Building on Dog Hill

Yep, we're really moved

2009-05-27T15:03:00.003-04:00

It's hard to believe but we are really living in the new house!! I'm still trying to get a full set of photos of the house but for now you can see what else I've been up to at Living on Dog Hill.

Final Inspections

2009-04-11T10:12:00.000-04:00

I'm actually packing! Not just clean out a closet and organize packing but boxes filling my house, bubble wrap and begging newspaper from family to wrap dishes in PACKING! The bubble wrap is almost too much of a temptation for Alex and I have to chase him away from it before it's all popped and I'm already worried about how heavy to make the boxes. Fewer boxes that are heavier or more smaller boxes that are easier to carry?

It "looks" (IE I'm not counting those chickens yet) like the final inspection will be next Wednesday. I could be swimming in the pool Wednesday night!! In the meantime, the builders sent pictures of some of the finishing touches. I'll be sure to get a full set of every room when we move but I might be a little preoccupied for awhile. The top photo is the front door which was just stained and installed. They're still waiting for the weather to improve before completing the exterior painting. We will most likely be moving in before they paint the outside.

The railing is stained and completed. The main floor hallway is now a color called dovecoat. I think it'll be a great color for art.The front door from the foyerThe dining room The master bedroom ceiling fan, now with more beamage The master shower grouted and with all the handles and sprayersThe other side of the master shower grouted, the shower door goes in Tuesday The fireplace has tile!!! A mirror is going in on Tuesday in the top section. A closer look at the fireplace tile

Lights and other details

2009-03-30T06:46:00.006-04:00

I had more pictures in my camera from our trip last week. Mostly of the shots are of the light fixtures that were going up while we were there. I'm really happy with how the lights look. We're down to approximately 2 weeks until the house is ready for the final inspection. Unfortunately, not only can anything happen to add a delay in that time but the final inspection is a big unknown as well. The inspection in November was also from the county and we had a big hold up then. I'm trying not to think about it at this point and focusing instead on straightening and packing parts of the old house and working on some Easter projects. The builder might have some finished room shots for me later this week, meaning we'll be able to see floors, painting finished, lights and trim all together.

The foyer light and final coat on the blue paint. This color is awesome and looks great with the tile.
Light and medicine cabinet in the main floor powder room
Light from the side walls (on either side of my big tub) in the master bathroom
Closet system going up in the master closet
Alex in the dining room
The fireplace got it's final coat of paint and will have mirror and tile soon, the banister is up all the way and the handrail will be stained soon. It will be darker, like the flooring.
Light up in the top floor powder room and the darker color up on the walls
The uber-cool lights for the pool room (this one is horizontal over the sliding doors, the others are all vertical) A vertical pool room light with the duct to show how they make the ducts fit in better
Alex in the pool room, in front of John's office window
John's bathroom vanity cabinet
The fan/light up in the downstairs family room
The patio light, the same lights are on the garage, I loved the farmhouse look of these and the fact that they have large shades to protect the night sky view. I don't want to miss even a single star!
The garage with the exterior lights up

The pool is open!!

2009-03-25T08:41:00.000-04:00

After several cancelled trips we're finally up north to see the house. When we arrived yesterday afternoon we got to see the pool uncovered, clean and being filled. I don't know if I've ever seen my son Alex happier. He had to take off his boots and play in the water. I was thrilled to see some of the lights installed. So far they look great. Here are some pictures from yesterday.

The pool room from the main floor hallway windows
Alex going in the pool A little more stair railing is up is getting paintedThe bench is installed in the mudroom We aren't going to have air conditioning (even though that will freak out some of our family) but we have are ceiling fans in all the bedrooms.The master bath vanity lights, a single bulb light will go on each side and I found this mirror to hang in the middle. I can't make up my mind about whether I want a backsplash or not. The master bedroom ceiling fan/light A closeup of the master bath shower accent tile, I love this green marble!

Pool room duct and master bath tile

2009-03-19T18:28:00.003-04:00

I've been doing a lot of yard work and cleaning on our soon-to-be old house but wanted to quickly post some pictures the builders sent from earlier this week. Above is my first look at the tile in the master bath shower. I love the way it looks! The accent tile is a small green marble. I'll try and get a closer picture of it once it's grouted and sealed because it's such pretty stuff.

The pool room is getting it's final work done before they can remove the platform that currently covers the pool. Then they can clean the pool and install the cover. We're so excited about seeing the pool again! Part of getting the pool room ready for the pool unveiling is installing this hanging air duct. It's a necessary evil and I think it'll work better in the room once my industrial-style lights are installed. Here it is in all it's shiny, metallic glory.

Kitchen Pictures

2009-03-15T21:52:00.001-04:00

Pictures of the kitchen progress are here on Dog Hill Kitchen.

