Its Been Way Too Long

Insulating Begins


I’m not referring to the length of the project – but more on that in a minute – but the time since I’ve last posted on this blog. Why so much time has elapsed is both a function of the phase of the project that we’re in, as well as obligations on my end to other projects (the paying kind that take precedent over extra-curricula activities such as blogging).
I’ve prodigiously continued to photo document the evolution of our house, which is literally weeks away from completion. If I’ve left some of you hanging about the process, my apologies, and here’s an update.
When I last posted in early February, we were in a hurry up and wait phase since it took the electrical inspector over a week to sign off on our roughing in. This was frustrating and wasted precious time, but there was little that could have been done to avoid the situation – sometimes they just can’t get to you and you just have to be patient. But as soon as he showed up and made a few minor requests Steve called for the insulation guys to start stuffing in force. Though they began with gusto, they too were delayed when their truck that does blown insulation, which we needed for a few choice, unreachable areas, got stuck on a job on the Vineyard. Steve made numerous calls to hasten their arrival and grew angry with frustration – reaching a rare breaking point.Isaac's room with insulation



Isaac's room with plaster


The annoyance of these delays was ameliorated by the swiftness of the ensuing sheet-rockers. It seemed that I went to Boston on my regular weekly trip one day, and by the time I returned a couple of days later, the walls were up. I had to have Steve and crew retrace a few steps when I enquired about interior wall insulation like around the new bath in the middle of the old living room. Though Steve said it wasn’t his common practice to include insulation in interior walls, having a bathroom in between our soon-to-be music and media rooms seemed a bit unseemly – best to muffle the sound of private doings rather than have them exposed for all to hear in these public areas.
The plasterers were equally as swift transforming the blueboard into smooth white walls within days. Chunky spaces emerged as discreet rooms where one could imagine future activities, real life, and a home.

The Great Room - Watching the Plaster Dry





Master Bedroom - Details Help pull the room together


While plaster dried inside the incredible weather that blessed this project all winter continued allowing Mid-march deck work and the installation of the exterior spiral staircase. Isaac is as yet unconvinced of the value of this stairwell that leads from the main floor deck up to the deck off the master bedroom directly above, but I believe that it will prove its worth for AM coffee and cocktail hour relaxation; a stroll out onto the deck from the main level will be immeasurably enhanced with a quick climb to the upper level where the view unfolds and the world seems like you can capture it with a glance.

Banging out the Deck in the Sunny March Weather



The carpenters continued work on trim around the house - completing the foyer with a fir ceiling, creating sliding barn-like doors for the master bedroom and studio, and working around all the nooks and crannies that are created by the walls fitting in baseboards and window casements.
View from the Studio through the glass to the front entry





Constructing the Master Bedroom Bath door - Barn-like sliders that bring a touch of the Cape into the house





Master Bedroom Beams are Beefed up




And meanwhile in Boston the kitchen cabinets were being completed. Though the original deadline of March 1 had been passed, this date had been set with my usual prepensiveness of premature deadlines to make certain of their readiness when it really mattered. Bill, the cabinet maker, actually got in a Caribbean vacation in March prior to their installation, though I have a feeling this was planned with the idea that he would be relaxing after their delivery. As it turned out he was on call the minute he arrived home and was down in Woods Hole a couple of days later with an enormous truckload of gorgeous wooden boxes.
This had been a day I had been waiting for, oh for about a year. This kitchen had been in my brain, on paper, imagined in clippings, laid out in samples and part of my being the entire time we were putting the house together. The kitchen/great room was designed as the focal point of the house and had the bulk of the money invested in its prominence, comfort, convenience and beauty. I was sitting on a bed of nails, jumping out of my skin waiting for the kitchen’s arrival that Thursday at the end of March. I kept waiting for the phone call to say the truck had finally come, but no one was interested in the homeowner – even though I was obsessed with them.
Kitchen Before cabinets




Around 3PM I got a call from Steve. They would be over to Mary’s house where we were living in about 5 minutes, “Better clear some space for this table” he said. Steve was referring to my new dining room table that Bill had custom made in purple heart to match the kitchen island. I had a premonition that they wouldn’t be able to find a place in my sawdust-filled house for this jewel, but where was it going to go at Mary’s? We had already taken over various rooms with other furniture that couldn’t fit in the storage facilities we had been renting, or the storage container that we had on site. So I dashed into the garage and started rearranging, thanking my lucky stars that Jonathan had insisted on keeping the Quidnunc sailboat on its cradle in the driveway all winter.





Cabinets arrive




But we fit it in nonetheless. They came with the island countertop, and the rolling cart as well, and it all squeezed in and has perfumed the garage with varnish ever since. I’m hoping we’ll be able to move it over in a couple of weeks, since the garage will be needed very shortly, but we’ll have to wait and see – no sense putting this pristine piece of furniture into a construction sight, but what will Mary say when she sees the garage?

Kitchen begins to take shape.




The cabinetry arrival was sort of anticlimactic as a result since nothing really got installed that day. But over the course of the next few days and Bill’s return on Saturday, the kitchen began to take shape. Pieces were missing, there were no glass doors, some hinges had to be changed, no hardware had been attached and the drawers all needed leveling, but Bill will be back in a couple of weeks to make this all right.
Simultaneously doorframes, window frames, shelving, closets, and floors were in process. Every door had to be specified – would they match throughout the house, or just on each floor (as it turned out). The trim on the windows and doorframes followed the same pattern as the existing bedrooms and big room downstairs, and was kept simple in design and execution.
There was a lot of discussion about the barn doors we wanted for the master and going into the studio from the media/family room. Different methods for hanging them, hardware that would or wouldn’t be exposed and various costly and less costly options were tossed around. We probably ended up paying in labor what was saved on the hardware choices we had that ran from $100 to $1500 per door, but the final result is really nice and the doors glide on hidden tracks and have character and presence.
So here we are in mid-April. More floors and tiles have been laid; the first coat of paint is just about done. The kitchen counters were installed yesterday and I am on my way back to WH from Boston to see them. The vanities for the bathrooms upstairs were installed last week and await their countertops. Lighting fixtures are being installed one by one.
We’re about four weeks out I’d say – roughly mid-May if all continues as it has been these past few weeks. The outside may still be a bit undone when we can move inside, though it would be better for our self-preservation to be living there sooner rather than later. Summer is coming and with it the population of our hamlet grows by the day. This will soon include family members who will want to reclaim Mary’s house and I’d like to return that place to its original state prior to Memorial Day. With that goal in mind, I’ll try to keep you better posted on the progress over the next few weeks and we’ll see this house through to completion. Stay tuned.


Closets Get Shelving









Driveway Gets Graded







A minor hiccup when the floor in the Great Room was discovered reseting on only the sheetrock down below - the joists had to be pulled together to sit atop the beams and framing.






A New Bar Area will Become Quite Popular By Summer