December: Catching Up

It is difficult for me to believe that it is actually December - I seriously do not know where the last month has gone. As has been pointed out to me (so gratifying to know that there are people actually following along...) I am way behind on the progress update. Part of the delay in posting was because of our discouragement over the sliding completion date. Best bet now for occupancy is the first week of January. The conventional wisdom is that it takes a year to build a custom house and since January will only be 11 months, I guess we are still ahead of prediction. And as I've said before, we certainly can't complain about the quality of the work being done. So - looking at the whole big picture, it's all good.

The horses made the move last Friday. I decided to include their photos, since they are the first to be residents of SC. Here is the trailer coming down the driveway at the new barn:



Sunny stepped off the trailer like he did it every day, and immediately settled in to graze:

Skeeter had to check out the new neighbors. Aren't they both handsome?

Ok, so back to the house. Here's the view from the living area into the kitchen/eating area. The island in the kitchen is in (the granite countertops are covered with paper). All the cabinetry is in and waiting for the painters to work their way down (they started upstairs)




We were excited last week to see the fireplace rock completed:

The tile floors are a work in progress, and this week the porch railings will be going on. The railings will be good to see, since the progress in the last several weeks has all been on the inside. The painter did paint a sample of the exterior color for our approval - here it is:

With the horses moved, we will be visiting on a weekly basis going forward - so check back next week!

November 2nd: cabinets and steps

The progress on the house seems to have slowed some in the last two weeks - this may be in part because the work that is being completed (interior trim) is detailed and in part because Scott's father slipped a disk, which cut their work crew from three to two. The good news, however, is how pleased we are with the care and perfectionism with which everything is being done. There really is not any practical reason for us to rush the process.

So .... The cabinet maker has installed the bathroom vanities, the cabinets in the laundry room and many of the kitchen cabinets. The ones in the kitchen photographed the best. The doors open into the walk-in pantry.

The biggest change outside is the addition of the brick front steps. The look of the front of the house will change dramaticallly when the porch and stair railings are added. We are also waiting to approve the exterior paint color, which is to be a cypress-y green.

Here's another view of the use of the rocks (removed when the basement was dug) as retaining walls. There is actually some grass coming up near this corner of the house. As we get closer to move-in day and look at all this dirt (potentially mud) and consider the dogs, we are very anxious for grass - even if we end up ripping it out later to put in other plantings.



We were happy to see this very colorful tree in our yard - this is looking towards our neighbor's house across the street.

Trimwork: October 19th

On Friday, October 19th, John and I visited the house before taking care of several errands. That afternoon, we visited three different vendors, selecting carpet for the upstairs bedrooms and granite for the kitchen countertops and compared appliances (but haven't settled on final selections). All this shopping is a little foreign to us. Besides this Friday, we've also been shopping at home in Georgia trying to purchase all the light fixtures we need. I guess we could kindly be described as frugal. Our issue is that instead of seeing a single purchase price for the house, we are actually seeing what each component costs, and that can be a bit overwhelming.

Since our last visit, the builder has been hanging doors and doing as much trim work as he could while waiting for the cabinet contractor to return from vacation. There is trim around the windows, crown moulding and baseboards - we are very pleased with how it looks, but photos don't really capture it as a dramatic change - the white trim disappears against the white primed walls. The stairs below are a clearly visible change, however:

Here I am next to the fireplace, which is ready for the rock. Note that I am holding stickers in my left hand that I was peeling off the windows (I couldn't help myself!)

October 6th

The last time we were up to the house, there were multiple crews at work and John and I were too overwhelmed to even remember to take pictures! So this update is a bit overdue. This Saturday, Scott (the builder) was concerned that I was not as chatty/smile-y as normal. I was feeling a little like the deer in the headlights. It is so hard to think we are closing in on a project that has occupied my mind and emotions for almost two years now. We are on the verge of reinventing our life style and that is - at times - a sobering thought.

Besides the progress on the house, we accomplished another to-do on this trip - we found a barn that we really were pleased with for Sunny and Skeeter. So they will move on or about the first of December - they may actually be moved in before we are! The farm has many large, green pastures and an open, air-y, pleasant barn and is only five miles from the house.

So - the wallboard is up inside the house, is primed and looking very white. This is a huge change and makes all the rooms look so much bigger. The hardwood floors are also down, but are covered up for time being:

The gravel driveway is also a new feature - Scott was able to straighten the drive out and shorten it from the orginal drawings - and shorter means less concrete = less expense. (I'm sure we'll spend it somewhere else!)

In response to the question we hear often "what will you DO up there?", here is one answer: watch the clouds come over the mountain.



On an earlier post, there is a photo of a huge pile of rocks, titled "future landscaping boulders?". Here is how many of those indigenous rocks have been used behind the house as a retaining wall. These rocks are both behind the house and on the side leading down to the area under the screened porch. I am very pleased with how this worked out.



John and I both LOVE the porch ceilings - they will be pickled white so that the wood grain will still show. The columns are fiberglass so fit in with our "no maintenance" requirement. (They are yet to be painted and finished)



Again, the view - this from our front door:

John on the front porch. Note the recessed lighting:

Driving away, the house from the street. We are trying not to dwell on the thought of yard work!

And back in Alpharetta, Jake [the handsome] in front of the townhouse - he is ready to move!

Catching up: day after closing & Labor Day weekend

On the day after closing on our Alpharetta house, I was off to SC with an enormous weight off my shoulders to meet with Scott to go over details of the exterior finish. On Labor Day, John and I both were at the house before the football game. The next day, we went into Greenville to pick out tile for the floor and the shower. A slight miscommunication - and we missed our architect, Rick Bynum's, visit that same day. These photos are a mix of mine and Rick's from one of those three days.

