Posted on by Emily

Day 324

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

We spent the bulk of the day at the property yesterday.

Josh wanted to mow the septic field to make it easier for installation of whatever is required for the septic system. I don’t really want to know the details. I just want it to work.

Meanwhile, as the guys were working on the exterior trim, I was available to answer questions.

At first, I think they were annoyed that I was there. But after a little while, they started to come and get me to ask questions and make sure they were lining up all of the trim correctly.

I think it also helped that I had brought them donuts.

I spent a lot of time drawing and detailing all of the trim and I am thrilled to see it come to life!

On the other side of the house, the masons were starting to brick the living room chimney. Hopefully they’ll be done with the two chimneys in about a week.

It had been a little while since we had a family site visit and tour so we decided to have a picnic and invite the quarantine pod:

My sister and brother-in-law both drive mini coopers, which don’t stand a chance on our easement road as it is currently quite rugged due to construction traffic and lots of recent rain. Consequently, these two parked their car up at the top of the road and hiked the quarter of a mile to our house. Here, they have just arrived from their journey, sporting full hiking apparel and their backpack beach chairs.

This just cracks me up.

Kath and Grandmother also made the pilgrimage, in sportier ensembles. They arrived by Jeep, which could manage the road just fine, and dropped them off at the garage.

Julia and Nate hadn’t been in awhile, so we gave them the extended tour. Here they are practicing being overnight guests, with Julia in the shower and Nate…taking care of business.

After the tour, we had our inaugural fine dining experience at the house. We set up folding tables and camping chairs for a picnic lunch in the dining room. This made me so happy. I can’t wait for many more meals in this room, though hopefully with slightly upgraded furniture.

After lunch, Josh continued to mow and my dad did some weedeating around the fence. I had brought some irises from our current house that needed to be divided and replanted.

I planted 20 or so by the fence, to the left of our driveway entrance. In 6 or 7 months, they should be blooming as we drive up to the house!

Posted on by Emily

Day 243

I can barely concentrate on anything else at the moment because I’m so excited about the framing!!!

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But, first things first: Check out our driveway that has been graded up so there’s no longer a pond in the middle of it. They also put in a massive pipe specified by my dear husband who does not mess around when it comes to proper drainage.

I had been parking at the very beginning of the driveway due to it being impassible in my short SUV.  Next time, I will drive on up and park in front of the house…

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… right by the front porch!

They are starting to put in the floor system for the second floor.  The room above the front porch is the guest room.  Kath (my mom) will be so delighted to see this as she is eager to stay in her suite.

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They put in the stairs to the future headquarters of my design firm. The way things are going with COVID-19, it sounds like I will be subletting some of my office space to my husband.

Ok, back to the tour.

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My kitchen!

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Which will eventually look like this!

But probably not for 6 months…sigh.

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This is the living room, which overlooks the front porch and yard.  They had somehow missed one of these windows in the first round of framing, but they quickly got it added in after I brought it to their attention.

I’m sure I’m their favorite already.

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Though I planned for all rooms to have lots of light and pretty views, I am particularly smitten with the view from the dining room.

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I am also a big nerd about sight lines and axes.  This is the view looking the opposite direction of the previous photo.  Once all of these lovely temporary supports are removed, there will be a sight line down through the hall and out the windows of the library on the back of the house from the dining room table.

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The L-shaped screened porch that wraps the back and side of the house will have an uninterrupted view of the tree line.  Though right now, these temporary supports are really killing the mood.

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Here’s another angle showing the screened porch and those library windows I’ll be able to see through from the dining room.  I foresee spending a lot of time on this porch.  So does our cat, Bu.

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And this is the beast from her widest angle.

This house has been in my head and in my heart for so long that is really surreal to see it come to life.

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Still quite a bit left before she looks like my rendering, but well on her way!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on by Emily

Day 52

We made some big strides this past week!

A few highlights:

  1. We signed with our builder
  2. The builder has begun applying for permits
  3. The appraisal has been ordered for our construction loan

A few things to note:

  1. The County takes septic permitting VERY seriously and has a checklist with no fewer than 8 different documents that must be submitted.  They even require one of the documents to be notarized.  I think applying for college might be easier.
  2. Windows are still expensive, unfortunately.   I got some more quotes this week and the series that offers the brass hardware I really want basically costs the same amount as a Rolls Royce.
  3. Window selection still pending.

While in Virginia visiting family for Thanksgiving, we went to Thomas Jefferson’s retreat home, Poplar Forest.  Since we are going to be building a traditional house with classical elements, I was taking note of all of the details.

One of the first things I noticed was the floor-to-ceiling, triple sash windows in the library that our tour-guide said were custom-made in Germany to match the originals.  Given my recent Ph. D. level education in windows, I approximate that these cost at least five figures each.

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I was also completely obsessed with the beefy trim.  I haven’t seen baseboards built out like this before.  I would guess these are 3″ deep, which means they had to build out all of the door casings as well.  The chair rail was so thick that they notched it over the door casing.  I will be showing this to our builder to emphasize how simple our trim work will be by comparison.

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Lastly, I will be keeping this photo below handy if the codes department decides to give us any issue with our railing-less front porch that is less than 30″ off the ground.  I, like Thomas Jefferson, don’t want a railing obstructing my view.

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Until next time!

Posted on by Emily

Day 26

Well, it’s a good thing we’re not trying to break ground today because it’s a whopping 17 degrees Nashville.

We do, however, have a stamped site plan.  Woohoo! I’m ready to move some dirt!

….rather, I’m ready to see some dirt moved!

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This is the area around the house and driveway that will be graded.  To the naked eye, this area looks relatively flat, but from the garage side of the driveway to the front corner of the house, it’s nearly a 10 foot drop.

See that orange star I put on the site plan?  That is the location of the tree that Josh’s truck is parked next to in this photo below (taken facing East).  Looks pretty flat, right??

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Meanwhile, final rounds of redlining continue on the house plans.  We are 99.37% there, just catching little things here and there to tweak.

I love finding these notes from Josh.  Can’t wait to see him discover other details in the house as it is being built!

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