The Renovators' Report: Cooking with gas!

Oh my goodness - so much progress has been made that it is now possible for guests to give self-guided tours (but this never happens for liability reasons...). It is no longer necessary to imagine what the place will look like. The walls and the additions are actually there. We anticipate that the framing will be complete this week and then the plumber, electrician and insulators will arrive. And then - GASP - we may start seeing sheetrock!!!!

So, here is a little tour of the place in its current state. I am up to date as I type this blog (frequent readers will note that often I post four in one night to catch up) - but as I type, the house sits in the condition reflected below waiting for the contractor to arrive tomorrow morning.

New staircases:

There are two new staircases in the house. We removed both the attic and the cellar stairs in the renovation and relocated them. The new stairs to the attic will provide access to LM's writing room and eventually two additional bedrooms. For those of you who saw the before, these stairs start at the top of the main staircase to the house and end on the third floor in a newly added dormer.

We also relocated the cellar staircase. After discussing it, we were nervous that this old historic house was going to feel a little too new. So, we decided to put in the creepiest staircase we could get away with.

The New Dormer:

At some point during the design process, we thought - "Hey, let's cut a giant hole in the roof to accommodate a new staircase and put in a dormer with three big windows. This is a great idea." Well, once I recovered from the number of dollars represented in the change order, I had to agree. The new dormer really opens up the attic and I think it adds a little character to the old farm house roof line. Maybe we will add one to the other side as well - in Phase 147.

The New Master Bath

In our place in Boston, we took great pride in making our master bath a room with "WOW" factor. In the new place, we intend to do the same but also hope to get some of the perks of suburban living - mainly more space, a double sink, a window and a glorious toilet closet. To boot, we added a rounded wall. The master bedroom is actually a bit smaller than we wanted because of the master bath - but this is going to be one kick a** place to start and end the day.

New Windows

When God said, "Let there be light" I think the statement was made without consideration of how much turmoil light would cause in our bedroom design. We wanted a nice bright bedroom with views out all of the outside walls but wanted it to remain cave-like for sleeping.

Oh - and we wanted to be able to fit all of our existing and potential furniture in there and not block a window.

No problem... HA!!! We had so many designs for windows, we probably should have just gone with an all glass room. But we like to throw stones, so we settled for a slightly more traditional and less transparent design. Now the windows just have to get ordered and arrive in time for us to move in.

No problem...

The Master Closet

It turns out the folks in 1850 didn't have a lot of clothes. And it seems that at the time of the 1953 renovation, society had begun to appreciate style but chose to place it in closets in which only 25% of anything stored was accessible.

This just wasn't going to work in this household...

So, we decided to put an addition on the house to hold our clothes.

The master closet is almost as good as the bathroom. You can't live in there as there is no plumbing, but there is a window and plenty of room for all four seasons.

LeeMichael was giddy about it - even before it had a roof.