This photo is through the truck windshield and is one of my favorite panormas as you drive down our street:

We told Rick we wanted a photo of him for the blog, so he took this self-portrait on our front porch:

Riley kept me company on my solo trip - he has become a good little traveler. As evidence of my newly mellow mood, I allowed him to wallow in the sand pit, where he pretty well camouflaged himself.

The front door - I'm pleased that we went with the transom & sidelight:

The front view with the Hardi-plank siding going on:

The west end of the house, which shows a lot of details. There will be plenty of outdoor seating options!

Scott predicts that we will spend summer sitting in the brick alcove under the screened porch, since it will be so much cooler there. I think the dogs (always a priority!) will enjoy this spot.

No, this is not our color selection!

Six days and counting until closing on our house in Alpharetta! I almost took a photo of the "Under Contract" sign out front - what a relief it will be to have this step completed. We did not anticipate when we started this project early in 2006 how dismal the real estate market would become -- good thing, because we probably would have shelved the whole idea. So, we took a break from packing and schlepping boxes on Sunday, 8/19 to see what progress had been made in the last two weeks. The porch roof is on and shingled and the porch decking is also in place. The entire exterior is covered with tar paper (note to Janet: this is GREEN) and ready for siding. Inside the HVAC is roughed in and we are only an inspection away from beginning insulation and dry wall.




Kate & Reggie and me & Riley on the corner of the porch - there was actually a breeze here!





We took lots more pictures that I'm sure would interest no one but us, but which document the location of pipes, wiring, etc - guess it's good to know what is where behind the walls. This photo I kind of liked, though - even if the intent was only to photograph the shingles and the ridge vent.

August and the Porch

Since the porch was one of my "must have" features in building a house, I was excited to see it beginning to take shape. This past Sunday, on a sweltering day, the temperature at our house was 5 degress cooler than down on Highway 11. (but it was still hot!)




Again, the porch from inside the house...



Here's a better photo of this week's note from Scott: "To all people on job site: No smoking in house. No mud in house. Clean up behind yourself. Take trash to trash pile. Take your bottles and material scrap out. Thank you, Scott" Sounds like good rules to me - I could do several of them up in counted cross-stitch!



Here is the "bonus" room we created (at Scott's suggestion) in the attic. This is to be John's special retreat - i.e. the planes, trains, & automobiles room. It is bigger than it looks - 12x12. We won't finish this initially, but save it as a project going forward.

On the way home from vacation: 7/21/07

Returning from our week's vacation at Pawley's Island, we drove straight across the state of South Carolina, from the coast to the upstate to check on the progress of construction. I realized we had never taken a picture of the house from the street - this shows how far back we sit. I really like the way the house sits on the lot and that the driveway curves as you come in.





Coming on up the driveway to the front of the house - shingles on the roof were the new feature, but otherwise looked pretty much the same. At this point, I was a little disappointed that there was not more progress....





Until we walked into the basement! Wow, the electrician was here, and wiring is roughed in:





Up the stairs to the living room, and the fireplace was framed out. The triangular-looking thing inside the fireplace is a note from Scott to the sub-contractors (written on some scrap cardboard) requesting their cooperation in keeping the job site clean. Yes, he knew we were coming, but I don't think this was done for our benefit.





The master bedroom shower is also framed out, so you can see the dimensions and the bench, and the plumbing is roughed-in:




The underpinning of our front porch. Here another decision is weighing on me - what color do I want the porch decking to be ??? (We are using "Timber Tech", a no maintenance product, that comes with the color already sealed in) This has been stewing in the back of my brain all week!:

The plumber was here, too. This is the upstairs bathroom. Future guests, this is your tub:

One last photo - on vacation we visited Hopsewee Plantation, and I decided to say that this entrance was the "inspiration" for our "terrace level" entrance (refer to prior posts). Who's going to call me a liar? :-)

July!

This entry includes a few photos from Friday, June 22 ... when I somehow messed up most of the photos I thought I had taken on the digital camera. Usually John and I go to the property on Sunday, so we don't get to see the builder or the crews in action. On this Friday, however, we did a walk through with Scott AND we went to the plumbing supply place in Greenville to begin the process of picking out fixtures. Scott thought we could also get to the tile showroom the same afternoon, but we spent way too much time looking at sinks, tubs, toilets, and faucets. Even if we had the time, we probably were too brain numb to consider any more choices, anyway! So here is Scott Holder, our builder, out in the driveway:



Jumping ahead to July 1st, the front of our home has several large changes - the addition of windows and the building of the foundation piers for the porch. It won't look nearly so much like a brick fortress once the porch is on! The bedroom windows on the second floor had to be increased in size from the original blueprints in order to meet the county building code - which requires windows large enough for a fireman in full gear to enter. The bedroom windows and the views from them are spectacular, however, so it's all good.



The back of the house with the stacks of framing lumber gone. The large "blank" wall area on the left side of the photo is where the fireplace will be:



Back view continued, featuring the master bedding sitting area:




This is the rather imposing-looking west end of the house showing the foundation piers for the screened porch.
Again, the looks of this will change as the porch is added above. But we love the arched entry to the basement (or terrace level, as they say in Alpharetta)




Inside, this is the master bedroom looking out through the sitting area windows:

and the kitchen:

This photo of our 10x10 storage unit was taken on June 22nd, so we have added yet one more truckload. What amazes me is all the stuff that is in here, that I do not miss on a daily basis! The basement of the Alpharetta house is nearing empty and we have also emptied closets and even a few kitchen cupboards. Gettin'er done!