bill + nina's dutchess digs

Dutchess Digs for Rent!

2009-07-06T12:44:00.027-04:00

Yes, the Crib is now available for rent. If you might be interested in an upstate NY getaway, please see our VRBO listing. For those of you coming from said listing, here are some additional images. Floorplans at bottom of post...

view from backyard:

winter:

summer:

kitchen:

kitchen island w/ 36" range:

kitchen / dining / living room overview:

living room:

den w/ sofa bed:

tv in den w/ wii, playstation, roku (streams netflix and amazon video):

guest bedroom #1:

guest bedroom #2:

master bedroom:

master bathroom:

deck:

firepit

floorplan - 1st floor (click to enlarge):

floorplan - 2nd floor (click to enlarge):

Some Updated Photos...

2009-05-05T22:08:00.008-04:00

xmas 2008

december 31, 2008...

interior updates...

mmmm, still needs work.

more...

Overdue Update

2008-08-03T19:30:00.013-04:00

Well, hello there. Nice of you to drop by! We've been spending almost every lovely summer weekend at our place, and it's really beginning to feel like ours. Who would've thought there would still be so much to do after a year of construction. I guess it's the difference between making a house and making a home. Here are some updated pics.

Landscaping still has to happen, but Walter did install some pretty cool shale steps going up to the backyard from the driveway. We were surprised, but they look great. And inside the house...

Above is guest bedroom #1 so far. This is the room Bill got to decorate. It's coming along swimmingly. Much more zen than my bedroom below...

It's got a little further to go than the first one. And below is the master. Check out our massive bed. Apologies for the lackluster text, but Mad Men is on and I'm distracted. Bye Bye.

OK, this is Bill, editing Nina's post to add a couple of notes. Nina and I designed the bed above (and below), and had it fabricated by the same guy who built our dining table, fireplace cabinetry, mirrors and stair rail cap (more on the mirrors and railing below). The pictures don't really show how huge this thing is. It's a king size mattress, with an additional 12 inches of platform on either side, and about 18 inches at the foot of the bed to be used as a bench. Solid walnut construction with integrated light switches (the sockets above the bed will be replaced with custom AvroKo designed fixtures soon).

Below is our mater bath. Jay installed our mirror this week, made from reclaimed snow fence and aged brass. It's nice and long. In front of the mirror are a few edison bulbs.

A view down our upstairs hallway. At the end is a very cool antique copper wedding tray given to us by my boss. It's very happy in this location, marking the entrance to the master bedroom. Thanks Robin!

The walnut cap was added to the stair railing last week. It's quite a bit bigger than we had expected, but the grain of the wood is absolutely perfect. Beyond, you can see the only wallpaper in the house.

Finally, a shot of the living room. We now have a rug, an interesting version of a coffee table, and some objects for the fireplace cabinetry.

OK, that's all. Landscaping is the next big challenge, so look for some updated outdoor pics soon.

insta-yard

2008-06-17T11:00:00.002-04:00

I'm putting up another post to show the overall panoramas we've been showing throughout the process. Above you can get a MUCH better idea of how it'll look when it's done. They've installed in-ground irrigation, lay some sod, and we have a landscaper on board to make the whole place look more like it did when we found it. Lots of tall grasses, some flowering plants, some ferns, and some trees that will turn pretty colors in the fall, like maples.

And yes, the pool is swimmable. It's insanely sweet. Plus, the views of the hillside from down in the pool are even better than expected. Love it.

We even have some wild monkeys.

Lawn & Pool

2008-06-17T08:59:00.002-04:00

Hello folks. It's amazing what a difference some grass makes. Our backyard has been transformed from a giant dust bowl to my favorite place in the world almost overnight. We were up there this weekend with friends, swimming, cooking, and playing rock band. Below is a shot of Sarah and I relaxing poolside.

In the above shot, note that the lounge chairs are over on the patio. They will be moved to the grass on the side of the pool (near side in this photo). We're just keeping everything off the sod for a few weeks. We don't want to disturb the grass while it's trying to get roots into the top soil underneath.

Above is another shot of Sarah. This picture is taken from where one of the lounge chairs will be. It's a really pretty view across the pool and up the hill into the woods.

OK, that's all for now. Nina took some panoramic photos this weekend, so maybe she'll post those. We'll see you all upstate soon.

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-26T18:52:00.006-04:00

What a weekend. The weather couldn't have been any better and we took full advantage of it. Friends came up on Saturday afternoon. Above, Sarah was hard at work making dinner for everyone. Below is a shot of our pasta with homemade meatballs.

On Sunday, we went wine touring to Millbrook and Clinton vineyards...

When we got back to the house, we grilled up some burgers and had a fire...

OK, on to house progress. The backsplash has been installed, but still needs grout. Pretty sweet finishing piece for the kitchen.

Our walnut entry closet doors were hung last week, and they're amazing. They slide toward the exterior walls and can be used to close off the den (see second picture below).

Here's a shot of the den. We moved the Eames chair upstate because the cats think it's a scratching post. The coffee table is made from reclaimed wood and steel.

Our fireplace is from a company called Spark.

Here's a closeup of the mirror over the fireplace. It's antique mirror glass with a custom frame. The frame is made from reclaimed snow fence from Wyoming. It's the same material we used on the walls in the powder room.

Our millworker Jay built us this dining table out of reclaimed oak that he's been storing for a while. There's even some old paint on the apron + legs. It's 9 feet long. Good for entertaining. It also has two shallow drawers hidden in the apron we can use for napkins and placemats.

The first of many dance parties happened on this deck.

The bluestone coping was installed on the pool last week. We're hoping to have grass in about 2 weeks.

Till next time.

Pool, Millwork, Railing, Concrete, Progress

2008-05-11T21:48:00.007-04:00

Hey there blog fans. A lot has been done in the last two weeks. As you can see above, our pool has been shot with gunnite, and is ready to be plastered. The yard has been mostly graded, and more small trees were cleared in order to shape the landscape a bit more. It's coming together.

Above are the floor-to-ceiling walnut doors that will serve as the mudroom closet doors, and also to separate the den from the rest of the house when someone needs to use it as a bedroom. They were dropped off, but not yet installed, which is why they are on the floor in the photo. Also...

Our concrete was installed! Above is a photo of the fireplace cabinetry countertop, and below is a photo of our master bedroom vanity. The guest bath tub deck also has concrete, but since the tile is still being installed, it was covered up and I couldn't see it.

Our blackened steel railing was also installed, and it looks great despite the fact that we were getting kind of used to the nice clean look of no railing. But I suppose it's necessary. The handrail will be installed later, as it's not been fabricated yet. But it will be a sappy walnut, so there will be lighter streaks running through it.

Pool Pic

2008-05-08T12:06:00.002-04:00

Just got this picture from our pool builder. The concrete is formed, the steps are done, and they're working on the U-shaped bench that will be between the steps. That's all for now. I'm heading up this weekend and will take more photos then.

First Night

2008-04-27T16:14:00.006-04:00

This weekend, Nina and I stayed at the house for the first time. Don't get us wrong, there's still much to do, but it is finally at the point where we have enough amenities to actually spend the night. Our master bath shower is working (but doesn't have a real enclosure yet) and the powder room downstairs is up and running. What else do you need?

The above shot was taken shortly before dusk last night.

The below shot shows our nearly finished kitchen. The sinks and faucets are in, and the fridge has been paneled and turned on. The only thing left is to put up the backsplash (there's a picture in an older post). Check out the stools too.

