OSCAR & DORIS HATMAKER
Rachel’s house is a bona fide family affair. When Rachel isn’t working as a waitress at Joe’s Tavern or sleeping, she’s helping me assemble the house. I, her father, am the architect and all-around laborer on the project. Mary, her mother, cares for 3-year-old Sonny and supplies an extra pair of arms when needed. Also present on the job, in spirit if not in body, are Oscar and Doris, Rachel’s deceased maternal grandparents.
Oscar and Doris bequeathed each of their three grandchildren 1/12th of their estate and although it wasn’t enough to buy a house outright, Rachel is betting it is enough to buy the materials to build a house. Rachel’s little brother, Nicholas, was able to parlay his inheritance into the lion’s share of materials for the house he and I built in Virginia (watch this video for tour of Nick’s house: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOotfMaH1wQ&feature=youtu.be . Mathew, Rachel’s big brother, used his inheritance to make the down payment on the purchase of Oscar and Doris’s Leavenworth house from the Hatmaker estate.
So there you have it: by living a frugal life and investing their savings wisely, Oscar and Doris made it possible for each of their grandchildren to own a house. And not just any house – in Rachel and Nicholas’s cases, these are houses that they have built themselves (with sweat equity from Mom & Dad.)
We have the main floor framed now. Next comes the top floor.
RACHEL’S ROOST
In this photo, taken from the Wenatchee Heights Road which borders the back of her land, you can see the current state of construction as well as Rachel’s view of Mission Ridge.
NICK’S HOUSE
Chelan Traveler 
.Grandparents and parents love abound..
Were you able to stand up the 12 foot wall without mechanical assistance?
Yes, but that’s because it was raised in 8-ft-long sections.
Lief Carlsen
liefcarlsen@hotmail.com
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What a lovely picture of Oscar and Doris! I saw it the first thing this morning but I was in a rush to go to school so didn’t read your new post till now and when I turned it on again their picture was gone! Then when I started to write you an answer there it was again! Amazing how this thing works. It is great that all three of the kids have been so wise about their inheritance, many would have just blown it on something frivolous,😊
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Knowing how hard Oscar and Doris worked and saved, it would have been harder for us to blow the money than to spend it wisely 🙂 They were great role-models and I can’t believe they left us the money they did. Without it, and my amazing parents, I would not be able to do all of this!!!!
A small part of me wishes they’d been more frivolous with their money. Enjoy what you have while you have it! Then again, I like my new house. It would have been nice for them to be around to see what we’ve done with the money. Hopefully that would have given them the satisfaction of money well saved.
I know they are proud of the way we’ve used it!!! I know what you mean, though. They definitely should have spent more on themselves!!!