First Day Cottage Walpole

 Here are some updates on the house.  Firstly I can't stop looking at my awesome clothesline.  Isn't it a beautiful sight?!  So much sun out there.  It really makes me happy. Here is a hint at what's going down this week.  I think Jason will be setting the cobblestones which will separate the courtyard gravel from the paved (eventually) driveway.  They will also encircle the tear drop shaped island in the middle. Grass has been planted in the areas where we needed to fill in the bare patches.  Rain would be very helpful to get it going but it's been hot and dry. I am still painting.  It never ends.  I have stained one half of the long front porch decking.  I tried rolling it but did not like the coverage so brushing it on worked better.  Not easy on the knees! And here is the big reveal on our new stone steps!  I just love the natural look of them.  The stepping stone pathway has been started and will continue all the...

I chose a butcher block countertop for the pantry as an economical option.  The kitchen countertops are so expensive! I am staining it a dark walnut and then will treat it with a special oil that will harden into a satin wax finish that is food grade.  It is repairable so the counter can be refreshed as opposed to polyurethane which has to be sanded off. Here is the first coat of stain

After five months we finally got electric service.  Now hopefully construction can begin soon. Our new pole is now functional The boys sitting in the studio.  They will be more excited when there are walls and a roof!  We took a long walk around the whole property and they were pleased to find piles of deer poop in their soon to be new yard.

We were doing pretty good for a week or so on progress.  Some of the floors got poured and they look nice and smooth.  But then this happened... the inevitable first big winter storm of the season.  Now we are buried so I am not sure what will happen with the rest of the concrete.  Unless we miraculously get an extended warm spell and a lot of melting!

This week the trench has been dug and conduit laid in preparation for electricity.  We need to get on Liberty Utilities' schedule (no small feat). This is the "slurry pit" for the well which is supposed to be dug this week also.  Big happenings!

There was a lot of earth moving out at our building site this week.  The foundation is mostly backfilled.  The driveway was filled and the giant hole was filled in.  Here you see the rocks that were screened from all that fill out of the hole laid for the slab under the garage. The courtyard is pretty much filled in.  This will eventually be washed gravel and flat stones for the walkway. Our piles of screened fill...not sure where these are going. Now let's hope for some temperate weather so they can finish pouring concrete.  It has been unseasonably cold the last week.  I know it's a lot to hope for in November!

We were out at the site this morning and we were excited to see lots happening.  Erik the plumber is laying the tubing for the radiant heat in the basement (with the help of his son on school vacation day).  It looks like it will be nice and warm down there! It was exciting to finally be able to walk inside the house now that it is partially backfilled.  I can't wait to get the decking on so we can see what our view will be from the first floor. Snow predicted tonight so let's hope it is not too bad and they can get the concrete poured soon.

We stopped at the building site to show our daughter the foundation and were there to receive delivery of the foam insulation that will go around the foundation.  It was exciting to get the stuff delivered but not as exciting to receive the bill.  It was not included in the original estimate but apparently it is code to maintain energy efficiency.  Once this gets attached the site will be backfilled which will be great because then we can get closer to the building.  Right now there is a deep ditch all around and a plank to get across.  Not willing to break a leg to get inside! On the plus side, I am finding lots of good rocks for landscaping! Thomas and David Howard (our architect) consulting on the backfilling and grading that will happen.  The man from Perkins said he used to fish in the pond next door.  Everyone who comes out to the site remarks about what a nice location it is.

The forms for the foundation are set and concrete is getting poured this week.  It is looking amazingly tall to me right now considering this is all going to be below grade so there is a tremendous amount of backfilling to be done.  I hope we are not sitting on top of a mound at the end of it like a cupcake!  We will be back in NH in a few weeks and it will be good to see all of this in person.  These photos were taken by friends who are keeping an eye on the project.  Thank goodness for friends! Hello Jana!

I finished a paper house model of our project.  Our architect, David Howard, gave us one but there has been some changes and I wanted to put the windows on the interior so I could visualize the rooms and the light.  It helps!  Also after doing this model we realized that the windows in the basement would not work on the courtyard side of the house because I wanted it all level.  Just in the nick of time because the earth movers are figuring out all the elevations right now and we can still make changes.  When I get back to NH I will play around with landscape ideas.  I doubt we will have any money left for landscaping but I dare to dream of cobblestone courtyards! Front of house showing the garage and courtyard where the main entrance will be. South elevation showing walkouts underneath (my studio) and back porch.  Ignore Golden Retriever lurking in background! West elevation showing the long kitchen/dining wall, small back porch and back of ...

I am creating this blog as a way to record the building of our First Day Cottage in Walpole, NH.  We purchased 7.2 acres of open meadow one mile outside of the beautiful village of Walpole, NH.  We have lived in an old 1849 house on the town common for the past 20 years and wanted to "downsize" to a one level more energy efficient home.  I knew a local architect named David Howard designed these owner built cottages and was able to visit one that was built for his daughter.  I really liked the tall ceilings, exposed beams and rustic quality of the cottages.  Something totally different than what we had for 20 years.  Of course we are not building it ourselves.  We might have attempted this kind of thing 35 years ago but not an option these days. We close on our land on 183 Old Drewsville Road!  I drive by to New Hampshire from Prince Edward Island where we reside in the summer to stake out the land with David.  Now I can envision a house th...