Below is a view toward the dining/living room. All the dining lights have been installed, and you can see a couple of our dining chairs. The "table" you see is actually our den sofa. In the distance is our recently delivered living room sofa. It's huge.

The other direction...

Our range was hooked up and is now functional. I'm going to burn so much stuff on this thing.

Our guest bath tiles have finally arrived (they were severely delayed), and they're working on finishing up that bathroom now. We didn't realize how irregular these tiles are - they require a 3/8" grout line, which is huge. We're going to use a dark grout which will hopefully make it look more deliberate.

No blog next week, but check us again in two weeks. Cheers.

DUST OFF YOUR SWIMMIES...

2008-04-19T23:21:00.015-04:00

WE'RE GETTING A POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! How sweet is that? The hole is dug, and they were laying the rebar today (see below). hopefully next week it will be shot with gunite. Maybe we'll be swimming by the end of June (fingers crossed).

Ugh. So the last time we were up, we laid out the location of the pool, scooting it off to the side, so it wasn't the center of attention in the back yard. After they cleared the necessary trees, and graded the land a bit with some of the dirt + shale they dug up, what do you know, the pool seems to be pretty front and center in our yard. Which bothers me to no end! They put it in the right place, we just happened to locate it in the wrong place. To ameliorate the situation, we'll have to do some creative landscaping - planting a few more trees on the north side (left side of pic), and re-grading the southside a bit more to make it feel like less of a presence. The above pic was shot from our upstairs porch. And now for the eye candy...

This week, we saw some more kitchen progress. Above is the arrangement of our backsplash tiles laid out on the floor. It's a made-to-order pattern from Ann Sacks, who, by the way, did not include a diagram for this along with the tile shipment. But Walter the master puzzlesmith figured it out. And below, you can see our countertops, complete with this crazy-awesome pop-up electrical outlet (there's one on either side of the range). The countertops are Ceasarstone, which is a man-made quartz aggregate, and is pretty darn-near indestructible and extremely low-maintenance.

How cool is that? They are connected to a GFI (ground fault interrupted - used in all wet areas like kitchen + bathroom) electrical supply in the cabinet chase below, and are gasketed at the top (it forms a seal in the closed position in case you spill anything.) Also installed this past week was some of our millwork! Below is our fireplace cabinetry. It's all solid walnut and walnut veneer, with a tool-blackened steel face on the fireplace box, and leather cabinet doors. The countertop on that will be concrete, which is being fabricated right now.

A detail shot of the cabinet doors...

The leather is from Moore + Giles, who seem to be the only tannery that makes anything close to a worn saddle/jacket leather. All I wanted was to clad my doors in someone's old motor-cycle jacket. Is that so much to ask? I think they came pretty close, though. Click on it for some sweet grain detail. Below is another detail shot. Note the grille cut into the wood at the bottom. This was genius HVAC-ing on Walter's end. Instead of slicing up our ceiling or floor with return grilles, he hid them in the fireplace cabinetry, and also in the kicks of our kitchen cabinetry at the other end of the room.

More millwork in the master bathroom upstairs - the vanity we posted earlier was finally installed, along with a removable ipe deck for our shower. It's tiled below, but since we had some left over from the upstairs porch deck, we decided to make our shower a bit more spa-like with a wood floor.
Below is the vanity, which will also get a concrete top. I should mention that the concrete is being done by Mark Lacko of Betonas Concrete in Garrison. He was referred by our millworker, Jay Brennan, who I would also pimp with a link, if he weren't still living in the stone age and without a website. So, I'll just say that we are blown away by his work so far, and have hired him to do a ton of other custom furniture in our house.

The powder room (below) is almost done now, it's just waiting for a custom light fixture. And a mirror. Billy beat me to the inaugural pee. The toilet is Toto, and the sink is Duravit.

I just liked this photo above, so I threw it in the mix. You can kind of see from the first level that the pool really is more off to the side than it appears to be from the second floor.

And our mattresses were delivered today. No beds yet, but we've got mattresses. Which is a good thing, because next weekend, since Billy's mom is taking over our place in the city, we'll be spending our first night in the house! Stay tuned.

Floors Sealed, More Light Fixtures, Mattresses

2008-04-07T19:37:00.003-04:00

Our floors have been sanded and sealed with a matte water-based polyurethane. They look incredible. In the above picture, note that (a) the floors are finished, (b) the back island panel has been applied, (c) three of the five dining room pendants have been installed, and (d) the refrigerator panels are ready to be installed - they're against the wall on the right.

In the above photo, you can see the wall sconces on the fireplace wall (that's the fireplace on the floor waiting to be installed - the cabinetry should be ready for installation this week).

Above is a close-up of the floors. We love the rustic character, and we chose not to fill any knots.

Above is another shot of the floors. The color looks much different in this shot. In reality, the color is closest to the first picture in this post.

And finally, this is a shot of our finished stairs. To the right, you can see the dark gray hexagonal tiles on the entry floor. The walls in the entry were painted a light green, but we really don't like it, so it's being repainted to match the rest of the downstairs. Also check out the sweet light fixture we got for the entry and the mercury glass pendants above the stairs.

After going to the house, Nina and I headed to Sleepy's and bought four beds (a king for our room, a queen for one guest room, and 2 twins for the other guest room). They're being delivered a week from Saturday, so we might just stay up there that night!

This should be another week of significant progress. Hopefully the plumbing fixtures will be installed, painting will be complete, the remaining lights will be installed, the kitchen counter will arrive, and our custom fireplace and master bath cabinetry will arrive. Hopefully...

Almost There

2008-03-30T16:54:00.003-04:00

This week saw quite a bit of progress. The floors were sanded and should be sealed this week. The stairs were also installed. They're white oak, just like the floors.

We ran the treads and risers to be flush with the wall. It definitely makes for a more interesting set of stairs.

The recessed lights were installed.

The range hood was put in place.

This is the den. There will be a media cabinet against this wall, on which a TV will sit. There will be wall sconces installed where the light bulbs are now. The wires below are for in-wall speakers.

This is the same wall from the other side. You can see the track in the ceiling above for the entry closet doors on the far side of the wall. Those doors can also be used to close off the den if there are guests staying in there.

And here's a shot of the ceiling fan that is in each of the bedrooms.

We expect significant progress again this week. We'll be having furniture delivered soon, and should be able to stay up there within the next few weeks!

Paint, Fridge, Tile, Stone

2008-03-25T20:05:00.000-04:00

Hello.

Nina and I returned from Copenhagen (married!) on Saturday evening, and headed up to the house for the first time in a couple of weeks on Sunday morning. The most visible progress was certainly on the first floor of the house, where taping, spackling and painting have been completed. The recessed light fixtures were also installed. Have a look...

The next shot shows the reveals between the wall and ceiling and wall and baseboard. Also note the curtain track recessed into the ceiling.

Here's a pic of the powder room. Those are reclaimed fence posts on the lower half of the walls.

The refrigerator was also put in place, but has not yet been paneled.

Below is the master bath shower, which was recently tiled. The floor of the shower will actually be covered by an ipe deck, and the rest of the bathroom floor will be tiled in the same travertine as the shower walls.

Finally, a couple of shots of the exterior of the house. The tent around the garage has been taken down, and you can finally see the ledgestone against the garage door. The door is made of the same cedar as the deck ceiling above, but is completely covered in dust. Once cleaned, it will have the same vibrant color.

