We broke ground on January 17, 2012. We are officially 99.9% finished with the construction on our ocean view home near Pirate’s Bay (Bahia del Pirata) in Guanacaste.

Our new home consists of three bedrooms plus office and 3 bathrooms, living/kitchen area, pool with outdoor covered living area and two-car garage. The house will be three stories (with the garage being the only thing on the ‘first/ground’ level).

The house is about 2,800 square feet under A/C and sits on a 1,300 m2 lot. There is an additional 2,000 SF of construction that is under roof and additional storage/bodegas plus the pool.

It’s been a long time coming. It’s amazing how the planning starts and the end product eventually comes to life! We have learned a lot over the course of this year and are glad that we are finally moved in.

We still have that much loved ‘punch list’ that we are taking care of, but the big details are taken care of. Our builder will be sending in someone this week to finish up the details.

We shipped a few things down from the USA and there are a few pieces of furniture that are being made locally we are waiting on, so you have to have some vision in the photos where we are lacking a few accessories and need to do some landscaping which will be done as soon as we can…

Main highlights of the new Costa Rica home we have just built include:

1. Three story, tropical modern home, mostly built out of Canadian Steel Frame.
2. The roof is 100% recycled plastic. It looks like clay tile, but it’s not. No cracking, no maintenance of the clay tile, but you still get the ‘look.’ The name of this product is “Teja Real”. The company is out of San Jose.
3. Smooth stucco finish on the exterior.
4. Windows are PVC windows by Durman (from San Jose)
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5. Mini Waste Water Treatment Plant by Eloy LatinAmerica. We opted for this instead of the traditional septic system. More expensive ($6,000) but worth it. You can use the grey water for irrigation, thus saving on water, which is a precious commodity in Guanacaste.
6. The pool, which is an infinity edge style, was finished off with Quartz. Pools by Kim did the finish. It looks great and the pool water never gets too hot!
7. Flooring: Porcelain tile downstairs, travertine and stone in the bathrooms, and almond wood upstairs.
8. The house is drywall on the inside (not concrete).



9. The entire home is well insulated on all exterior walls, roof and certain interior walls.
10. The kitchen: 100% wood cabinetry, granite countertops, appliances purchased through the duty free zone (still waiting on the GE refrigerator).
11. Doors (interior) are from San Jose. Exterior door (teak) from Guanacaste.
12. Plumbing fixtures imported from Canada
13. Exterior doors are steel
14. Surround sound pre-wired and alarm installed.
15. Closets all have built-in furniture to cut down on the need for additional dressers/furniture.
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16. Retention walls used are keystone block system (from San Jose). A poured concrete-free system.
17. Railings are stainless steel cables with teak railings.
18. Rancho is a steel structure with caña brava and palm overlay.
19. Two car open air garage/carport with storage. Teak ceilings.
20. Rancho area, deck and balcony flooring is coralina.

The million dollar question is what does it cost to build in Costa Rica? You can build a home for $90-120 per square foot on average.

Our 2,800 square foot home certainly included more luxury fittings and ended up coming in around $110 per square foot (not including retention walls or the land, pool or architect fees).

Obviously type of lot you build on makes a huge difference to the overall cost and lots such as ours cost from the low $100K range and up depending on the views.

A steep lot like ours was more complicated and thus cost more. A flat large pad will help save costs (avoiding retention wall work, which can drive up the costs significantly).

At the end of the day, our dream has been realized. My husband and I have done probably the one most difficult thing in Costa Rica to do–build a house!

Am I glad we did it? Yes!

Would I do it again? Absolutely!

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Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.