Rebuilding homes on Bolivar Peninsula

A woman has the perfect view to watch the Bolivar Peninsula recover from hurricane Ike.

The view is from her new beach home, one of the first to be completely rebuilt and available for rental in Gilchrist.

"It's very nice, the views are gorgeous," says Diane Mettlach.

Diane Mettlach wasn't sure how long it would take before she could once again take in the view from a new home in Gilchrist. Hurricane Ike destroyed 4 of her properties.

"Day after the storm I was on the phone with the insurance company and had to go to San Antonio for an engineer cause they were all busy," says Mettlach.

She found an engineer to build the home, made hours of calls ..

"Electric company had 2000 permits at one time, everybody was trying to get their electricity," says Mettlach.

And organized months of construction, Mettlach finished everything, down to the smallest details.

But it came at a cost.

"They're hurricane proof, or supposed to withstand 145 MPH wind," says Mettlach.

New building codes forced her to spend $8,000 for all the doors.

"When I heard it was $10,000 for my pilings .. Had to be as far down as they are up," says Mettlach.

The house stands 20 feet up, with the pilings 17 feet underground, because Gilchrist is the lowest point on the peninsula at about 4 feet above sea level.

"I'm going to rebuild and just show everybody that the hurricane is not going to take us down. It's still gorgeous here and people should come back," says Mettlach.

Although Mettlach doesn't have many neighbors now, there are signs of life as pilings come down, and homes go up.

"I really wish they would, I really wish they would start coming back," says Mettlach.

Until then, she reminds herself why she loves the beach.

"Feeling of being way up here and at the beach, to me is like being in heaven," says Mettlach.

ReMax on the Water is sponsoring a builder's fair tomorrow from 9 to 4 at Coconut's in Crystal Beach.