We'll be up again this weekend, and will post more then. We expect to have electrical outlets by then, and our floors will be sanded in preparation for finishing.

Monday Update

2008-03-10T16:04:00.013-04:00

Nina drove up to the house this morning and took some great pictures that show that we're really coming down the home stretch. The covered deck is just about done - the only thing left to do is install the recessed lights, speakers and ceiling fan. Speaking of the ceiling fan, Walter built a small flat surface from the cedar so the fan could be mounted in the center of the peak. Here's a picture...

The ipe cap was also applied to the railing...

The cabinets were re-installed, this time for good. The large box on the right will house our refrigerator, which is an integrated, walnut paneled Thermador Freedom side by side...

And here's a shot of our newly installed Bluestar range. It's 36" wide, with 6 burners (up to 22K BTU's!) and an extra large gas oven. The door is black. It's right in the middle of the 13 foot island which is temporarily covered with cardboard.

The reclaimed fencepost cladding has been applied to the powder room walls. Those are paint samples on the wall above. Walter will be painting the first floor walls soon.

The next shot is of the skylight in the guest bathroom. Walter suggested cladding the channel in the same cedar we used for the deck ceiling and garage door. We think it looks great.

The master bath is currently being tiled. We used a stone called durango in here. I think it's a type of travertine. This is a shot of the shower...

And finally, a couple of shots of the ledgestone.

We expect things to move pretty quickly now, so stay tuned.

Master Bath Vanity

2008-02-26T15:07:00.003-05:00

Quick midweek update. This vanity was completed a while back, but we never posted any pictures. We're having quite a bit of furniture made locally, including this vanity. The surface is made of two solid walnut planks that run the full length of the cabinetry - note the way some of the knots span multiple drawers/door pieces.

The picture above shows the proper locations of the door pulls. I included the below picture because it has less glare.

The countertop (not yet fabricated) will be concrete and we'll have two undermount sinks.

Other stuff being custom made includes...

Fireplace cabinetry (solid walnut, leather, blackened steel, concrete)
Two 9 foot tall partition doors (solid walnut)
9 foot long farm table for the dining room
Two 12 foot long credenzas (wood, lacquer, brass)

one of these will go between the dining and living rooms
the other will go against the wall in the den (think tv stand)

Bed (rustic wood planks)
Two mirrors (rustic wood frames, antique mirror surface)

one will go above the master bath vanity
the other will go over the fireplace

We'll post pictures as the items are completed.

Deck Ceiling, Guests, More Stone

2008-02-24T09:27:00.003-05:00

Hi. This week, Walter and crew installed most of the clear red cedar ceiling over our deck. The little round cutouts are for recessed lights, and there will be a ceiling fan in the center of the room. Here are some more pics...

Below is a shot of the cedar ceiling from the driveway. The two guys in the picture are Ate and Anthony. Nina used to work for Ate at the esteemed Atema Architecture, and Anthony is a client of Ate's that is building a house in Ulster County. They stopped by, along with Amy from Ate's office, to check out the progress and take a look at some of Nina's stellar finishing details.

They've also applied quite a bit more stone, which is clearly a slow and painstaking process.

That's it for now. Nina will be up again on Friday and we'll try to post again next week. Thanks for reading.

Deck Railing, Ledgestone, Baseboards, Taping

2008-02-17T19:17:00.007-05:00

Hello. Our deck railing was installed this week. It's comprised of aluminum posts and stainless steel cables. The top rail hasn't been installed yet, but it will be about 3" wide by 1.5" tall, made from the same ipe as the deck floor. See below for a closer picture.

Below is the ledgestone that is being applied to the exposed foundation.

Below is a photo that shows our newly installed baseboards. They are flush with the sheetrock above with a 1/2 inch reveal in between. We're probably going to paint them the same color as the wall above, but while the wall will have an eggshell finish, the baseboards will be glossy.

Below, Walter had his taper finish one of our windows. There will be a strip of douglas fir (the same wood as the window frame) along the sill, but no other trim. There is a 3/8" reveal between the wood frame and the sheetrock.

The next shot is a view down the 2nd floor hallway toward the deck. Check out the reveals where the walls meet the ceiling - almost gives the impression that the ceiling is floating. These reveals and other similar details are everywhere in this house, and create a ton of extra work for the guys doing the sheetrock, baseboards and taping. Thankfully, we have a contractor that shares our aesthetic and is willing to put in the extra effort.

Here's what's left...

Finish taping

Paint the walls

Install the kitchen appliances (arriving this Friday)

Finish the stonework (including bluestone on front steps)

Install deck ceiling

Install stair treads/risers

Install stair railing

Finish the wood floors

Install tile in guest and master baths

Install plumbing fixtures

Install fireplace

Install light fixtures

Landscaping

We're definitely going up again this Saturday, and we'll post more then.

Stone, Sheetrock, Cabinets, Hex Tile

2008-01-27T22:14:00.000-05:00

This week, the foundation around the garage was "tented" so it can be brought up to a temperature that will allow the stone to be applied. Kinda reminds me of the scene in E.T. when the feds come into Elliot's house to check out the alien body.

The sheetrock has started going up, which has had two major impacts. First, it's much easier to see the actual size of the rooms when you can't see through the walls. Second, the house is much brighter with the white walls and ceilings than it was with the exposed framing.

Above is the living room from the opposite direction. The kitchen is at the end of the room - you can see the cabinets hanging on the wall. The refrigerator will go in the space to the right of the wall cabinets, and will be paneled in the same walnut. Below is a close-up of the wall cabinets. Note that they still need to be leveled.

Below is a photo of our foyer. The dark gray hex tiles were just installed with black grout. We think the tiles will look great with the solid walnut partition doors that are being built for us now.

That's all for now. We'll try to post again next week.

Ceiling, Sheetrock, Cabinets

2008-01-22T09:59:00.001-05:00

This week, Walter began installing the pine ceiling in the bedrooms. The planks have been primed and painted white, and are a nice alternative to a standard sheetrock ceiling. It was also much easier for them to install around the beams. If you click the above picture, you can see the planks more clearly.

In the above photo, you can see that the back wall of our kitchen is sheetrocked. The brown boxes on the floor are our island cabinets, laid out in their proper locations. The range will go in the middle space (although it's actually wider than the gap in the picture). The entire island will have a CaesarStone countertop, and there's enough room for four stools on the dining room side of the island (note the open space between the two side cabinets - that's for your legs).

This is a shot of the front of the cabinets. They're quite nice. Walter is expecting delivery of our appliances soon, and wants to get the cabinets in place so the appliances can be installed immediately upon delivery.

Finally, one more shot of our deck. They have now finished the siding around the corners, and should be installing the cable rail soon.

This week, we expect a lot of sheetrock to go up. We're definitely looking forward to this step, because each room will finally feel like its own entity. They will hopefully make some progress with the cabinet installation. It's possible that the cedar ceiling will be installed over the deck. And, if we're lucky, we might get some lighting.

That's all for now. See you next week.

Deck, Garage Door, Insulation

2008-01-13T17:02:00.000-05:00

Hello. Above is the second floor deck. The ipe planks have been installed, and the cable rail has been ordered. We're hoping that Walter will be able to install the cedar ceiling sometime this week. The installation is amazing, with each screw perfectly in line with the next. There's quite a bit of construction dust on the boards, so the color is pretty dull in these photos. You can see some pictures in a previous post here that show the true color. Below is a shot of the deck in the sun.

