House Update

The porch trim is up. and I have to say that it is PERFECT! It took a bit of time to get this aspect of the house worked out. We had planned on using a pre-made composite material that would weather well. But the cost was so outrageous. We had the same skilled craftsmen that did the finish work on the interior do the exterior trim as well. Truly a talented bunch of guys. They were very open to all my suggestion and changes. They have duplicated my drawing to the 'T". It was all worth it in the end. Truly an old house, or is it? Next up is the gable drapery, or verge board trim. That will knock your socks off. I approved the finial CAD drawings made from my sketches yesterday, I can't wait to see them go up. On the inside. Painting is under way. This is taking long time due to all the color changes and complex mouldings and trim. Once they have this finished and the tarps all come down I will get some shots of this. I'm gathering s a few pictures to show you some of the furniture that is going into this house. Some of the key pieces, there is far to much to show you all of it.

House Update

Work on the extrior porches is underway

The side breakfast room- its meant to look like a converted porch.

Main stairway gets its stain.

The pressed tin for the entry ceiling has arrived.

After instalation it will be painted to look like lead/zinc

House Update

The library fireplace mantle is completed, no stain finish yet. I love it. Again its great to see your drawings come to life.

House Update - STAIRS!

The day I have been waiting for. The entry gets it crowning glory. It's great to see my sketches come to life. A lot of thought and research went into this set of stairs. It's the culmination of many design aspects of this house. They ultimately pull all the design elements together and set the design tone for the rest of the house. The rest of the house takes it design ques from the entry. Portions of the designs in the entry appear other places in the house. The sign that one mind was at work here. The carvings in the newels show up in the plinth block through the rest of the house. The Gothic arch panels tie in with the upper windows and the panels doors, and so on. I pat myself on the back for successfully pulling it all together. (Actually I'm relieved it all worked)

Hooked on House Home Tour

I decided at the last minute to participate in the Hooked on Houses home tour. The following are pictures from the House that our Design firm set up for the local Parade of homes. I had done 4 prade of homes with the same builder many years ago. One of my bosses was incharge of this project, but with a firm as small as ours, we all seem to work together to help each other out.


Be sure to check out the other houses at "Hooked on Houses" the link is in the sidebar.

Formal living room

Entry way.

Music room / Sitting room

Master suite

Second Floor Library

Second floor Library Fireplace wall

Second Floor Office sitting area

Office area

Guest Room

Family Room

Kitchen obviously

Now for the best part... The childrens play room

It'a small world after all.

Hope you enjoyed this little tour, This house also included a dance studio and many more bedrooms. Our firm did not do anything in these areas, The home owner took on these rooms. Therefore I did not take any pictures of these areas. I will get a picture of the exterior, since I was incaharge of the brick design.

Now on with the tour! Click here to return to the master tour list.

Pre-occupied

I haven't forgot your need for the last few parts of Grandmothers house. I have been concentrating on other things the past few weeks. I'm finalizing plans on that Scottish house I have been working on. Its been quite the process to get this particular house to this point. The Client has very definite ideas. Trying to meet all his expectation has been trick. Ultimately we had to create a story or history for this house. The client wanted it to look like it had been around for some time and through its existence that it had been added on to, or Cobbled on to as they put it. The main portion of the house being the oldest portion. Then maybe an servants quarters or scullery, then later a carriage house. You can get a general idea form the 3d mock up seen below. I haven't added the windows yet.On top of this I'm still finishing up the Gothic Revival house as well. Finish carpentry is well under way and it is STUNNING. I'll post some pictures from the house later. I have finalized the Stain glass patterns for the transoms and doors. I photo shopped the stain glass onto one of the Drawing that the finish carpenter are using to see how it all looks together. I'm excited to see the real thing. Mantles have all been finalized and sent to the various craftsmen. Each one is unique. The main stairway has been started. It is a work of art in it self. I designed all the parts but have yet to see the real things.Lighting was proving to be a challenge, the only suitable reproduction lights I could find were astronomical in price. I did locate this line that was the best of the bunch and more in the price range. IT took a big wait off my shoulders. I didn't not want to spoil all this effort to recreate an old house by filling it with more modern fixtures. Whew!
So as you can see I have been dealing with new old houses, instead of Grandmother's house. I'll get back on track and post some more parts in a day or so.

Labor of Love

Some of you are aware that I have been working on what I consider to be one of my greatest achievements in the design world so far. It is a Labor of love, its hard to consider it any type of work. My life's hobby has finally brought me to point where I show the world what I am capable of. I have been a "fan" of old architecture for a majority of my life. My family can attest to the fact that I have been fascinated by old home and traditional architecture since a very young age. I can't explain the fascination with it but I have it. Its been my life's work to this point to perfect my ability to recreate what once was. I was lucky - no blessed - with an opportunity to work on a home from plans to finish product. Just about a year ago I was presented with the preliminary drawing for a home to be built on a lake in an old farming community.A home that is totally based on the old Gothic Revival style. Gothic revival will mean very little to most of you. Google it. My clients wanted it to blend in with community. My Job was to get it to look like this house had been built 100 years ago. Through many meeting with the client, Architect, and builder I was able to fine tune it to achieve what I consider to be a work of art. Above is the color rendering I did to show the clients what they would be getting. Construction began late summer and is progressing despite the cold weather. Below are the most recent shots from the site. A lot of myself has gone into this project. I hope I have been able to put and old spirit in a new body so to speak. The real work has begun. Specking out all the moulding and trim, every cabinet, every light fixture to make sure we maintain a consistent old look. Truly a labor of love for me. I'll try and remember to post up dates on this project as it progresses.

I should note that there is a barn being built at the same time in the back.

Securing my posistion

I had a meeting with the contractor for this historic reproduction home I have been working on. I was thinking that I would be turning a majority of this over to his team to take care of. I have gathered a ton of information for him. I wanted to be sure there was nothing left to someone else's imagination. Being the control freak I am about a project. It looks like I will be involved in this till the end. There is so much of this project that is a custom. I will be doing a lot of designing and drawings to get this home to fool the eye and look older that it actually is {by a 150 years or so}. I'm pouring a lot of myself into this. Since I will never get a home like this of my own at least I can bring it into being even if it is for someone else.