Getting close

2009-03-14T12:10:00.000-04:00

I'm approaching a full year blogging about building and the house is getting so close to being finished I can taste it. The trim for the windows and doors is finished, the fireplace has been trimmed out, and the railing for the stairs is going in. Toilets are installed, faucets are going in and the wall tiles are going up. The cabinets and floors are installed in the mudroom and the pool room is getting finished so that the pool cover can be installed. The counter tops were installing in the kitchen but I'm saving those pictures for my foodblog. Here are the rest of the pictures the builders sent of this week's progress.

There will be four of these decorative tiles on the fireplace (see the top photo).
All the fireplace trim will be painted white and the tiles will be all white.
(image from Meredith Art Tile)Stair railing going in
The stairs down with the railing beginning The cabinetry in the mudroom: a printer station, file cabinets and coat hooks and bench on the right
The mudroom with tile and trim, on the left is a mop sink for washing dog feet
The kid's bathroom with tile up in the shower and the toilet installed
The kid's bath vanity
The master bath with the toilet installed in the water closet
The master bath vanity with the counter tops and faucet
The main floor powder room with the mini vanity and toilet installed
The attic/top floor powder room with the sink and toilet installed
The attic with trim going up on the halfwall
John's red office with trim
John's bathroom vanity, without doors
John's shower
And John's baby, the sauna
Doesn't the color of the sauna cedar look awesome with the wall color?

More cabinetry

2009-03-11T08:51:00.003-04:00

The builder sent some pictures. Almost all of the trim is up and it's being painted and some of the bathroom cabinetry is in.

The foyer tiles are all cut This is a mini-vanity for the main floor powder room
The kids bath cabinetry and counter top
Cabinetry with the counter top installed in the master bath

More trim and tile

2009-02-26T22:13:00.003-05:00

I posted on my foodblog today about laying out closet units in the pantry, see Pantry Plans. I had a few more pictures left on my camera from last week's trip so I'm throwing them up. Here's more trim, doors and tile that were in place last week.

A better look at the main floor powder room colorCloset doors, trim and a door in the playroom/second bedroom The foyer tiles with more of the slate cut
The little window onto the pool room in the master bedroom
I have to get stops so this can't open more than 3 inches or

one of the cats will fall through for sure. Kids bath tile
Trim and doors in the downstairs family room, the glass is covered on the French doors.
Master bath tile Closer master bath tile, I still like it but I'm nervous

about how it will look against the tub now.
Tile and trim in the attic powder room, the tile looks more tan in real life
and I've asked them to paint the next shade darker in the green.Alex was pretending to kiss the tree.
He got his hair cut yesterday and no longer looks like Mowgli.

Doors, tile and my tub

2009-02-18T23:38:00.003-05:00

With the dogs up with us last week the visit was hasty, so we're back up north again already. There are trim and doors to see, hopefully that will come along quickly. The more daunting work looks to me to be the tile. A task I worked on this morning was to lay out the foyer tiles. The floor will be a mix of slate with blue ceramic tiles from Pewabic Pottery of Detroit. I bought the tiles from one of their firehouse sales years ago and have eagerly awaited using them. Soon they'll be a part of our new house! I'm happy with the quasi-random pattern the builder and I worked out. We also placed the tub in the master bath. It's so comfortable and I love the way it looks. That's all that needs to be done now so I get a day to spend some time outside. The weather is good, it's not too cold and there is fresh coat of packable snow. I'm going hiking around the land tomorrow.

The foyer tiles laid out, I may try and get a better photo tomorrow.Every time I see it, I like the crazy red in John's office more. A door installed in the master bedroom My giant soaking tub; aligned nicely so that I have great views in either direction.

Our dogs go to Dog Hill

2009-02-13T16:13:00.000-05:00

We're just back from a quick trip up to see the house. We didn't have our normal dog sitter available so we decided to bring our two dogs Roxy and Karmal up to see the property for the first time. The drippy weather was a mess, though the warmth that caused it was welcome. I spent my time in the house going over tile details while John and Alex took the dogs tromping in the woods a bit. Alex got completely soaked splashing in the snow melt and Karmal and Roxy found mice in a brush pile. The dogs seemed to like the land though Roxy wasn't fond of sinking into the deep snow. Things look good in the house, though we expected more progress. I'm happy with the majority of the colors and think that it will be great with a few tweaks and with all of the other details in place. We expect to head up again very soon.

Alex in the snow melt pond with Roxy sniffing around behind him John, Alex, Roxy and Karmal down in the valley behind the house

Paint, paint, paint

2009-02-08T00:58:00.000-05:00

I'm figuratively foaming at the mouth wanting to get up to see the house. The builders kindly (or cruelly) sent a ton of photos today to help us get a better idea of the paint colors. While this sounds like a wonderful idea, it's also torture!! Ideally, we'll be headed up this coming week but life loves throwing curve balls my way and so I'm trying guess which direction the hit is coming from. For kitchen torment photos, visit my foodblog Dog Hill Kitchen.

