>House was in nice location but career drunk let 70 (seventy) cats take over
>the house. Lived with it for ten years. Some died in the attic and behind
>the hot water tank etc. He left them there. Walls looked like someone hit em
>with spray GUNK etc. Architects say it would take $50k just to do a
>bandaid/elastoplast to the house. I like cats to a point but I think not!
>Besides there was no garage!

You may have the *perfect* opportunity here.....reminds me of a surfer/VW
friend who built his own house at Bellbrae (bush setting near Bell's Beach). 
He had a wife and two kids at the time...and everyone knows how hard this
makes it to buy resto projects or tools with garages also being low priority
items ......

Follow the bouncing ball - the flow of logic went something like this......

1. We have one camper, we'll buy another one and live in the campers why we
build the house.....
2. Purchase splitty camper (needing restoration)
3. Purchase tools in preparation for build - saws, planes, nail guns,
compressor (uh, for nail guns), spray gear (uh, house painting), sanders
(ditto), oxy set (uh, need it to do the plumbing), MIG welder (uh,
manufacture of trusses etc)
4. Hmm its a bit difficult trying to use either of the campers for transport
while we're living in them
5. Purchase Type III station wagon
6.Winter was pretty cold wet and grim in the campers (and you can't force mud
bricks to dry right so you might as well surf why you wait)...ergo...I'll
build the garage FIRST and we'll live in that will I complete the house
7. Build HUGE garage  
8. Get house to a barely habitable stage, move wife and kids into house, move
tools and gear into garage and then begin first resto project (splitty
camper)........