Building project is labor of love

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Scotty Sweatt
  • 916th Air Refueling Wing
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. --  “If your marriage survives the construction phase of a house, you’re going to have a strong marriage.”

With those words from Chief Master Sgt. Ben Lopedote, he and his new wife, Master Sgt. Wendy Lopedote, began plans for building their dream home. Then, they built their dream home.

The Lopedotes decided that they wanted to do something a little different, so they undertook the process of acting as their own general contractors and actually handled most of the construction themselves.

Chief Lopedote is the enlisted advisor for the 916th Maintenance Group. Sergeant Lopedote is a full-time Air Reserve Technician with the 916th Security Forces Squadron.

The Lopedotes made plans to get married and began looking for a house. When they realized that they were going to be unable to find what they wanted, they decided to build what they wanted. “We both like to think outside the box,” said Chief Lopedote. Each of them had their own ideas of what they wanted.

The Lopedotes purchased a five-acre wooded lot 15 miles south of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in the summer of 2001, but the project took a back seat when duty called after Sept. 11, 2001. After clearing had started, “the war began and we had to put things on hold until the following year,” said Sergeant Lopedote.

Once they were able to focus on their project again, the Lopedotes began looking at log cabins homes, then discovered that they had both looked into building a round home before they had even met. Round homes are custom designed circular houses that provide energy efficiency, sturdy structure and an open and spacious design. They settled on a customized design by Deltec Homes out of Ashville, N.C.

Sergeant Lopedote said, “If we were going to build our own home, why not see if we can do it in an environmentally friendly and energy efficient way?”

The quest to be environmentally conscious was answered in the house design that they chose. The design used less materials than a comparably built contemporary home and minimized waste. It is also one of the more energy efficient home styles built today.

The house was custom designed by the Lopedotes with the help of building professionals at several design and construction companies and incorporated many considerations that allowed for a more environmentally conscious house than one made using solely conventional construction techniques. Each one had their own input, making the house a very personal expression. “We compromised…we worked together,” said Chief Lopedote. “We were equal partners.”

When construction began in August 2002, the Lopedotes had their work cut out for them, there was always something to do. Fortunately for them, they had some support from friends and fellow airmen from around the wing, including people from 916th Security Forces, Maintenance Operations Flight, Maintenance Group and from the 4th Fighter Wing’s ammo squadron. Even with all of the help, the project became their life for the better part of three years.

As with every project, things that look good on paper don’t always go as smoothly when you start building them. Some items had to be adjusted to meet building code, others just didn’t look the way that they had anticipated in the planning stage. There was good that came out of some of these problems, as expressed by Sergeant Lopedote. “We worked around it, changed designs on the fly and ended up with a few things about the house that we think look pretty good and add uniqueness to the house,” she said.

While the project was underway, the Lopedotes rented a residence in Goldsboro, but spent many of their nights in a camper on the construction site after a long, hard day of working on their home-to-be. After spending the better part of their engagement building their home, they were married on April 14, 2003. They closed on their new home in June 2004.

The Lopedotes said that there are still things to do at the house, but as Sergeant Lopedote said, “Anyone that has a home can tell you that you’re never truly finished.”

She said that there are still lots of ideas and plans, but that these are a labor of love. Chief Lopedote said that he “had a blast” and his wife summed up her feelings when she said that the best thing about this whole adventure is that they can sit back and know that they’ve accomplished something.

The two of them are sure to reap the benefits of this experience, in many ways, for years to come.