Wood floor

We will have wood floors in all areas except the basement and bedrooms. 

They began installing the floors yesterday - they will come back after the painters have finished the walls and sand and stain. 

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas!

So we're building our house, celebrating the holidays, what could go wrong?  Well, this is a photo of our car after it got transferred to the second tow truck on its way to Newberg from the Santiam Pass.  We were on our way to a winemaker dinner that I was supposed to do near Bend, and it died close to the summit of the pass with no cell phone reception.  The engine got so hot it melted some components, and is beyond fixing.  After 208,000 miles we have no complaints, but the timing certainly puts a focus on our remaining budget items.

Back to the building site, and the drywall hangers have been busy!  I know we keep saying this, but it's really starting to look like we imagined it!

looking down the hallway toward the bedrooms.

We also spent much of the holiday season selecting colors, carpets, etc.

Back to the house.  The angle and light are funny, but that's me on the stilts.  The cold weather slows drying, so this has taken more time than expected.  Besides, I kind of like walking around in the stilts.

Looking toward the kitchen end of the great room.  We are doing very smooth walls and ceiling, and they are looking great.

Who knew there were so many whites?  Color selection seemed daunting, but once we got to it we had little trouble agreeing on things.  We also got some great advice later from Karen at Miller Paints, and that gave us the confidence to move forward.

We had been looking at a very tasteful quartz countertop, but at the last minute we got talked into looking at granite.  So glad we did!  We walked through the slab warehouse and chose this beauty - much more interesting and colorful than the quartz, and it works great with the walnut that Dysthe is holding up from the cabinets.  Curiously, Nordic White is not very white and is from Brazil.  Go figure.  

 

 

That pretty much sums up the past month.  January means painting, cabinet installation, floors, counters, appliances, carpets, and probably a lot more things that I'm forgetting right now.  We are still trying to stay ahead of the details, like getting the drawer pulls to the cabinet maker this week.  Still officially tracking to move in by the end of March.  Happy New Year!

December, Part 1

December started off with some more cement, this time in the garage.

We also poured a 4 inch thick hearth, which apparently got done just in time for the fireplace installers.  We settled on a gas fireplace because we didn't want the smoke and figured that this would get a lot more use than a wood burning one.

This is what the hearth looks like once we removed all of the forms.  We are still waiting to see if it cracks as it dries.  This end of the great room is starting to take shape!

The siding started going on, and the house continues to look more real as they go.

The siding is pretty basic, board and batten.  Works for a house in the country, though.

One thing about building on the top of a hill is that it can be the windiest place around.  There was a big windstorm in early December and I stopped by to see how things were doing.  You can see the branches on the ground, and the trees they came from are over a hundred feet from the house.  Fortunately we decided to have the closest tree cut down, so we will sleep easier when this happens after we move in.

The electricians have been busy.  These are some of the lights in the great room...

It seems like this piscture was taken just a few days after the last one, but the insulation guys have certainly been at it!

As Christmas grew closer we decided to add a little cheer.  The stockings were hung from the "chimney" with care!  We hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season, and we promise to send more updates soon.  Cheers!

Mom and Dad came to see their new vacation home.

November brings some big changes!

November began with windows going in.  Just seeing them in makes the view from up here more amazing.

And some plumbing goes in.

Even a little drywall going in, though just in the furnace room for now.  This was in preparation for the HVAC guys showing up for putting in the furnace and duct work.

And the roofers came to install the standing seam metal roof.  They are brothers, and if you look close you might notice that this one has only one arm.  He still gets more done than most people!

Then the cold snap hit.  I know that much of the country has had it a lot worse than Oregon has, but this slowed us down a little.

This picture doesn't show it well enough, but this is the roofers thawing things out with a blowtorch one morning so they can get to work.

Roof almost done and more windows in.

And here's where we are now, almost all closed in with electricians showing up soon.

Hey, what happened in October?

Work kept up trying to close the house in before fall turned everything into mush.  I don't know if you can tell, but Jeff here is old school and pounds in every nail with a hammer.  No shortcuts for us!

Getting closer, showing the entrance and chimney taking shape.