The cedar cladding has been applied to our garage door. It's made up of 4" tongue and groove cedar planks that run the full 17 foot length of the door. These are the same cedar planks that will be used for the ceiling above our deck. Check out the second photo below and imagine the clear cedar on both the garage door and the deck ceiling, with ledgestone covering all exposed concrete, and bluestone on the stairs. Should be great!

And below, the insulation for our exterior walls and roof was sprayed this week. The product is called Icynene, and should make for a very energy efficient and quiet house. It has a very high R value, which we needed, considering all the glass we have on the first floor. The below shot is facing the kitchen, where some of the cabinets have been placed in exactly the shape and size of the island (here' a link to our kitchen layout). It was very cool to get a feeling for what it will be like when the kitchen is done.

Finally, when Carey and I arrived at the house, we found a new friend waiting in the foyer. It appears that someone had a little fun with excess insulation, a couple of sticks and three Budweiser caps. Carey and the snowman got along very well.

Flooring

2008-01-01T17:44:00.000-05:00

From this point forward, most of our posts will be focused on the interior of the house, as most of the exterior work is done. Walter and crew installed our flooring this past week, as evidenced in the above and below photos. The floors are white oak planks in widths of 6, 7, and 8 inches - most of which are 10 to 12 feet long. They will eventually be sealed with a water-based polyurethane, which will hopefully help us retain the light color (we don't want them to turn honey colored, which is what happens with oil-based polys). The above shot is taken from the kitchen area of the main room. The black box on the floor at the end of the room is our fireplace, and the guy in khakis is the mill worker that will be building the cabinetry around it.

Above is a photo showing the floors in one of the guest bedrooms.

And here's a shot of the front of the house. The siding is now complete (except for one small area by the deck, not shown here). Also note that the gutters are now in place, but thanks to Nina's skills, they cannot be seen from the ground.

Our ipe deck is now in place, although we neglected to take any photos. We'll post some early next week. See you then.

Snow, Heat, Wiring, Gutters, Marriage

2007-12-18T20:07:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone. Sorry we haven't posted in a while, but things have been a bit crazy around here, and we hadn't been up to the house in three weeks. There's been quite a bit of progress, so here we go...

The above pictures show the downspouts that have been applied to the corners of the house. We were really looking forward to seeing the gutter detail Nina designed, but all the snow blocked the view (Walter has not yet installed the snow guards). In the top picture, the area enclosed in plastic is our second floor deck, where they have begun to install the ipe decking. Below are a couple of pictures - the first shows the wood before installation, and the second shows the work done so far...

Here's a shot of our living/dining/kitchen area, looking toward the kitchen. The five light fixtures in the center of the room will be over the dining table. In the distance, you can see the duct for the vent hood that will be over the range in the island. Almost all of the duct work, plumbing and wiring is done, and the house now has electric and heat. The piles of wood in the below picture are our floors, which they started installing on Saturday. Don't worry - they'll be covered up when they spray the insulation and close up the walls in a few weeks.

Here's a shot of the eastern view from the living room. The views really open up when the leaves are down...

Here's a shot of the southern view from the living room, followed by a close up of the rocks in the first picture...

And here's a shot of our kitchen cabinets. They're beautiful, and so well made, but they'll really shine once they are assembled. That's because the grain of the walnut will continue across multiple cabinets.

That's all for this week. We've got family coming to Brooklyn next weekend, so we may not make it up to the house. Expect the next update just after New Years.

Oh yeah, in case you haven't heard, we're engaged. Woo hoo!

HAUS!

2007-11-17T22:28:00.001-05:00

Apologies, I couldn't come up with a better name for the post. My creative well is running low, as I'm scrambling to finish up all the last-minute details + specifications that I put off because I had "so much time" to make those decisions. Well, that time is running out as you can see from the above photo. The outside of the house is nearing completion, which means it will be completely sealed up and insulated and heated within the next few weeks! Speaking of heating...

Above are is our localized radiant system that we'll have for the floors in both bathrooms upstairs. For those unfamiliar with how radiant heat for floors works, there are many methods. In this one, hot water is run through plastic tubes in a closed-circuit system. The tubes are run under the subfloor (this is the view from the first floor looking up into the floor cavity above) and affixed to these metal plates which distribute the heat through the subfloor and finished tile floor above. And speaking of finished floors...

Above is our wood flooring! And it's freaking perfect! We got a "character-grade," sometimes known as "rustic," wide-plank white oak floor that will go throughout the house. We like the wide planks because they come in longer lengths so overall you can really see all the beauty inherent in the wood. It's got tons of knots, checks, and wormholes, which sounds like a bad thing, but it's a really good thing. At least we think so. As soon as the house is insulated and heated, the wood needs to acclimate to what will be a pretty constant temperature + level of humidity inside the house for at least a week. Then moisture readings of both the planks and the subfloor are taken to insure that the materials are at a stable enough level (not too much moisture or dryness - not sure of the exact percentage) to install and finish.

Siding, Roof

2007-11-09T15:30:00.001-05:00

Not much time for a post today, but I wanted to get these photos up. Our siding is being installed now, and it is sweet. We went with a Benjamin Moore semi-solid black stain on knotty red cedar planks. It came out perfectly, with the grain of the wood still very visible, but with a consistent black color. Check out some more photos of the siding below...

Check out the below window - notice the contrast between the siding and the frame. Also note how there is no trim - we were able to run the siding right up to the windows for a very clean, minimal finish.

In the below photo, notice the clean corner of the house. Nina wanted to ensure that there was no "cap" trim on the corner, so she stopped the siding a few inches early so the corner trim could be installed flush with the siding.

Below is a shot from the backyard. The workers have begun siding the first level on this side of the house, which can be seen between the window bays. Also note that our roof has been installed. It will look even better once the snow bar is installed.

Next post will be the week of November 19th. We hope that all the siding will be up by then, along with some other significant progress. See ya.

Stain, HVAC, Plumbing

2007-11-01T13:42:00.001-04:00

Hello. Check out the above shot of the house. We haven't taken any pictures of the house from this location - we think it looks pretty cool.

We've had a pretty busy week so far. Nina and I went up to the house on Sunday to check out the above stain samples. We didn't like any of them - the semi-transparent and semi-solid stains were all too blotchy, and they all had a purple tint. The two samples on the right are a solid stain, meaning they don't allow any of the grain to show. This made the color more consistent, but it covered up the beauty of the wood.

With winter around the corner, Walter and crew really want to get the siding up ASAP. They put together some additional samples, and Nina and I went to check them out yesterday. We considered going with a clear finish, but opted against it as the house might appear too "freckled" due to the knots in the cedar. We thought about the Barn Red stain above, but thought the color is a bit too literal for our barn-influenced house. Ultimately, we decided to stick with our original color choice - black. The blacks above look pretty blue, but that's just the photo. If you can guess which black we chose, you get a gold star.

Above you can see the holes cut in our first floor for the heat/ac registers. There's going to be a very cool detail here - stay tuned for a photo when our floors are installed.

The plumber is busy installing all the copper pipes that will provide our water. Above is a shot of our powder room.

And here's a picture of Sarah and me from Sunday. The leaves are really starting to come down, and the views are opening up. Fall is pretty amazing up there.

We'll be up again on Saturday with family, and hopefully we'll see enough progress to justify another post next week!

