first floor

hello friends and family. as you see above, we have our first floor all framed out. there isn't much interior wall since the majority of the first floor is one large space. the three big openings you see on the eastern wall are where our floor-to-ceiling windows/doors will be - this is the kitchen/dining/living space. the big opening on the short wall is where our fireplace will be - there's an old rendering of the interior of that wall in an earlier post below. the layout has been refined a bit since the rendering was made, but the windows will look the same. in the foreground, an extra floor joist serves as a scary plank to get over an 11 foot deep hole.


this is looking at the house from the backyard/pool area. again, that's our kitchen/dining/living space. there will be a stone patio off that room, possibly with an integrated herb/vegetable garden. to the right of the large window bays is a bathroom, stairs to the second level, the entry space and a TV room.


above is our main living space, as viewed through the fireplace wall. the windows on the western (left) wall are much smaller and serve to frame pretty views of the oak and pine trees. the smaller windows will also help minimize the effects of the hot afternoon sun. if you zoom in, you can see the wall where our refrigerator and wall cabinets will go. there will be a kitchen island that is the same width as that wall (13 feet), with plenty of stools. on either side of the kitchen wall is a hallway - check out the floorplans in this old post for more detail.


above is a shot of the tv room. this room will also have floor-to-ceiling windows on the eastern wall and the smaller windows on the western wall. the tv will go against the wall on the left, and the sofa will go on the wall on the right. at the very left of the photo, you can see an opening in the ceiling - this is for our stairs to the second level. turning left at the top of those stairs will take you down a hallway to the bedrooms and bathrooms. on the right will be a door to a covered outdoor living space. if you zoom in, you can actually see how the subfloor of this space is sloped down to the north (right) to allow any water to drain properly. the floor itself will be level, as the ipe planks will be attached to sleepers that are angled to negate the slope of the subfloor.


and finally, this is a shot of the front elevation. you can see the garage to the left. above is the tv room, then the front door, then the hallway, then the kitchen/dining/living space. we'll eventually bring in fill, such that there is level earth from the front door to the southern (far) end of the house. there will be stone stairs from our driveway to the front door, and the exposed foundation above the stairs and around the garage door will be clad in ledgestone.

join us next week, when we hope to post photos of the second floor framing.