The pool room now looks really light, I should be shot for my fickle nature.I love, love, love this green, orange, blue combination!!!The orange looks wonderfulThe slanted areas of the attic get their coat of yellow. I really think this looks much better.My son Alex's bedroom, I love this color with the floor.Alex's bedroom and the kid's bathThe colors of kid's rooms together: Alex's bedroom, the bath, and the playroom/second bedroomThe kid's bath and playroom togetherThe master bedroom and bathroomThe kitchen, blue powder room and darker green-grey dining roomThe dining room and foyer

More paint and the first look at cabinetry

2009-02-05T19:58:00.002-05:00

The builder's sent pictures today of the painting going on downstairs. I love the look of the orange family room and the other smaller rooms but I'm a little worried about the blue in the pool room. Is it too dark? I can't decide and probably shouldn't without seeing it in person but...

We also got the first look at the kitchen cabinets! There's not much to see since the kitchen has a lot of activity going on but it's extremely exciting for me. Scroll down to the last photo to see. Here are the other rooms the builder's took pictures of for us.

The downstairs family roomThe exercise room John's officeJohn's office with the pool viewThe pool room wall with the doorwall to the family room and windows to the living room aboveAnd finally, the kitchen with cabinets!!!

Flooring begins

2009-01-30T15:22:00.003-05:00

The installation of the flooring has begun. They started with the bamboo flooring, which covers most of the main floor. For those interested, I got this strand woven carbonized bamboo. Here are some pictures sent from the builders.

The southwest side of the kitchenInstalling on the east side of the living roomAnother view of the living room

A closeup of the flooringThe hallway to the bedroomsThe master bedroomMore master bedroom with a better image of the wall colorThe playroom/extra kid's roomThe massive ceiling in the pool room has taken a lot of time to drywall, you can see why.

The first coat of paint

2009-01-23T00:21:00.003-05:00

Exciting news, most of the loft and main floor has gotten it's first coat of paint! The builders kindly sent these pictures from Tuesday showing some of the rooms that have been painted. Also the kitchen cabinets and appliances have arrived!! You can see a photo of the cabinets at the end of the post. The image above is the foyer. I can't wait to see it with the slate and blue Pewabic tiles on the floor!!

The kitchen, the big space on the right will house the fridge and ovens.The kitchen from another angle
Looking into the mudroom from the kitchen. The same darker green

will be an accent in the kitchen and in the dining room.
The master bedroom and looking onto the master bathroom, two shades of the same green
One of the kid bedrooms, we (by which I mean "I") are calling this the playroom.The kids bath and looking onto Alex's bedroom
Alex's bedroomThe loft, the color is going to go up higher.Some massive piece of dehumidification equipment taking up valuable cake pan storage space in my basement.Bwah, ha, ha! Don't you love the photo of the cabinetry! They're still in the boxes

and I made you look at that air dehumidifying/conditioning thingy. I feel better now.

Indoor paint colors

2009-01-13T19:45:00.003-05:00

Today, I sent in the indoor paint colors. While this is one of the easiest things to change it still is scary since a mistake will make a big impact. However, I'm been living in a beige nightmare for four years now and anything interesting (even in a bad way) at least will be a change. Either way it's really exciting and a sign that we are truly nearing the end. Here's the floorplan with indoor color going from the top to bottom, all trim is white:

Top floor: main space is pale yellow, light green in the bathThe foyer and bath are a very deep cobalt blue, it doesn't show up well here.

The living room/kitchen is a light grey green which also doesn't show up too great.I am so in love with this orange and the blue for the pool room. I think John's

red office is going to take some getting used to but he wanted it and it is a great red.

Frost pictures

2009-01-08T14:53:00.001-05:00

Tuesday morning we stopped by the building site to see the pool room drywall. It was a sunny morning and we couldn't help tromping around and enjoying one last look at the fields and forest before heading back to the asphalt and brown grass of Detroit. Everything sparkled with feathery frost and I attempted to capture some of it. The above photo is my favorite, it's a paper wasp nest we found in the scrub. I loved it's striated greys and the frosty edges. Here are some other pictures of Dog Hill covered in frost:

The fields of the property are over-run with invasive spotted knapweed.
The purple flowers are pretty for a short time in the summer but then
it becomes a scratchy menace. It was nice to see it covered with the finest feathery frost. Curly dried grasses with more feathery frost
Sumac bark (from a dead bush) covered in lichen and then a layer of frost
Morning sun shining on feathery frost on a boulder
Autumn olive berries turned into raisinsStaghorn sumac
Sparkling autumn olive branch
Some twigs and a stump covered in frost