Leaf Peeping

2007-10-23T20:53:00.001-04:00

Hi all. This weekend, we went upstate with our friends Larry and RJ, who are building a house over in Sullivan county. On Saturday, we drove up to their property, which is on a beautiful hillside not far the Delaware River. Unfortunately, we neglected to take any photos while we were there.

The leaves upstate are peaking right now, and the drive was great. We took the amazing route 97, which I had never been on before (check out a picture here). We spent Saturday night at my mother's place, and on Sunday morning, Nina demanded that we go pick some pumpkins. Above is a shot from the Jenkins-Leuken farm in New Paltz. The ridge is in the background.

Sunday, we made our way over to our house. The roof has finally arrived and is in the process of being installed. It is a galvalume standing seam roof, and it should be completely on by next weekend (weather permitting). We're really happy with the way it looks.

Our siding has also arrived, and is currently in our garage. Walter put together a few stain samples for us, and we weren't really thrilled with any of them. The original intention was to stain the siding black, but we're learning that some parts of the cedar don't absorb the stain as well as others, resulting in an uneven finish. This looks fine from a distance, but up close, it's not as attractive. Over time, it would probably weather and look good, but we're still looking into our options.

We also approved the stone cladding for our foundation on Sunday. The masons should start cutting and applying the stone soon.

OK, hopefully we'll have an update next week.

Update and Kitchen Plans

2007-10-15T10:09:00.000-04:00

Hi all. There hasn't been much progress over the last couple of weeks, due to delays in receiving materials. Last time we posted, we mentioned that we would soon have our roof and siding, but neither have arrived. This coming weekend, we'll approve the stain for our siding, and Walter and crew will begin installation the following week (assuming it arrives by then). We'll also approve the stone that will clad the foundation, and hopefully the mason will be able to start work immediately. We expect a garage door soon, too. It will be clad in clear red cedar to match the ceiling of the covered porch above.

In the meantime, the plumber and electrician are working on the interior. We've specified every plumbing fixture in the house, so the plumbing can be roughed in. We're still working on the light fixtures, but we're pretty certain of their locations, so the electrician can get started too.

We didn't want to leave our beloved readers hanging for too long, so in lieu of progress pics, we'll give you some plans. Below are images that show the plan for our Henrybuilt kitchen, which is being built in Seattle right now. For those of you that have never heard of Henrybuilt, check out their website here. We looked at dozens of cabinet makers, and none compared to the quality or aesthetic of Henrybuilt. This really will be the center of the home, and because the kitchen, living room, and dining room are open to one another, a lot of thought went into its design. When you check out their website, notice the kitchens in walnut - that's the material we've chosen. First, the plan...

The plan above shows the refrigerator and base cabinets against the north wall, and the island to the south. The primary sink, diswasher and trash will be in the north cabinets, while the range, microwave and prep sink will be in the island. On either end of the island are hidden cabinets with doors on touch latches. One will hold cookbooks and the other will hold liquor. Between those cabinets is an open space for the legs of those sitting on stools watching the chefs in action.

Above is the north wall elevation. The refrigerator and diswasher will be paneled in walnut and will be flush with the surrounding cabinets. This should help us achieve the furniture look we're going for.

Above is the island elevation. On the left is a small prep sink. In the middle is a beautiful Bluestar range, that will probably be painted black. On the right is the microwave, which will be hidden behind a door when not in use. Who goes to farm country to use a microwave anyway?

And here's what the kitchen will look like from the living/dining room. Clean and simple.

Hopefully, we'll have more progress for you next week. Thanks for tuning in.

More Windows, Weatherproofing

2007-10-02T12:00:00.000-04:00

Hi all. This past week, all remaining windows were installed, and the roof was weatherproofed. We're hoping that our siding and roof panels arrive this week so Walter and his team can begin installation, but there are no guarantees. Not too much to explain this week, so just enjoy the photos.

more windows, beams, stairs...

2007-09-22T18:55:00.001-04:00

hello. so above you can barely see it, but walter and his guys carved "country crib 07" into the foundation for our front stairs, which you see below. please note that each stair will be clad in bluestone, so this little note will be a time capsule piece for someone else to discover many moons down the road.

above is a shot of the poured steps. more earth will be brought in to fill beside them, so no need for a railing.

as you can see here, more windows have been installed, and hopefully all will be in while the weather stays dry. we had a bit of a misting today, but nothing that would cause the wood windows too much harm.

above are the beams that tie into our rafters (and thus help secure the roof), and also help prevent the walls from splaying outward due to the weight of the roof. These will be exposed in all the bedrooms with a cathedral ceiling above, which is why walter has protected them with this wrap.

here's a shot of the west wall in our main living space on the first floor. each bay has two awning windows in the middle for cross ventilation. that's why the frames on the middle two windows are wider than those on either side.

and above you can see how the windows will frame the fireplace. below is the view out the window to the left of the fireplace. it's really gorgeous in reality, but the picture doesn't do it too much justice. we chose a roof today, and we hope it will be installed sometime in the next couple of weeks. that's all for now folks.

Windows

2007-09-19T13:04:00.001-04:00

Our windows were delivered yesterday, and Walter and his crew have begun installation. The four largest bays have been installed, as you can see above. They are incredible. The outside of the window frames is a clear anodized aluminum, which simply means, they look like unpainted aluminum. The insides are douglas fir, and look beautiful.

Above is a shot from the backyard.

Above is a shot from the kitchen area of the main room. Notice that each bay has a sliding door. The fir will be left unpainted, finished with some sort of polyurethane I think.

And these windows are in the den. That's all that's been installed so far - hopefully we'll have the rest in by this weekend. We should also have our front steps poured and our 2nd floor ceiling beams in by then. Soon, a steel roof and cedar siding. This thing is really becoming a house!

Look for another post Sunday or Monday.

senor hausbot

2007-09-16T21:25:00.001-04:00

hey. check out our HOUSE! doesn't the north facade look like a sad robot?

this week the front stairs progressed, and we're still trying to find the tastiest recipe for lemonade. the stairs will look great, and they will be a very comfortable climb, but the land is so steep! we trust walter, though, and we'll all figure something out, and it will be beautiful.

and, once they climb those comfortable steps, this is what our guests will see when they enter the front door. straight ahead is a window with a view to the back yard. to the right are the stairs that will take you to the second floor (bedrooms, covered porch). to the left will be two coat closets with a bench in the middle. this is also where we'll have two floor to ceiling sliding partitions that close off the den when we need to use it as an extra bedroom. when it's not a bedroom, the sliding partitions will serve as the coat closet doors.

above is a shot of our rainy day covered porch on the second floor. instead of traditional wood collar ties here (usually bolted to the rafters, to pull the walls in, as the weight of the roof wants to push them out), we opted to use a 3/4" steel rod with staggered turnbuckles. they serve the same purpose as the wooden ones that will be used inside the house (and will be exposed in the bedrooms - see next week's post for pics of those), but are more appropriate for outside, and also just look pretty cool.

DEFINITELY stay tuned next week, as our windows, interior collar tie beams, and roof arrive this week. over the next couple of weeks, we'll see some pretty major steps. cheers.

stairs + chairs

2007-09-08T17:19:00.000-04:00

hello.

Most of the time this week was spent trying to figure out our front stairs. Walter + his team had to unearth most of the fill that was near our front entry in order to install a concrete block foundation for the main entry stairs up to the house. This area was particularly difficult to design, because I never did a real land survey in that area. Nor do I actually know how to do a real land survey. Anyway, the area was a lot steeper than I had anticipated, so we've been going back and forth between my sketches and figuring it all out on site. Billy and I are comfortable at this point making lemonade from lemons and pretty much letting the guys wing it from here. We'll see how it turns out.

