Bath is in England

The Romans use to love their baths. As a result of their activities during their peak of expansion a city in west England received the name of Bath. We are ready for any visiting Roman's as shown in this mirror view.

Keep your Powder Dry

If you want to define how eccentric someone is just look into their powder room.

Hunting Lodge or What's for Dinner

Another big box arrives, which I must haul in the back of my truck to the mountain home. Upon arrival I discover two pheasants that will supervise cooking in the kitchen. Maybe this signals it is OK to add the elk mount over the fireplace (:

This light is over the dinning table. Future paintings to be highlighted with picture lights are shown in the background.

Light Up My Life

As they come in we are getting our lights up, as in the theme bedrooms shown here. Above are the lights in the English bedroom.

The Dutch light is made of wood and continues the whitish look of this room.

I now know why Karen wanted to have one of the rooms be French (must have a chandelier with crystals, even in the bathroom).

Big and Little

Hunter and I completed this deck last Saturday.  It is huge and took quite awhile to individually drill and screw the IPE wood boards.  The door in the background is to the great room.  The deck extends around the corner to the left with an entry into the master bedroom.  Given the 15 foot drop we definitely need railing before the upcoming family reunion.

This picture is from the great room.  The IPE wood is very dense (weighs about twice that of a similarly sized redwood board).  However the rot and disease resistance of the boards (up to 100 year life) make them worth the time and trouble of handling.  

This deck is very very small.  We will use it for our grill.  It is located off the breakfast room through a sliding glass door.  In spite of the cover the rain storm did get us a little wet.

What a Waste

Below a future play-field will be 200 feet of these 'waste distribution lines'.  Talk about green.  The product is called the infilltrator and is 3 feet wide with a half-moon of perforated hard plastic.  The 'grey water' will percolate through the clay-rich soil for cleaning.

Before reaching the drain field, household waste goes to this 750 gallon septic tank to let bacteria do its thing.  With this large of a tank we will need to get this pumped every 3-5 years.

Finish work Continues

We are getting to the final work in many areas of the house.  The painters have completed staining the main area of the downstairs and will start the final coat of paint this next week.  The box to the right is for a drinking fountain.

The cabinets are complete (except vanities in the English and French which I will install) with the upper cabinets being added to the Master vanity (above).  The marble backsplash will go in on Monday.

We are starting to put in our electrical fixtures.  Hunter and I had a fun time hanging this light in the great room (it is heavy!).  Wiring this was not for those afraid of heights.  I had to stand on a plank running between two of the ceiling beams and work over my head.  Please note that I did wear a safety harness.

The plumbing fixtures have been added to the main kitchen sink (sorry for the poor lighting).

Let it Rain

The finish plumbing is going in.  The picture above is of the shower in the African room.

The Dutch room shower has the same fixtures as the African shower with a handheld body spray for those who don't want to get their hair wet.

The Western room shower has four body sprays in addition to the overhead shower and hand held spray.  The same fixtures (in satin nickel) are in the master shower.

This is the master tub.  

Books and Nooks

I have added a number of bookshelves and places to display art and such to the library and study.  The painters are close behind adding the masking (right side) so they can stain.

This bookshelf is on the stairs going up to the library.  We will hang a picture in the center nook.

This bookshelf is in right of my desk in the study.

Over the study file drawers is a cabinet for a master bedroom projector (behind the doors).

Under Wrap

It was a real thrill to have the painters remove the masking from many of our windows and see final products coming to light.  It feels like we are heading into the final stretch (not to mention the claustrophobic impact of living in a house with all windows covered).

Black and White

The absolute black granite sink in the African bath is ready for plumbing and a good dusting.

We have decided to put a white wainscot and window seats in the Dutch bedroom

Prime coats are done and the painters should finish this room this week.

Making a Splash

The granite installers have made their second trip to our home and installed the back splash in the laundry room (soapstone) and the marble for the master (still lacking back splash for the counter).

Karen did a great job picking out a replacement marble for the first pick which cracked in the fabrication yard.  This week the upper cabinets, setting on top of the marble should go in.

The color combination is pulling together.  We are ready for the tub and paint.

Behind this Door

The kitchen cabinets are now complete with the door panels hiding the refrigerator and the bake center installed and trimmed.

Our garage doors are installed and except for a little drywall dust and the need of one more coat of stain ready for action.

Taking it for Granite

The granite that we picked out very long ago is finally getting installed.  The picture above is of the downstairs kitchenette bar and counter.  I took an elevated shot to show some of the pattern in the 'yellow bamboo' granite.  The cabinets in the background are for storage and to hide a fridge in the basement.

This picture is of the island in our kitchen.  This same granite is throughout the kitchen and goes well with the cabinets.  A bake-center cabinet will be placed on top of the small slab of granite in the background.  

I am now working on finishing the trim in the basement.  Between myself and the cabinet installers we are slowly removing the paper that is protecting the stone floor.  The area to the right will have a game table backed by the bench seats (shown) on two sides.

Apply Appliances

Our appliances have been installed (in their raw form) in the kitchen.  Not much to look at without the cabinet fronts.  To the left is one of the two dishwashers in the kitchen.  Also shown are the sub-zero side-by-side refrigerator with lower freezers drawers.

This stack is a microwave on top of a convection oven, with a warming drawer (lacking the drawer front) on the bottom.

We have decided to go with a wolf six-burner range with a grittle.  When the full family is here we will have a great time cooking!

Trimming Down

With all the doors on the lower two floors hung, I am trimming out the doors and windows in our choosen casing design.  The picture above is the breakfast room.  The paper and tape is from the painters who keep everthing protected.

This shot is of the master bedroom doors leading onto the deck.  The bathroom is through the doors to the right.

Still in the master bedroom, this shows two of the three windows in the bay.