The pool room develops

The most unique feature of our new house is the indoor pool room. The pool itself will be on the walkout basement level. There are windows from the main floor living room looking onto the pool at the high end of the room and windows on the low end of the room that look out onto our valley. We also are putting skylights in the roof. I've been nervous and excited about seeing the walls and roof go up in that room. As luck would have it, that it was the last part of the main structure to go up. I understand it needed the rest of the house to lean on to but it didn't make the wait any easier. Today we headed up north to see it for the first time.

The light in the living room is fantastic and the view down are both wonderful. The pool room walls still look eerily high but in a good way. John loves the hotel feel of it. I did lose the eastern view out the breakfast nook windows but it's something I expected and can live with. I'm thinking that it might be a good spot to set up bird feeders for the cats to watch. Maybe it could keep Abbie and Nelson out of my cooking! There were the beginnings of plumbing and duct work but I was too absorbed in the pool room to get any pictures of Alex's tub and the vents in our bedroom. Also, the shingles are being installed. Here are the pictures:

The front of the house, shingles are starting to go up The south west side of the house with the pool walls and roof up Looking into the pool room from outsideThe main floor living room The main floor living room windows,
lower windows look onto the pool, upper to the outside
Looking onto the pool room from the hallway windows Looking onto the pool room from the downstairs family room,
the pool is covered by a large plywood platform now that all the cement has been poured.
The south west corner of the pool room,
I swear there is a pool under there!

Looking up at the skylights,
one row is blocked by the scaffolding The north east corner of the pool room,
these windows look onto the mainfloor hallway.
A view of the north east corner of the pool room from the south west,
the little window goes to the master bedroom.
The door to the downstairs family room,
above are the windows to the living room The space for the skylights,
each are just under 4 foot by 4 foot The compromised eastern view from the breakfast nook,
there is still a lot of light from these windows and a good western view of forest.

It's actually starting to look like a house

We got pictures from the builder today and the pile of walls is finally starting to look like a house. The floor is in on the top level (attic) and the roof OSB is up. We should be going up next week to see all of the progress and maybe, just maybe the pool walls and roof will be in place. Also, I have the kitchen details narrowed down to the final choices and should share them soon. Now, I've got to get busy picking out light fixtures. There are a million to choose from!

The front of the house with the roof starting to take shapeThe front porchOne of the bedroom windows
Outside the master bathroom The rest of the pool floor is in The entryway into the downstairs family room
The step up into the downstairs family room The great room with some ceiling The attic room (bonus room)
The western end of the attic
The southern window in the attic
The view from the southern window in the attic

And now you can have this song stuck in your head all day too.

Trusses and more walls

This past weekend we went up north and had our first walk through on the main floor. Alex couldn't wait to get inside but wasn't thrilled about holding hands and not being able to run due to the gaping stairway hole. It was great to see the walls start to take shape. Now you can get a feel for the size of the rooms. The spaces feel very comfortable, not too large or too small. I spent a good deal of time walking around the kitchen trying to picture everything in place. Can you tell I'm eager for that to be done? The newly revealed views from the master bedroom and bath are indescribably beautiful. You can see the deeper woods, our valley and the rolling hills from both rooms. We walked around the pool room, which is still without exterior walls. Looking up to the windows into the house was very disorienting, the walls are so high! The views looking onto the pool are working out great though. It's still hard for me to picture how that will change as the pool walls and roof go up.

Most of these pictures are from our builders and were taken after we returned home. We saw a couple of the first trusses being put into place, but now they have most of the trusses for the western and eastern ends of the house and are filling in the center.

The front of the house with trusses The north east side of the house and front porch Alex running to the house Climbing up the front porch Alex in the front doorway The eastern end of the living room
The living room windows: the lowest windows will look onto the pool, the
middle windows will be above the pool roof, and the top window will be in the attic room
The kitchen with the attic room above
In the kitchen, facing where the stairs will be
The hallway to the bedrooms
The southern view from the master bedroom, this will be a vaulted ceiling

The southern side of the house without the pool room exterior walls or roof
The southeastern end of the house:

the small window will connect give the masterbedroom a view of the pool room
The goldenrod is full of insects
A locust borer
A spider wasp

The main floor and more walls

We went up last week and got a chance to walk around in the framed basement. The house seems to be magically shrinking and growing. When we walked around the foundation without walls everything seemed smaller than we imaged and a good size. Now with walls up it feels huge! I'm sure the upper floors, doors, drywall, floors, and cabinetry will all change the impression of size as well. Since we left the framers have laid the main floor and are starting to put up the walls. The builders sent us pictures this past weekend.

The master bedroom above, John's office below
The west side of the master bedroom, the small window will look onto the pool room
The view of the pool from the downstairs family room, no pool room walls yet
The view of the pool from John's office
The main floor being framed
The Kitchen!! Squint really hard.
The view
The mudroom
The view from the master bedroom