Above is the full house view from the front as it is right now.

And a BIG thank you to Walter for making us some really cool chairs for our future fire pit! He made a bunch of them for another client, and was thoughtful enough to make a few extra for us. How great is that?

Rafters

2007-09-05T19:01:00.000-04:00

Hello all. This week we gained roof rafters, and you can start to see the barn influence. The above shot is from the backyard.

Above is a shot from across the driveway. The workers have begun to apply the Tyvek housewrap to the sheathing.

Above is the view from the driveway as it turns toward the garage. Check out the sweetness that is our covered deck!

It turns out that we'll need a separate foundation for our entry steps. That big mound of dirt is backfill that had to be removed to make way for said foundation.

It appears mighty tall when you're approaching the garage. I think this is really going to be an impressive sight when it's done.

This is up on the roof deck. It's not the best picture, but you can see that the floor is waterproofed and sloped to allow for proper drainage.

And here's the lovely Nina, standing in the master closet wall.

sheathing

2007-08-25T16:14:00.001-04:00

hey blog fans. short post this week. most of the plywood sheathing is up. this not only protects the house from weather, but is actually structural as well, taking much of the shear loads. well, whatever's left that isn't dealt with by our many metal shear wall panels that the engineer specified. next week walter will begin framing on the roof. i think that will be a bit shocking, as i've gotten quite used to our low-profile flat box.

above is a collaged view of the main space from the kitchen toward the fireplace wall. we're installing a vent-free gas fireplace, so no chimney required. as such, it will be surrounded by glass.

above is the view from the driveway approaching the garage.

above is the garage, which is under the den and entry hall, which is under the covered roof deck. you can see that the land is still a few feet shy of reaching the front door. we're still working out the details for the front steps.

above, the view from the backyard.

our first night at the house

2007-08-23T21:33:00.000-04:00

hello friends and family. this week the first image goes to our new friend arthur. arthur is the resident fowl at clinton vineyards, a highlight among local stanford-area attractions. this past weekend, billy and i, along with our dear friends carey and justine (actually we just met justine, but after a few rounds of lawn bocce and some kumbaya 'round the fire, i feel like we're the oldest of gal pals) set up camp in our future backyard and got to know our new home. the weather was perfect, in fact refreshingly chilly at night, which was a welcome change from the recent oppressive august heat. we visited a few vineyards, played some bocce, and roasted some marshmallows, and didn't actually sing kumbaya. but there was a fire. and the pure silence was bliss come bedtime. it was all really nice until my peaceful slumber was disrupted by a vicious man-eating wildebeest and its epic blood fest featuring a giant grizzly bear right outside my tent. or, it was a gentle deer. eating a leaf. either way, there may have been a grand total of two hours of real sleep for me. but hey, my mind goes to dark places sometimes. needless to say, i'll be very happy when this house has central ac, a shower, and light. lots of glorious, artificial light.

so, here's the house. doesn't look all that different from last week, but now there's backfill around the foundation, so the house doesn't actually look like it's three storeys tall. and the interior framing on the second floor is pretty much done. this week, walter's going to begin framing out the roof.

c'est tout.

second floor

2007-08-11T19:02:00.001-04:00

this week, the exterior walls on the second floor were framed out. "rub-r-wall" was also applied to the foundation for waterproofing. what you see around most of the foundation in the picture above is actually insulating foam. this should help to prevent any heat loss through the basement walls.

walter also started backfilling the area around the foundation, although this picture isn't the best evidence.

at the far end of the photo, you'll notice that there are no walls on the second floor - this will be the outdoor living room, complete with ipe floors and ceiling and a cable railing.

in this shot from the backyard, you can see the window openings on the second floor. we used a standard 3' wide by 4' tall window unit in all the upstairs rooms. here's the layout, from the left...

first set of double windows is in the master bedroom
second set of double windows is in the master bathroom
the next two single windows are in one of the guest rooms
the final set of double windows is in the other guest room

the stairs to the second level will be just to the left of the outdoor living room.

this shot shows the front of the house from across the driveway (the white trailer is in the driveway). again, the insulating foam is visible. additional fill will be brought in such that all of the insulation is covered.

hi walter.

we'll update again next weekend, when we hope to have the interior walls on the second floor framed.

first floor

2007-08-05T18:13:00.001-04:00

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.

framing

2007-07-22T14:38:00.000-04:00

Framing has begun! Our first floor trusses, subfloor and shear walls are now in place. Above, you can see the shear walls - these metal units are required as we have large expanses of glass that cannot support the weight of the materials above. There's a massive header that rests on top of the shear walls and distributes the weight evenly (it was installed after our visit, so it's not in the picture). In the above shot, the near wall with three shear walls will face our backyard/pool - the three large openings along that wall will be floor to ceiling windows.

Above is a view toward the house from the backyard. You can see where the three sets of windows will be between the shear walls - each set of windows contains a sliding door that will open onto a stone patio. The ground will then be terraced down to the driveway on the right.

Above, framers installing the outer wall near our pantry.

Above, a view into our garage (near) and basement (far). There will be a wall, stairway and mechanicals between the two spaces. Our garage will get light through windows in the door, but the basement will unfortunately have no windows as the house is nestled into the hill. We'll have an air exchange unit down there to keep the air fresh. Can't have a bar/pool room with stale air.

Above, we've got squatters! There are a couple of bird's nests in the floor trusses. Apparently this is very common during construction, and our framers actually keep an eye out to make sure the eggs hatch undisturbed.

On our way out of town, this guy was in front of us. Gonna have to get me one of them.

We're hopefully going back up toward the end of this week - might even have a second floor by then! This part of the construction process is supposed to fly, so expect significant activity over the coming months.

See ya.

big concrete box

2007-07-01T13:07:00.000-04:00

hello again. we officially have a foundation! this bad boy is what will keep our house anchored to the ground should a big bad wolf ever cause us any trouble. in a nutshell the next steps after this are pouring the basement floor, and waterproofing the outside of the concrete. then framing begins in a week or two, with laying the floor trusses for the main floor. after a good amount of framing happens, a good amount of weight will then be sitting on the concrete, and walter will begin to backfill the gaps around the foundation with a mix of special backfill dirt, and some dirt dug out from the excavation.

below is what the approach will look like from the driveway - you can see the concrete peeking up from the hill.

next picture is a closeup of the top of the wall. these anchor bolts that were cast into the concrete is what the framing gets screwed into. you'll also notice that we stepped the wall in order to use a bottom-bearing open web truss joist system for the floor. which, to keep it simple, allows us to have a larger open span, and also bring the finished floor inside lower to ground level.

above you can see our primary electric inside the basement. walter (right) and the electrician are trying to figure out where to locate our main electrical panel. below is a picture of the well. bill and i got a little nervous when we noticed the electrical wires sharing a conduit with the well water pipe, until walter explained that the pump for the well uses a special water-proof wire.

and this is the septic tank where all the poop goes. all the waste water in the house from sinks, showers + toilets gets flushed into this tank. the solids collect at the bottom (ew), while the water rises to the top and spills out into a pipe carrying it to our leech field (in the distance), where it is distributed evenly over the whole field through a series of pipes, and evaporates. and because the water from the waste is so rich in nitrates, it's the perfect irrigation system for the lush wildflowers that will populate the field.

class dismissed.

almost out of the ground...

