Here is the fireplace wall in the early morning sun. Todd Jersey, the architect, visited the site today and was very enthusiastic about the way things are turning out. We took a look at the fireplace together and he likes the way it looks now.

I like it so far, but want it to have more importance than the door next to it. I am going to reserve judgment until we get the next iteration of foam for our virtual chimney.

You can’t see it well in the previous photo, but we got our fireplace log installed. I think there is a cover for the element that looks like a faux log, but that won’t be put in until the dust settles. I kind of like the way it looks by itself.

Didn’t the mason do a wonderful job on the bricks? They cut the firebrick in half to create this tight arc.

I finally got a fairly decent photo of the hutch. Because of the light in this room, it is difficult to find a time of day that I can get the camera to keep the shutter aperture open enough to see the detail.

The top of the granite is very dusty because of the construction, but it still is beautiful.

Here is the east wall of the living room looking out toward the courtyard. The courtyard is now taking on an identity because of the sidewalks.

Kai is planning on starting to frame the veranda next week and the courtyard walkway will come after that.

We painted in the inside of the coffer in the foyer. We will be putting in a very lovely light fixture here which has cream colored frosted glass in it. I want it to pop and hope the contrast with the gold paint will help it show up better.

This is a good example of the finished paint. Despite the bad color reproduction in these photos, you ge an idea here about how the trim color and the stain color coordinate.

The marble counter top, which I got from my mother when her house was being remodeled, came with a funky old sink in it. I had a lot of trouble finding a sink to fit the round hole, so one day, I took the old one and washed it out, just to see how damaged it was. Much to my surprise, it was a very nice sink in a faux marbre finish.

We decided to use it in the guest bathroom along with the counter top. Here it is waiting to be installed.

Ginger can’t stand to be very far from Kai, but she doesn’t like the sound of the nail gun. She found this corner in my dressing room to hid out. It also had the virtue of being one of the cooler places in the house.

I am still worried about whether we will be able to keep the dressing rooms cool enough on hot days. We have great ventilation in the main rooms, but the back wing is low and closed in. We may have to get a screen door on the back door and keep it open to flush that end of the house.

Here is the view from the front door. The walkway has changed the proportions of the courtyard considerably. There will be a plant bed the same width as the sidewalk against the far wall with a lemon tree and a Mexican lime in it.

If you look closely, you can see a piece of gray pipe extending into the courtyard. I had planned to put a fountain in the middle of the space and pipe is conduit so we can switch the pump on and off from inside the house. I have not ordered the fountain because I want to see how the space feels after the walkway roof is installed. If a fountain in the middle will make it seem crowded, that, too, can go against the far wall.