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Here's the house in the fall of 2006 with the Front Porch and the stone work on the foundation done. Robin and I did
that every weekend for a couple of months. Rain didn't help and caused it to take longer than we planned. We finished it in
probably the last "almost warm" weekend of the year. The wet saw that we bought for the stonework on the fireplace came in
VERY handy. Robin did most of the cutting and placing of the rocks and I handled the mortar/cement.
| View from East after stonework |
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| our masonry work |
This is the other side of the sunroom. It's a family room where you can sit and watch the finches feeding. or just stare
outside and enjoy the outside without the negatives. (bugs, cold, rain, etc.) If you prefer you can watch TV
...or listen to music or there's also a computer right there too. There are 22 patio doors between the upstairs sunroom and
downstairs. So when it's open it's like being in a screened in porch. It's the next best thing to being outside.
| Family Room |
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| the other side of the sunroom |
And this is a closeup of the stonework showing the head Robin bought to give it a little more character. OH yeah and
because we ran out of stone and time to get more stone before bad weather/snow came in. So this was the creative solution.
In the spring we'll finish the space around the head so it looks like it was meant to be there.
| close up of our masonry |
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| showing the head Robin put in wall |
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This is the living room that was originally a big empty room with 4 plain walls. We had planned all along to put in the
fireplace and make an entertainment wall. So this summer before we did the stone work outside we did the fireplace inside.
I cut the granite and marble for the surround and the hearth. Robin designed the fireplace itself based on my calculations
of size needs and the cabinets are from a kitchen cabinet company. They actually make them specifically for living rooms and
such too. We built it together. And of course we both have say in the designing of everything, including the purchasing of
the Qing vases around the fireplace (directly from China) and the Kimono hanging on the left. I found the places to buy them
but Robin had the final say in which ones we bought.
| Living Room |
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| yes we made that wall |
Here is the sunroom as it looked before we finished it off and before the roof change. The roof wasn't built as per my
design, because the contractor just never understood it. (there was a lot he didn't understand). So it never had the look
we intended. It looked as it does here ...unfinished. The roof is polycarbonit. (That's like the stuff soda bottles are made
of) It's very tough and designed to be on rafters spaced 24inches on center. These are 16 as in normal construction. So in
the end all the changes covered over the mistakes and you can see the final sunroom next to this.
| original sunroom |
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| view of the sunroiom before the roof change |
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This is the second kitchen. It's in the sunroom and came about because I wanted to have the grill inside. I like to grill
all year round and it was too cold and dark in the winter. We had an appraisor in and he called it a "summer" kitchen, saying
that it happens sometimes in older homes and people from the south or southern Europe. We liked it so that's what we call
it, too. At first it was just going to be a grill and then it was practical to have a shelf on the side to work on and then
water and finally .... Oh well it's a kitchen now.
| Summer Kitchen |
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| the second kitchen ... in the sunroom |
This is how the sunroom looks now. Robin did that stained glass and the one on the far window (of the fish). You
can still see there are saw horses and wood in the middle as we are finishing the soffit top left. Eventually there will
be a a spiral staircase where the saw horses are. The bistro table hiding under the stained glass will go around in the middle.
We'll replace the table and chairs in the "eating area" with nicer new ones. And then we'll find another project to work on
... <<smile>> Of course this is just the upstairs part of the sunroom. There is another part same size
downstairs. (Yep that is the next project... spiral staircase down to it, pond and waterfall and tree in certer of balconey
...all to come)
| sunroom from kitchen side |
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| picture after the change in the roof |
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