Drywall hung in the pool room

2009-01-07T18:29:00.002-05:00

Before we headed back south to the Detroit area we got to see the drywall hung in the pool room. Yes, there really is a pool hiding under that giant plywood platform on the floor. I'd like to not think about how grungy it's gotten but the drywall in the pool room looks great! The windows and the view out are spectacular and I love how the skylights are framed (even though they are covered with snow now). Here are pictures:

The western wall of the pool room The framed in skylights
Some of the southern windows
The eastern wall in the pool room
(the lower window goes to John's office)
Half of the northern wall of the pool room
(top windows go to the main floor hallway)

Drywall and a furnace in my kitchen

2009-01-03T18:07:00.001-05:00

After an extended period away from the building site, we started the new year off with a trip up north. The insulation is installed and drywall hanging has begun. The change is dramatic and makes the inside feel much less like a pile of sticks with a roof, suddenly rooms are defined. The first change we noticed is that the garage doors have been installed. This lead us to walk all the way around the house checking doors before realizing that we should manually open a garage door to get in. We were told that they put in temporary furnaces to keep the house warm, which is especially important so that the pool water doesn't freeze. That didn't prepare me for the furnace in the middle of my kitchen!! I got word a week before Christmas that the cabinets have arrived in town are are waiting to be installed-- no way is that happening soon with a furnace there! We lost a considerable amount of time in November and December which has pushed our "completion date" to late March (if we're lucky). Though I love how the house is coming along, I'm battling with panic over the new completion date. With our house to sell in the Detroit area (is there a worse place to try and sell a house right now?) we're moving past the dates when we would like to move and into the time when we need to move. We need time to paint and catch the prime time to list the old house. Alas, this is a problem I just have to mentally deal with since there is no easy fix. I just have to keep thinking about how fabulous it'll be when it's all done...whenever that may be. Here are some pictures to see the progress so far:

Icicles on the pool room (a picture from our exploratory walk around the house)The patio view in the snowThe kitchen furnaceThe kitchen
The living room
The pool room windows in the living room
Alex in the hallway to the bedrooms
The master bedroom
The master bath view and Alex
The foamy Icynene insulation in the master bath showerThe top floor bonus room, west
The top floor bonus room, northeast
Alex is standing the powder room doorway
The top floor bonus room, south
The view from the southern window of the bonus room
The basement stairway The basement family room
John's office The pool room, west
The pool room skylights The whipped cream like insulation in the pool room

Insulation

2008-12-23T11:07:00.005-05:00

At long last the construction on the house has resumed! The insulation went in last week and now drywalling can begin. It looks like we won't be going up until 2009, but here are some pictures of the cool Icynene insulation.

Looking into the dining room
The master bedroom
Looking into the master bathroom
The bonus room

Pictures in the snow

2008-12-13T16:32:00.001-05:00

It's been over a month since we've been up north. In that time the construction has been held up by inspections but they finally have permission to proceed. Insulation should begin by next Tuesday with drywall following soon after. Since there isn't anything new to see I've begged for pictures of the house in the snow. Down in southeast Michigan we've barely gotten an inch or two but up in Traverse City they've had a lot. (I'm terribly jealous.) Here are some of the pictures the builders sent:

The front of the house in the snow
The west side of the yardThe snowy view out of a pool room windowThe house in the snow from the road in

Choosing tile and a first look at the exterior paint color (at the end)

2008-11-08T08:01:00.001-05:00

After a long dry spell with no pictures, we travelled up north on Tuesday (after voting of course) to see the house. When we arrived at the house the large mudroom patio and it's retaining walls were finished, all of the siding was up, exterior doors were in and the painters were prepping to start the exterior painting. During our days up there I spent my time looking at tile while Alex and John got to romp in the forest. There was some sticker shock after seeing the initial tally but we found alternatives for some things and kept my favorites. I'm pretty happy about it right now though I haven't seen a full recalculation yet. I hope to have gotten the total much closer to the budget allowance so I can afford to have flooring in the bonus space.

I'm really excited about using some blue Pewabic firehouse sale tiles I'm been saving for years in the foyer mixed in with slate. They are a gorgeous collection of glaze test tiles and samples in various sizes, finishes and shades of blue. I bought them around four years ago with the hope that I'd find a way to use them. As John can tell you, I take them out to look at every six months just wishing for the perfect place to put them. Now finally they will have a home! My other favorites were some green marble accent tile I'm using in the master bathroom and the Meredith Art Tiles I plan to use on the fireplace and kitchen back splash.

