November 23, 2007—We have walls!

It was very quiet at the site today, just me and my assistant, since the trades have the day after Thanksgiving off.

Despite the fact that this was a three day week, the crew has started sheathing the walls. You can now begin to get a feeling for how the façade of the house will look.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day, warm and sunny and clear as a bell. I spent the afternoon cleaning the refrigerator sitting on the cottage porch, and I was very grateful for the heat as I managed to splash myself several times.

Right now, it seems like both wings are at the same distance from you as you look at the house, but once the connecting wall is built between them, I think it will be more obvious that the library/guest room wing stands out in front.

The controversial ear got sheathed. The ear controversy has opened a can of worms, because it made me realize how tall the wall across the front of the courtyard would be. I am afraid that the house would look too Alamo-like. Thomas, the framing chief, said that I have about a month to make up my mind on this before it’s critical. I am working with Todd’s office on a redesign.

This is that same wall from the inside. That wall, which faces southwest, doesn’t have windows because it will get very hot. In the courtyard, I will put my lemon trees in front of it.
We are looking from the living room through the foyer toward the library/guest wing. Where the ladder is will be a linen closet.

The guest bedroom has been sheathed and feels bigger than I thought it would. The view is great from both windows.

We didn’t put large windows on the west side because of the heat in the summer. The living room and dining room have roll-down shutters to protect the house from heating up, but they are very expensive and so this room will not get one. Hopefully, the large window looking to the north will compensate for the lack of a panoramic western view.

Here is the view out the library window toward the utility wing. When the house is done, General Debris will stand outside this window.
I took this picture of the living room to show how deceptive your eye is. The parapet is level and the roof slopes to the right, but your eye wants to see the roof as level and the parapet as slanting up.

Here is a better picture of the framed front door. Originally, there was no window next to it, but I objected to that because I thought you should be able to see whether someone was approaching the front door. Now the point is kind of moot because our front door has a lot of windows in it.

I forgot to change this in the cottage, so there is no window looking out on the porch there. If the place wasn’t gated, I would put in a peephole, but with the gates, you will always know who is at the door because they will have had to call you from the gate to be let in.

It’s a little hard to tell what this picture is of, but it of is a chip in our floor. I have been complaining that the floor protection had not been put back down in the guest room/library wing and sure enough, the floor now has a big chip in it. I hope this will be the only one we have.

There was a gorgeous sunset this evening. One of the plumbing crew came by late to do some work and was taking a photo with his phone camera. I had already taken a picture of it but realized that at that moment it was more spectacular, so I took this picture.

I was surprised to see anyone that day, but he said he was doing a favor for Kai and had been spending his day off cleaning up little details on several jobs. He is the one who discovered the screws in the sewer pipe in the barn, so I was very glad to be able to thank him in person.

A huge full moon began to rise over the hill behind the barn. Why is it that the moon looks like it’s the size of a beach ball, but when you take a picture of it, it looks like a pin hole in the photo? Most annoying! Anyway, that pin hole is really the moon!

My cousins and mom came by to visit during the afternoon, and supposedly, my cousin took a picture of the moon rising over the barn and will send it to me. He has a much better camera than I do, so I’m sure it will be better than this picture. When I get it, I will put it on the next page I post.

Back to top