Never Again: Building the Dream House in Bloomington, MN

"Never Again," Richard La Plante promised after he and his new wife completed building their family home in East Hampton, New York. But he did not keep his promise. Instead, he bought twenty acres of raw land on a mountaintop located three and half thousand miles away, in a small town that he had only visited by internet... And the nightmare began. A house in New York to sell, a massive loan to pay off for the newly purchased land, dishonest builders, some of the most stringent building codes in America, and the economic collapse of 2008. With no general contractor, because they had decided to save money by doing it themselves, La Plante and his wife face an empty bank account, a black widow spider infestation and a large wooden frame with no windows. With two young sons to raise, a stony silence between them and a marriage counselor who says in sagely fashion, "There's only one answer. Finish the house," the La Plantes stumble from disaster to disaster. Never Again is a seven year chronicle of trial and triumph, both a warning and inspiration to anyone trying to build a dream.