A Suit of Siding

So all of a sudden we went from Tyvek to Hardie Board in "Night Gray," and our house is looking sharp! I'm getting the feeling that E-Haus is more guy than girl, so we'll call it a suit. What's really interesting is the way this color (and our house itself) looks so different in different lights and from different angles. We apparently have two houses!

Our driveway will eventually branch off into a concrete pad and turn-around by the garage as well as an additional loop that goes more in front of the house for guests. But because we wanted to take best advantage of our scenery and tweaked our house location to that, this angled view is going to be the first impression our guests get. I'm guessing that a yard and some landscaping will go a long way to help!

When we're out in the yard or otherwise coming to the front door, this is the straight-ahead front view, and in this light, our siding almost looks navy blue. I can't wait to see how the stone we chose finishes it off! I can't wait to paint the front door, for that matter! I told Nate that I want to go bold, so we'll see if I hold my ground when the time comes to make that decision for real.

And the Framing Details Continue.

One of the coolest impromptu experiences of the build happened on the Saturday that we randomly drove over and discovered a whole crew at work installing windows and exterior doors! Not pictured: we didn't get our normal snow this winter, but we definitely have gotten a bunch of rain, so it's basically a mud slick out that door. One of the guys bringing the door in totally slipped in it and fell flat on his back in the muck. He wasn't hurt at all except for perhaps his ego, so we all had a laugh. 

This door was originally designed as a sliding door-- and yes, that would have been practical-- but the romantics in us went for french doors anyway. I just keep imagining them propped open in the sunshine, especially after we get our deck built out there. The space that leads to the doors is going to serve as a dining nook for a few years at least. 

We wanted open living in our house, so we added a nook so that we could have a little separation instead of placing our table directly between the kitchen (that dark hole to the left) and the great room. The planned dining room is going to be a TV/ play room instead, and we added an angled peninsula to our kitchen that utilizes some of the gap space in here.

I had never before and will likely never again be so amazed by the installation of pipes and electrical boxes into a space!

We have an upstairs! This was taken from inside the master bedroom and through the framing you can see the top of our stairs, the laundry room (right next to our bedroom on the left in this picture), our daughter's room (to the right of our stairs), and if you squint hard enough I can see my cute soon-to-be middle child who is standing in our planned open loft space and another bedroom right behind him.

And the view from our upstairs balcony into the great room! My absolute favorite thing about this space besides the two-story windows themselves is the way that we angled our house altogether so that they all look directly into the woods. I can't think of a better view to watch the seasons change throughout the year!

This is the flat-on back view of our house. Now imagine it with a desk in the space the right that wraps around the right side of the house, and a low patio across the rest of the back. Also some grass and landscaping. 

The garage side and the top of one of the egress windows in our basement. It's funny how much Tyvek, windows and shingles make a structure start to look like a real house! Maybe we don't need siding after all...

Walls!

I never quite considered the possibility that one day, I might wax poetic about poured concrete walls. But here I am, and actually it's a great place to be. After the perhaps ubiquitous delays that plagued the first few months of our building experience after we closed, every little bit  of construction that indicates our home will be real is awe-inspiring.

This week we were jazzed to discover that the inspection apparently went flawlessly and that our concrete basement walls were poured and then the area was backfilled in less than a week. We have egress windows and random tubing. We even saw metal trusses on site, which means that we might actually have the full outline of a house by Thanksgiving because vertical framing starts this week!

We also, of course, are realizing that the landscaping is going to be no joke at all. There is so much brush to mow down and grass to grow and general prettification of the area to be done after we move in. I don't care. We will have a house, and that is thrilling. That being said, I have big theoretical plans for a giant garden and an equally giant outdoor living area with a built-in fire pit. Someday.

This wooded area, while a little sparse-looking in late November, will be our view out of the two stories of windows in the great room. Whether they are green, flowering, or covered in snow, it will be so nice to have some nature as part of our every day home decor.

 I spy one of our egress windows! It's so strange to see a 3D version of our house plans.

Nate's standing in our three-car garage. We are realizing that it's going to be a little full once we've parked our three cars, and he's already pining for his someday pole barn.

More side yard and playtime in the garage. The best part of building a house? In my kids' opinions, it's all of the dirt!

In other news, besides vertical framing, we should finish up with our selections this week. Our builder is dropping off countertop and fireplace selections, and then we're kind of set for awhile. It's scary but also a relief. I'm excited to see all of the plans come to life!