Now were home and they will hopefully have the rest of the exterior painting done (weather permitting) and drywall will be installed inside. Here are pictures from this trip:

The driveway is in!The front walk The front door
More exterior doors in place, this is the patio off the master bathroomOur first look at the siding and exterior doors on
the south east side of the house, this door is to John's office.
The west side retaining wall is finished
The patio off the mudroom on the top of the retaining walls,
it has a fantastic view!
Around the corner where the mudroom patio ends,
I think this would be a perfect spot for a brick bread oven.
Since we couldn't return the windows we changed in the kitchen we added them to
the pool room. The hallway behind them is so much nicer now with natural light.
The window is in place on the breakfast nook side of the pool room.

Just before we left, we got to see the paint color up. I love how cheery it is!
I think it'll look wonderful with all the white trim.

Kitchen Details

2008-11-03T08:03:00.001-05:00

I posted about the new kitchen on my foodblog here.

More pictures from our latest trip

2008-10-18T16:02:00.000-04:00

Here are a few more pictures from our visits to the building site on Thursday and Friday. I have to do some reading on how to take better forest images because I'm at a complete loss as to the camera settings, light and angles to take the pictures and the woods are so beautiful right now! The violent reds of the sumac, the cheery golds and oranges of the maples, and the deep rich green of the white pines captivate me.

The south side of the house The north side of the house with siding and the front walk
The patio outside the master bathroom door
The patio outside John's office and the pool room The retaining wall with more work done
I'm thinking this spot would be perfect for a trellis. The forest where I planted the morel spawn
My soon-to-be morel patch (expertly hidden)
The blazing colors of staghorn sumac

Patios, retaining walls, siding and a fabulous sunset!

2008-10-16T21:56:00.004-04:00

We went out to the building site around dusk today. The afternoon was crisp and sunny and created a gorgeous sunset. If you look closely at the center right side of the photo above you can see our house nestled into the woods. This view is from up higher on our road in but still on our land. You can see Lake Leelanau and the rolling hills covered with fall color. I hope someday to have a little gazebo or grape arbor up here to watch the sunset.

At the house they've continued adding siding and look to be more than halfway done. The small patios outside of John's office and the master bathroom are both poured. The front walkway is also poured and I love it's shape and placement. Again my mind is filling with gardening plans. The two nooks on either side of the front porch will be a lot of fun to design and plant. I even have several large rocks found in the excavation to place in them.

We'll be headed home tomorrow. I did get a chance to plant some of Papou's quince and my morel spawn on the property. The medlar my father brought back from PA turned out to not have formed seeds, though there was a codling moth larva to surprise me inside! I may try and convince John to let me buy some discounted saplings to plant before we leave tomorrow.

The siding continues to the front of the house The beginning of the retaining walls

Siding and window progress

2008-10-15T22:46:00.002-04:00

We're up north to choose the light fixtures and do a recheck on the electrical placement. When we came into town yesterday we headed to the property despite the chill and gloomy skies. We arrived at 5:30pm and were surprised to see the excavators at work redistributing topsoil. I am extremely pleased with how good our topsoil looks. It is far richer than I expected for this area. I can't wait to start planting! The progress on the house seems great. Almost all of the windows are in place, the shingles are all on and they've started adding siding. There are trenches dug and bricks delivered and the retaining walls should be started tomorrow.

We decided to add a window on the large wall that the breakfast nook looks onto. The hole for the window has been framed and it really improves the view. I can sit in the breakfast nook and see into the pool and even through the pool windows into the east side of the backyard. One glitch is with the windows over the kitchen sink. We had them as four double hung windows to match the rest of the first floor but unfortunately with how far forward the kitchen sink is it's nearly impossible to open them. We decided it was worth the money to swap them out for sliding windows and since we can't return them they'll go into the downstairs hallway. Having windows on that hallway was part of the original plan but was cut to save money. It'll be nice to have the natural light back in that hall.

We're staying two more days and the weather looks to be a lot nicer. I hope to get some pictures of the fall color which is spectacular right now. I also have to plant my morel patch, a quince from Papou's tree and a medlar that my father brought back from a park in Pennsylvania. I'm so excited about how nice the topsoil looks that I just might make John stop at a nursery and pick up a few other things to plant. We do have 16 acres to play with after all! If I have my way it'll be an arboretum with one of every species that can grow in Michigan. Here are some pictures from yesterday:

The south side of the house from the valley
The west side of the house with some siding
The east side of the house with some siding
Alex loved climbing on the freshly spread topsoil.
He had two pounds of it in his boots by the time we left! The living room windows
The kitchen sink windows that will be swapped out with sliders
My improved breakfast nook view
The southern view from the attic with some skylights in place and the colorful maples
The view from the north facing window on the attic level The pool room with windows and some of the skylights in place
The pool room doorwall and windows to the living room Alex in the field where the septic system is buried The master bedroom with windows, I love the views of fall color from here!