2007-06-17T18:14:00.001-04:00

this week, the formwork for our foundation walls was nearly complete. all that's left to do is install the anchor bolts within the formwork. the anchor bolts are cast into the foundation and then the wood framing is screwed into them, thereby anchoring the house into the ground. what you see above are metal forms, shored up by the long 2x's leaning in. these 2x's have spring-loaded adjusters (i don't know the techncial term for these) at the ends, so that the walls can be very precisely adjusted and straightened. inside the metal forms is our network of steel rebar, specified by our engineer. and by the looks of this network, i say bring on the extreme winds because this baby is going to outlast the cockroaches.

above is our footing drain. this is a perforated pipe that runs around the perimeter of the foundation to drain water away from the house.

this is a view of the house site from the back yard. the finished floor will be just below where that top 2x is located (about 12" below the top of those forms). once it's backfilled (after the framing goes up), and we move some earth around, the finished floor inside will ideally be at the same level as the yard.

and this is the view from the driveway, facing the garage door. not really all that informative at this time, but i just thought it was a cool picture.

footings

2007-06-12T09:13:00.001-04:00

don't have much time to post now, but i'd thought i'd get some of these up before our next post, which will hopefully be sunday night, when we will have full foundation walls! these are our footings, which is what the walls are attached to through what is called a keyhole (a groove cast into the footings, and this steel rebar sticking out of the footings.

that's billy, checking things out in the distance, with bill our mason, who works with another guy named bill.

and this is our work permit. woop woop.

A Hole

2007-05-15T09:47:00.000-04:00

We learned this week that the entire property is rock. All of it. A big thanks to Walter for surviving a full week of hammering. Above is the massive hole for the foundation, with a tiny Nina peering over the edge. The near end of the hole will be our garage, and the far end will be the full basement. The dirt to the left will be terraced up to our rear patio. To the right of the hole will be the stairs to the front door. Here's another view of the hole...

In some ways, having all that rock was a blessing. The driveway that was in place when we purchased the lot stopped well short of the garage. We were able to use the excavated shale for the driveway extension. See below...

This is looking across the new portion of the driveway. The house will sit on top of the hill on the other side of the driveway.

It wasn't just the house site that needed hammering. Check out these pictures of the electric/phone/cable trench. It runs through the section of the property that's all pine trees, then follows the driveway up toward the house.

We also hammered out trenches for the septic lines and another big hole for the septic tank. A lot was accomplished last week.

Well, that's about it for this installment of Bill + Nina's Excellent Adventure. We're hopeful that we'll see a lot more progress this week. Walter's trying to get all the septic pipes, electric and phone cables, and conduits layed this week so he can close up the trenches. What's even more exciting is that he'll be placing the forms that will be used for the foundation. Our local architect will hopefully meet us on site this weekend to give his approval. It's possible that we could have our foundation in less than two weeks!

Thanks for reading. See you soon.

progress

2007-05-08T22:34:00.000-04:00

hi. here's the hole in the ground as it looked on saturday. walter's breaking out the hammer this week, so next week this photo will look drastically different.

below is a pan of our future backyard and pool area. walter has been gradually thinning out the small trees and underbrush, exposing the rocks and moss that give the property its character. have a look...

stack o wood below.

that's all for now.

groundbreaking

2007-04-15T16:58:00.000-04:00

When we went up to check on progress this past Saturday, we arrived to find the beginnings of a giant hole in the ground. The photo above is taken from the same vantage as the first photo of last week's post, and from now on, this will be my weekly photo spot from which we'll be able to mark our progress. I am trying my best to mark the corners of the house, as it is really difficult to gauge from the photo. Billy + Walter are standing at the southwest corner, and the big orange piece of equipment is pretty much at the northwest corner. The right side of the photo shows the backyard area where the pool will eventually go. Whenever that might happen. Here's a view of everything as you come up the driveway:

Below is a photo taken from the southwest corner looking east.

As the trees get thinned out, a lot of the shale outcroppings are being exposed, and they look amazing. Hopefully all the moss will be able to survive after the trees are gone (moss thrives in the shade). The big dirt hole above is a good sign - that means no rock and therefore no expensive laborious hammering required for excavation...in that spot. Walter did hit some rock on the west side of the home site, but so far he thinks it's shale and will therefore crumble pretty easily. The good news is that we only need full basement space enough for our mechanicals (which won't be a problem to get), and so, if there is too much rock as the excavation moves north, we'll just make the rest of the basement a crawl space.

We'll be in London this week, and therefore won't be up to visit the site on Saturday, so check back the first week of May for more progress, when hopefully there will be a more recognizable building-shaped hole in the ground.

HURRICANE WALTER!

2007-04-10T12:15:00.000-04:00

Despite what you see above, there was no actual hurricane. Last week, our G.C. (general contractor), Walter Heitmann (above), officially began work on our site. We had met with him previously to go through and mark which trees go, and which stay. The above photo was taken looking at the home site, looking northwest. Clearing is a delicate process because once you cut a tree down, you can't put it back. Obviously we'll need to clear the immediate area around the footprint of the house. As for the surrounding area, we don't want some huge artificial clearing, but we'd like to clear enough so that 1) trees don't one day fall on our house, and 2) we have enough sunlight shining into the house and on the yard area. So we are doing this in stages. When we went up on Saturday, we marked some more as keepers, and some as gone-ers (I don't know how to spell that). This week, Walter and his team will be chipping up all of the smaller felled trees and brush, and putting aside the larger ones to dry so we can make furniture out of them - we have mostly white oak and pine, and i think some hemlock? So, this will be the process until we are happy with the rough landscape - clear enough for the house and yard area, then gradually thinning out the surrounding land. Hopefully in another week or two, we can start excavating! Here are some more pictures - click on them to enlarge:

Updated 3D Model

2007-03-06T10:42:00.000-05:00

Nina and I updated our 3D model, and we're thrilled with the result. Our color palette consists of four surfaces:

Red cedar, stained black - siding
Red cedar, with a clear finish - garage doors, front door, covered deck floor and ceiling, and front planter
Aluminum/Steel - roof, windows, and cable rail around the deck
Poured concrete - foundation

Click the image for a larger version.

Updated Plans

2007-03-05T13:26:00.000-05:00

Our plans have changed somewhat since they were posted back in November. We've moved the entrance to the garage, removed the wraparound deck, and made some minor adjustments to the framing to account for the shear walls that are required by code.

Check out the updated plans below, and stay tuned for some exciting 3D images this afternoon...

Garage/Basement

1st Floor

2nd Floor

fireplace

2007-01-22T17:37:00.000-05:00

hi. i just haven't posted in a while, so i thought i'd post this elevation in our main space. it shows our groovy fireplace.

haus

2006-12-18T11:28:00.000-05:00

Here is the view of our house looking southeast. I am finally fiddling around with a 3D modeling program called Rhinoceros, which is what was used to create what you see above. As you saw from our plans, we would enter the house from inside the garage, but a guest could just park in front of the garage, climb the steps you see beside it, and enter through the front door. They're really not going to be white, I just haven't finished the model yet. The land is also not so grassy, and there are tons of trees everywhere. So just look at this as a basic collage of sorts - I'm still figuring out the quirks. Here are some more views:

This is just around the corner from the first view - looking southeast. The porch above the garage allows you to either enter the front door, or just come around the back to our yard area, which won't really be a yard, just a rough play landscape, hopefully with a pool.

