to think that there are more important reasons.
As I have dropped subtle hints about before, the architect who designed our house was so satisfied with his work that he has arranged for a glossy house design magazine to feature it. The house has been selected for a series of three articles about building a custom home.
Building a custom home is more common in US than in UK, where the battles with the Planning Department and the costs of non-standard designs are likely to lead to bankruptcy or a starring role on Grand Designs (or even both). There are quite a number of magazines in USA on custom homes which offer a minimal amount of editorial material and are mostly two-page spreads of architect’s plans. This published design is available off-the-peg for far less than a totally personalised custom design, or one can contact the architect to modify the design to individual requirements (at an inevitable cost). That’s what we did, starting from a design we saw six years ago in the same magazine where we will be starring.
The first article is due to be published in January in the Spring edition (hmm, that’s another curiosity about American life. The nominal publication date of magazines and the like is usually several months into the future – I have already absorbed the two January editions of the Wine Spectator. I suppose it is to fool the unwary into purchasing a magazine in the mistaken belief that it is fresh and new, even if has been languishing on the racks for a month or three). From our point of view, the main benefit of the articles is to give a bit of positive publicity to some of the tradesmen who worked on the house (and with whom we anticipate an ongoing relationship).
The articles will also be on the website of the magazine, so once they are available, I will let you know where it is (if you are desperate to hear our story all over again). If you cannot wait a day longer to see what is said, you can read the final draft of the article by clicking here.
So, since there may be a rush of interest in the article, I assume that Google (who know EVERYTHING, of course) have decided to time the update of our satellite photo to tie in with the launch so that they can camp on the undoubted rush of interest that will be caused. Or maybe not!