Windows

2008-10-04T12:27:00.003-04:00

We're back down south (southeastern Michigan that is) and I already miss the new house terribly. Before we left for home on Friday we had an electrical walk though. Trying to be decisive about placement of fixtures and switches is much harder than I thought it would be. As we were doing the walk through the first of the windows arrived! There are several windows covered over with drain paper and it'll be great to be able to see out of all of them the next time we're up. The well drilling was finishing up and next week the septic system goes in. I've got to get final picks for lighting, ideally by next week. I'm also going to look at tile and mantles for the fireplace surround.

The doorwall from the downstairs family room to the pool room, before installation
An orb weaver web in the corner of the pool room doorway
A praying mantis, it could have been from the egg cases we brought up earlier this year.

Stairs and well drilling

2008-10-02T22:33:00.003-04:00

After finalizing the kitchen and bathroom cabinetry decisions yesterday, we spent most of today relaxing. The sun came out in the afternoon and we decided to head out to the building site once the workers were gone for the day. Surprised and delighted, we found that both staircases were in! Alex was nervous on the stairs without a railing and didn't like how far you can see down on the attic level. I just loved being in the attic! The space has so much character and the views are even better than the master bedroom and bath views. You can even see into the pool through the skylights!!

We also discovered a ginormous red truck that at first glance seemed to be some sort of crane. After walking around it and reading the name "Versa-Drill" we figured out that it was a well drilling truck. Alex LOVED the squishy mud that had come from the drilling. I have to admit I enjoyed throwing a few rocks into it as well. We're headed home tomorrow after going over some plumbing and electrical details with the builder. We're making sure Alex wears boots tomorrow so he can really muck around that well mud. Here are pictures of our first time being in the attic and the well drilling machine:

The south side of the house with the pool room walls upThe west side of the attic The east side of the attic and the stairwell
The view of the skylight holes from the southern attic window The basement stairs
Alex playing on some wood
The Versa-Drill The drilling spot
The fun sticky mud
It must be because I have a little boy but mud and mess can be beautiful.
Alex's shoes post well mud, thankfully they can go in the wash!

The pool room develops

2008-09-30T22:54:00.003-04:00

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

2008-09-23T15:00:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-17T13:00:00.000-04:00

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

2008-09-08T13:31:00.000-04:00

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

House Details

2008-08-29T23:22:00.000-04:00

I've been remiss in posting more about the floor plan. When I asked recently the builders were kind enough to send me some simplified outlines of the house. This should give a better idea of what kind of house we're building. Summed up it's a 3 bedroom ranch with a bonus room upstairs and a walkout basement downstairs. The most unique feature is that the walkout basement includes an indoor pool and the living room windows look onto the pool. This the grande scheme of my husband who works at home and has dreamed of an indoor pool for years.

If you'd like to know more about our builders you can go to their website, Steinorth Fine Homes.
Images of the exterior of the house are here.
Here are the labelled floor plans:

The main floor

The basement level

The upstairs bonus room

Walls!

2008-08-28T21:23:00.000-04:00

Shortly after I posted the pictures this morning of the basement floor the builders surprised me with even more photos, of WALLS!! I can't believe how much has gone up. The blue colored wood is treated for moisture/mold resistance. That wood is on the walls that will be inside the pool room. The outside pool room walls are not up and the pool is now covered with white plastic.

In John's office looking out: to the left a window and
door, to the outside to the right a large window looking onto the pool

In the pool room: looking at the window into John's office
To the left the doorway onto the pool room,
to the left the family room and exercise room
Looking on the east side of the house
The door into John's office from the outside
In the downstairs family room: doorway onto the pool room in back
The east side of the basement with walls
The basement walls going in

More pool and basement pictures

2008-08-28T10:25:00.000-04:00

We still won't be going up to see the house until next week but I got a few new pictures from the builders this morning. They've finished installing the radiant heat and poured the basement floor. This morning the first tier of concrete is being installed around the pool. The next tier should be poured in the next few days. They will be covering up the pool before we get up to see it but it's for the best since the framers are getting started and need to be able to work around the area building the pool room walls.

I hope we'll get a ton of pictures of the house and land next week. It will be great to see all of the progress in person. Alex saw these pictures and asked me if he could lay on the floor now. I think he really wants to get in the house and play with his Bionicles inside. He's going to love running around in there when we go up next. We may even have the beginning of a first floor by next week!

The basement floor after being poured

The pool with the basement family room in the foreground
The west side of the basement
The pool before they pour the first tier of concrete
The east side of the basement
The framed area for the automatic pool cover

We have a POOL!

2008-08-21T10:49:00.000-04:00

Forget the house, the pool is in and full of water! I haven't gotten around to posting the full house layout but if you look here you can see how the pool is going to be indoors on the walkout basement level. It looks pretty crazy right now in the middle of a foundation, without a house, in the middle of the woods. It is killing John and myself to not go up and see (and swim in) it. These pictures were taken by our builders.