Driving up this day was the first time it really looked like our house!

Mostly enclosed, but now that it's raining we need a real roof.

To be fair, there have been other distractions keeping me from the blog.  Exhibit A, a press full of Pinot.

Exhibit B, we had a nice weekend as harvest wound down and went kayaking on the Willamette south of downtown Portland.

Back to the house. Pete framing in the fireplace.

As October wound down, Dysthe's folks showed up and helped us get felt on the roof.  Ta-da!

A lot more photos

House on the hill taking shape, beam in place.

Dysthe watching the moon rise to the left of Mt. Hood

They started framing for the roof as soon as the beam was up and wrapped. The wrapping is just protection from moisture or dirt during construction.

Looking West toward the sunset through a hall window.

Construction zone at night, with creepy forklift photobomb.

We're almost ready to welcome you all!

Introduction...

I'd like to introduce our Builder, Brett Fogelstrom! 
We've known Brett for years as a friend and have always admired his work. We never dreamed he would be interested in building our house -he's one of the most talented designer/builders we know.  
Doesn't he look like a nice guy?  He actually is!  
He's teaching us lingo - builder terminology.  In the beginning he would use words that were specific to the engineering and structure of the home and I nodded and smiled.  I figured, if I really needed to know what that word meant that he'd make sure I did.  As time went on he got to know that look on my face and the nodding and he would stop and say, "do you know what that is?" I would say "no, is it important that I know?"    
We have a rhythm and our meetings are now managing "real time" things like installations and decisions. 

It's great having a friend as your builder or having your builder be your friend as well.

Dave is the one that has the photo touch so far.  When we go up to the building site there's so much to see. 
This is exciting!  Every time we share with someone that we are building a house they have a nugget of wisdom to share.  Sometimes it's about marriage and how you have to be careful people get divorced.  Sometimes it's about where to put the hose spigots and electrical outlets, or what type of faucets and sinks to install.  Not to worry, we are far from divorced, Dave is a Saint and I am reminding myself more often that it's ok to not know the answer to my 1,000 questions  We will have hose spigots, I can't tell you how many but they will be there.  We will also have electricity and I will make sure I can reach all of the outlets.  As for the sinks and faucets, we'll choose what we like and what fits in the budget. 

Getting to this point has been a journey unto itself.  We sold our house in Sherwood in June 2011 and rented a house in Lake Oswego while we looked for a piece of property that would be suitable for a vineyard with a home. We came across this piece of land in February of 2013 and jumped at the chance.  We are located in Sherwood, which is an honest 30 minute drive to Portland.  You can get there sooner if you don't start counting how long you have been in the car until after the first 10 minutes.  We have a view of Mt. Hood, and out here that means A LOT!  It's like an ocean view - but not. 
We started planning and designing the house last Summer. 
We have a great design / builder, Brett Fogelstrom.  We were excited to have him take on the project. Brett built the recent addition to the Ponzi Winery and has a keen eye for design.  He is also familiar with vineyard sites and orienting a building or house amongst the vineyard while still positioning the house to be in the best spot for livability.  I am learning a lot from Brett.  He doesn't realize how much he knows and sometimes I have to nag him to tell me more - I think he's getting used to me.

Lots of change out here and we are loving it.  It's a reminder of just how little you have control over and you MUST remember to stop and ask - "Am I missing out on a moment to enjoy this?"

We're beaming!!!

This morning the crane arrived and they put a 40' long beam down the spine of the great room.  This is WAY BETTER than HGTV!

"Raise high the roof beam, carpenters" - Sappho




This is the view as if you were standing on the back patio with a beer in your hand looking at the house.

Moonrise over Mt. Hood

A little movie

Here's a short film from today - I hope it works

The framing has started!

I've been busy with harvest, but caught this photo at dawn yesterday.

Foundation finished, ready to start framing soon!

Bob and Katy came all the way from Houston to help pour the basement walls - we couldn't have done it without them!

 

 Dysthe showed up too, and we got busy removing the forms.  Voila!

After months of waiting and filing paperwork to get all of the permits, it is great to see how fast the progress is.  It really seems like there is something new to see every time we go there!