Painting commenced. Lots of new stuff.

They've basically painted the outside. Everything is turning out really beautiful.

From Hillsborough_April28

I love all the detailing. The painters have done a great job. Everything looks a little too white now- We'll certainly have to spruce things up with landscaping and perhaps some color in wacky places.

From Hillsborough_April28

Still no shingles, but they did get the long-awaited bunk room going:

From Hillsborough_April28

I think the top bunk is too high, but we'll see once Maverick and LeAnne come up tomorrow. Here's all the pics from today:

Hillsborough_April28

Siding done. Plumbing in. Electricians starting!

Met with the electricians this morning to discuss some lighting minutiae. Left Wilmington at 5am- that was a rough drive, but it sure was pretty once I got there.

From Hillsborough_April26

This is the first time I've been able to see the light coming up in the east as opposed to setting, so there some really pretty places on the property. I really like the way the front porch view is.

From Hillsborough_April26

It's starting to slow down a little, as we were told it would. Still looking forward to the paint, but I think the shingles will have to come first.

We were able to get the flue in, which I am really happy about. I wasn't looking forward to a Hardiplank siding chimney. This will look much nicer I think.

From Hillsborough_April26

I can't wait to see smoke pouring out. Here's the full album from today if you're interested.

Hillsborough_April26

Porches! Windows! Doors!

Oh my! What fun. It's really starting to come together- the proportions, the detailing, it's all looking just like we hoped it would.

From Hillsborough_April19

The front porch already has some detailing that's going to really make it pretty.

From Hillsborough_April19

There's a ton of pictures to look at here:

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Front wall up. Family gets to see the house.

They got the front wall up- balloon framed and all. I think they forgot a little picture window on the left side around the stairs, but I'll ask Gail about it.

From Hillsborough_April13

LeAnne and Maverick were finally able to come up and see the thing for the first time with walls and such. They saw the upstairs before I did. LeAnne was really happy with the way the house was looking and Mav had a blast playing around a construction site.

From Hillsborough_April13

We met Gail out there and talked over a few things: leaving the rafters exposed under the porches, removing the second story "skirt" or band around the siding, etc. The second story skirt reminded us too much of our old neighborhood.

Ricky was out again, getting the septic system started:

From Hillsborough_April13

He and his dad, WD, did all the grading and digging for the foundation. We asked him about getting that back berm of tree stumps and he said it'd probably be $4,000 to $5,000 dollars. Yikes! I think I'll wait for the tractor and see what I can burn.

It's nice to finally be able to see a complete facade. The house seems smaller than I imagined, though I really like the way it sits on the lot.

From Hillsborough_April13

Here's the complete set of pics from that day:

Hillsborough_April13

More rafters! Back porch visible!

I went out this afternoon to take one last look at the house before heading back to Wilmington. I finally got to meet some of the guys working on the house (literally guys- It's been all girls up until this point- Gail and Rama).

There wasn't as much visible progress today, but the they were doing a lot of detailed work- the port cochere roofline looked really tricky and I think they did an awesome job making the little living room bump out roofline work.

Anyway- here's some pictures of me and Pepe and his crew's wonderful work...

From Hillsborough_April9

From Hillsborough_April9

From Hillsborough_April9

From Hillsborough_April9

All the pics from today:

Hillsborough_April9

Rafters! YAY!!!

 
 
 
 

Walls! Wood! Floors!

Finally, yesterday I was able to walk in the house for the first time. It was surreal after looking at the thing on paper for so long to be able to see it in real life. Some things are smaller than I imagined, some bigger, some just right.

From Hillsborough_April7

From Hillsborough_April7

The view from the 2nd story is really pretty, especially now that everything is greening up.

From Hillsborough_April7

Here's the whole album of stuff. This is so much fun!

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Foundations! Brick! This is so cool!

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