The pool from the northeast

The pool from the west

The pool from the east, with the builder's kids

The bench in the deep end

The steps in the shallow end

Back filling and pool digging pictures

2008-08-14T13:00:00.000-04:00

I received pictures of the house from our builders today. They've installed some foam insulation and back filled. The garage floor is poured. The radiant heating is going in the basement floor and it has to be inspected before the basement floor is poured. And the pool should be coming soon! You can see them digging out the pool hole in the above picture which is taken from where the front door will eventually be. It looks so much better than when we were up last. I think it makes a huge difference to have the piles of earth pushed back into place. Now it feels like a building site again and not a war zone. It's killing us that we're not up to see it in person. Here are the other pictures:

Looking at the garage from the driveway, after back filling the foundation

The garage, after the back filling and pouring the floorEastern front of the house after back filling
Looking down onto the western side of the basement
Eastern side of the basementDigging the pool hole

Foundation pictures

2008-08-03T16:42:00.000-04:00

I finally decided on a house color! I choose the above yellow with white trim. The house pictured above is just the preview picture from the paint website. We're planning on mixing the styles of siding. Several sections will be 8 inch lap siding with a few sections in 2 foot board and batten. We went up to see the progress and we now have a foundation! The cement was finishing its curing and exterior had been coated in tar. They will attach exterior insulation and back fill and then there is the radiant heat flooring and plumbing to go in before the basement floor is poured. And then...THE POOL! The darn pool gets filled with water and then boarded up until everything else is set up. Since hotel prices are so crazy in Traverse City right now we probably won't be able to see the pool but it's still nice to think it'll be waiting for us.

I made some major decisions regarding kitchen materials and I'm really happy with the layout that the designer worked out for me. There are also designs for the master and kid's bathrooms mostly finished. But, I still haven't any pictures of those things for you. Instead enjoy the lovely shots of walls of concrete...

Front of the house: garage to the right, front door in the middle, then the kid's rooms

The west side of the foundation: pool is in the center
The space for the pool: John's office is to the right, the stairs to the main floor are behind the pool room
The west side of the house from below
The east side of the house: pool room to the left, John's office to the rightLooking onto the pool room from John's office
It was fun to walk around the space and picture the rooms

Excavation!

2008-07-12T19:55:00.000-04:00

After a short glitch in the excavation start date due to the contractor's family emergency, we have digging!!! These pictures were taken in June right before our trip to Florida but I was feeling lazy so I've just been sitting on them. We were up after they had the brush and topsoil cleared and they were levelling off the footprint and building a requested berm. The best part for me was seeing the driveway laid out, though climbing on piles of dirt was fun too. While we were away they've dug the basement and are pouring footings. Next, we have the pool installation and the rest of the foundation. I'm eager to see the new progress and the big hole!

I also am due to meet with the kitchen designer and go over materials. I got to look at first drafts for kitchen, mudroom and bathroom layouts. They look really great. I'll try and scan in the sketches she gave me. I really love the tall cabinetry she has on the range and sink wall and how she has the fridge and ovens together in one section. For now, here are pictures of our dirt:

Scooping up Dog Hill, no more deer blind

Entrance to the driveway
The turn in the driveway
Completing the driveway turn Sideview of the footprint looking back at the driveway,
which is just left of center.
Sideview of the footprint with the basement walkout side to the right
Alex and John looking off the back edge

Toa Matoro came along and enjoyed playing in the dirt

House exterior

2008-05-25T19:45:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in my last post, excavation is set to start during the first week of June!! The structural engineer signed off on the plans this past week and permits are being pulled.

Poor John is weeping over the coming destruction of the hilltop and the trees that aren't going to make it. He really wanted to try and move a few of the maples. The timing wasn't good for us and there is a good chance they won't make it without any way to water and care for them. I'm not really bothered because nothing huge is coming out and I have extensive plans for new trees and plants to put in once we move.

The big decision before me is choosing the exterior paint and roofing colors. I've been playing in Paint shop hoping I could find a combination that I love but half of the time what I pick looks like a Crayola box exploded all over the house! I know I want the trim all white and no or very little dark colors. I really love the look of a tan roof, white trim and pale yellow. The way the house is laid out there is the opportunity to use several colors for different sections, but I don't know what other colors to add and where. We are painting fiber cement siding so I can choose pretty much any color I'd like. Alas, the limitless choice is paralyzing me. Here are some of my versions of the front and back of the house in situ colored all yellow. The roof is resawn shake but here are other colors I can pick from. What should I change?

The front of the house
The large tree in the forground is staying,
it and one behind it will flank the driveway entrance.