This is the view northeast. I'll keep working on the interior of the model, and post those later.

Approved!

2006-11-17T09:58:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday night, Nina and I received final approval from the Stanford Planning Board for the relocation of our development envelope. Simply put, this approval will allow us to place the house in a better location on the site. Yesterday, we got Board of Health approval for the revision and filed the new drawings with the County Clerk's office, concluding a process that began about six months ago. This is the map we filed, with a closeup of our copy of the signed approval from the planning board chairman.

As our drawings were being accepted by the County Clerk, the radio in the office started playing "Celebration" by Kool & The Gang. Kinda funny.

Nina and I are diligently working on finishing drawings and specifications, and once they are complete, we'll be sending them out to contractors to get bids. We'll post some more images soon.

drawrings

2006-11-13T15:04:00.000-05:00

so, finally, here are some drawings of our new house. for a while we had two buildings joined by a bridge, as we have shown some of you. this layout had a few quirks that we decided to resolve by a full-on redesign. now it's one long dramatic volume, which we feel will be more energy-efficient, and will as well be easier (read: less $$$) to build. it has changed what feels like a million times, but i think we are set on this one. that is, until we get our pricing back.

above is the ground floor. you can either enter from the garage, or, if you park outside, you can climb the stairs and enter through the front door above the garage, which is shown in the first floor plan below. the south end of the house sits on a hill, so only a small chunk of land will need to be excavated for a foundation. the land slopes downward (hence the need for stairs to climb up to the main level) so we can have a full basement without needing to do too much site work.

above is the first floor, which is flush with the ground level to the east (where the patio + pool are) so, as you see, the garage is bumped out enough to form a path to take you to the front door. you enter through the mudroom (labled on the plan - click to enlarge) where you hang up your coat, hat, shoes, etc. on the north end, is the tv room / playroom. we didn't want to have a tv in the main space, but wanted to have one to watch dvds, so we relegated it to the north end of the house. this will also have a pull-out couch in case we have a lot of guests, and can be closed off by those large doors / partitions you see in front of the mudroom cubbies. the main space consists of the kitchen, dining room, and living room with a gas fireplace (on the south wall) and is one big open area. outside, there is a patio for grillin' and outdoor dining, and a pool out in what will become a kind of yard area. beyond that (not shown) will be a firepit. and scattered through the property will be the miniature golf holes, yoga pavilion, and ski jump, as some of you have already requested.

this is the second floor, which has two guest bedrooms, a guest bathroom, the laundry closet, and the master bedroom + bath. pretty self-explanatory. at the north end is our rainy summer day hangout area. this is an outdoor porch with a roof.

this is the front elevation. most of these windows will be operable awnings for cross-ventilation. as i said earlier, the south end (on the right) is at the top of a rocky hill, which slopes north (toward the garage), so under the house, to the right of the garage will be (if we can preserve them) the existing outcroppings of mossy shale. not sure if you can see the lines on the drawing, but we'll be hopefully using reclaimed barn siding to clad the house, and if that proves too cost prohibitive, we'll be going with yellow cedar. the roof is a standing-seam metal roof, and the garage will be poured concrete, like the rest of the foundation, and we may try to clad the garage door in cor-ten steel (fast-rusting steel), but this is still up for discussion. we're also going to try to run ivy or some other climbing plant up the exposed sides of the garage.

this is our back elevation. this is what you'd see from the patio, the pool, the outdoor hangout areas. this faces east, so the sun will creep right through those top floor windows into the bedrooms as soon as it rises, summoning everyone to enjoy the great outdoors. that is why you'd be there, isn't it?

there are a few things up for discussion on the north and south elevations, so they are not done yet. but as soon as they are, i'll post some 3d renderings i'm currently putting together so y'all have a better idea about what this thing will look like on the site, with its actual materials.

also, check out some of our new photos.

mountain cat

2006-10-05T11:18:00.000-04:00

that's a chunk of our land modeled at 1/16" = 1'-0". each of the topos is 2 feet high. cat is not to scale.

In The Vicinity...

2006-07-19T21:08:00.000-04:00

As many of you have noticed, the google maps link we posted leads you to Jameson Hill Road in Clinton Corners, whereas our place is actually in Stanford. This location is just approximate. We actually have no address yet. But when we do get one, if you were to mail us a postcard, it would say Clinton Corners, as this is the nearest post office. Stanford, scenic and lovely as it may be, doesn't have much to offer in the way of commercial activity, save a so-so pizza joint and a fire station with a really loud siren. As for our yet-to-be-determined address, we may possibly have a say in our future street name. so far, the front runner is Badonkadonk Boulevard, which of course is named for the native american populus that once inhabited nearby Wappingers Creek. But we're waiting for your suggestions in the comments below. Maybe we'll award a prize to the winner...

We have been up to the property numerous times already for design-related trips, but have not really explored the neighboring towns too much. A few weeks ago we took a day trip up north to see what else dutchess county has to offer. It is about 1.5-2 hours north of nyc, straight up the Taconic Parkway. From our newly-posted photos, you'll notice that our first stops were the local wineries, which offer super tasty wines of many different varieties, not to mention spectactular scenery. All the vineyards are open to the public and have tastings (am to pm) for a small fee. Yeah, that's pretty much all we got out of that first day trip, but there will be more to come. Also in the food arena are the numerous farmers markets in Hyde Park, Millbrook, and Rhinebeck. One of the reasons we were so attracted to this particular area is the plethora of outdoor athletic activity we are so lacking in the concrete jungle. There is plenty of camping, hiking, mountain biking, golfing, horseback riding, and fishing. Actually, right down the street from our future house is a stocked trout stream. I think it's Wappingers Creek. For the shopper, pretty much the entire Hudson Valley is peppered with cute little antique shops, but a few times a year, Rhinebeck has a giant antiques fair, and also a general crafts fair featuring local artists. There are also estate auctions in Beacon for those in search of upper crusty home furnishings and such. For culture hounds, the center for performing arts in Rhinebeck offers theater, dance, etc, as does Bard college (the theater building was designed by Frank Gehry). There seems to even be some live music at Bardavon Opera House (the calendar shows events all over the Hudson Valley, and is not just opera) and in Millbrook. For fine art, there is dia:beacon, which was recently opened by dia (a contemporary art institution in Chelsea) in an old box factory, and features such artists as Richard Serra, Louise Bourgeois, Donald Judd, and Dan Flavin, to name a few. It's right on the Metro-North train line and worth an entire day trip. A bit further west is Storm King, which is a sprawling outdoor sculpture park. I haven't been yet, but i've heard it's amazing. Also in the vicinity (but further north in Saugerties) is this place called Opus 40, which I've never been to, but my aunt Judy pointed out to me. It's this ginormous masonry sculpture/landscape built by one dedicated artist.

That should be enough to keep you occupied til the next post...

Our First Post

2006-07-09T22:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome. We'll be keeping this blog as we attempt to navigate the process of designing and building our Stanford, NY weekend home. We hope you'll join us for what promises to be a long and bumpy, yet completely exciting ride. Nina will try to update the blog once or twice a week with new info, although it may be less frequent in the beginning. Bill will do his best to add snarky comments to Nina's posts.

Above is one shot of the land, with some nice glare. You can see more photos by clicking the link to the right, or by clicking here. Please check back often, and don't hesitate to leave your comments. We look forward to sharing this experience with everyone.