The back of the house
There will be a lot of reshaping of the landscape around
the foundation to give walkouts off the mudroom, master bath, pool and office.

The really cool toilet

2008-05-14T21:10:00.001-04:00

We finally made it up north after a couple of trips postponed due to Alex getting sick. We headed up on Mother's Day and took a nice walk on the property. Everything is growing and blooming! The smell from the cherry orchard next door was wonderful. There were lots of bugs and bees buzzing around and we stumbled upon two garter snakes and a mouse in the woods. On Monday we met with the excavator and staked out the house position. Excavation is set to begin on June 2nd!! We also picked out the pool and looked at plumbing. The best thing was this toilet. It is the coolest thing with dual flush, easy clean straight sides and it just looks so cute!

Here are some more pictures: (and yeah, I know Alex really needs a haircut)

Our road in and the cherry orchard next door in full bloom

Staking the excavation site
Finds from the land, clockwise from top left:"the shack" an old deer blind,
yellow violet, serviceberry flowers, apple blossom,
bloodroot leaf, wild strawberry plant

One of the garter snakes

A tasty find

2008-04-12T18:07:00.000-04:00

We woke to snow-dusted trees and a half inch of snow this morning. It was beautiful but did not look like spring. Fortunately, the forecast shows temperatures back in the mid 50s by Wednesday so it shouldn't last. Despite the snow, Alex was eager to go to the property and walk around. It was windy with fine snow blowing in the air so I headed for cover in the wooded area east of the building site. I was rewarded with finding a nice large pile of boulders, a few large sugar maples, some trout lily leaves poking through the leaves and....ramps!! I found three or four 2-foot diameter patches of them in the small area I was in. We're headed home tomorrow and I hope to go collect some before we leave. Here are some of the pictures I took today:

The pile of boulders
Alex climbing Lichen spotted boulder
A patch of ramps
The northern side of the buiding site
(Alex and the retaining pond are in the bottom right)
The woods just east of the building site

A blessing

2008-04-11T22:24:00.000-04:00

We're up north since Alex had Friday off school. We met with the woman that deals with the kitchen and bath cabinetry and talked about kitchen layouts, cabinet styles and materials and bathrooms. That was a lot of fun but since it was the first meeting it was more about thinking than deciding. I'm far from being prepared to do any deciding on the kitchen anyway. We're also looking to finalize window choices and and doors. We have a bunch of things to look over at home and think about (house and roof colors, front door styles, garage doors).

Later, we went out the land and met with the orthodox priest in the area to have a blessing of the land. Alex was very impressed with the censer and the priest's shawl. He even carried the censer very nicely. The weather had cooled and it was raining and hailing earlier so we didn't walk the land. Alex really wanted to even though he was cold. He has his own little route he likes us to take whenever we visit the property.

When we next come up we should be looking at staking to approve the position of the house and then they can start digging! (Can you hear my internal screams of joy?)

About the land

2008-04-06T02:21:00.000-04:00

Dog Hill is on 16 acres of rolling northern Michigan countryside. About 65% of the land is heavily wooded with the remaining land covered in grassy meadow and brush. There is a low valley that has a patch of white pines and there are several abandoned apple trees around. There are lots of deer signs especially near the blackberry patches when we were there in late summer last year. We are planning on building on a central hill that faces another smaller hill that has a nice steep slope. We've seen lots of signs of snowmobiling this winter, especially on our two biggest hills. We had lots of fun on our trip in December sledding down the hills.

About Dog Hill

2008-04-06T00:43:00.000-04:00

For over 5 years now my husband and I have been looking to purchase a piece of land and build our dream house in northern Michigan. There were several near-misses, almosts and quite a few disappointments but we finally found a spot of land we love. This past fall we finally purchased 16 acres of beautiful rolling hills covered in meadow and forest in the midst of cherry orchards and vineyards. Dog Hill is the name that seems to have stuck. Mostly because John, my husband, can't stop talking about how many dogs he wants to have when we move. We have two dogs, Karmal and Roxy.

We've been so ready to move, we quickly found builders we liked and started designing our new home. This occupied most of my brain this winter. Now with Michigan thawing out and our financing settled we're ready to get started! Soon I hope to journal the culmination of our dreams come true. While you and I wait here's some pictures of our property:

My son Alex on our land (08-28-07)
behind him is the retention pond at the end of our road

The home site on (12-28-07)
the small structure in the center is a deer blind left from the previous owners
The white pine valley (12-28-07)

The building site on (04-03-08)
the snow was completely melted on the big hill and
it was strange to see all of the meadow grass flattened down

Our road in and our neighboring cherry orchard (04-03-08)
our land is on the right, I'm standing about 20 feet from the western property line

Alex playing in the retention pond (04-03-08)