I haven’t posted much on the house recently – that’s because there has been boring stuff going on – and how many photos of my “sticks” did you really want to see? We had a scheduled meeting with our builder yesterday to do the final pre-sheetrock walk through. There are still a few framing punch list items but they should get those done today or Monday! They are now ready to do the exterior wall insulation – we are using a system called BIB – blown in batts – I may be able to post some photos of that next week!
BUT this week I get to post COLOR on the house and most exciting to me is……… they were cleaning up the site when we got there! I understand that building a house can create a mess – heck you should see my studio when I am building quilts! But every once in a while you have to stop and CLEAN UP the MESS! Because this homeowner wanted some nice photos!
Speaking of photos here they are…….
The view as you drive down the driveway. Where you see the tyvek will be Austin Stone! Travis said they will mix some of our sand in with their delivered sand to blend the house with the natural surroundings! I am also thinking I need some little accents in those gables – maybe a star?Our front porch – can’t wait to see the pretty front door! Little Toot was helping me decide how to decorate the porch when we were there Sunday! The window to the left is Corey’s office, the window to the right is a guest room.This is the west corner of our home. Our A/C units will be placed here and easy to disguise!
The color in the photo below is probably the closest to actual color – some of the others make it look too blue/green. The trim around windows and doors will be dark chocolate-brown like the roof edge and the chimney still needs to be painted. I can’t wait to see what happens when the trim paint goes on – it should change the whole look of the house!
This corner is the master suite – there is a door from the master suite to the back porch.Hubby walking past the back porch. He wanted me to take another photo with him not in the photo but I said nope – this was it!
In the photo above there are 2 small “shed” roofs over the sliding door and studio door, I thought I was going to hate them, but I had to tell hubby while they are not my favorite thing – I don’t hate them anymore! We may be adding some additional cedar trim to them to “dress” them up a little bit and we have also talked about eventually swapping the shingles on them for a metallic finish to add an accent.
The quilt room porch and garage side of the house. Still need to design the driveway and walkway to the quilt room. Looking forward to the brown trim being added. The garage doors will be green when they are installed and once we move in I will glaze them to give them a different look.
I am just so excited and cannot quit grinning! I also need to finish the quilt on the frame and then I will STOP and CLEAN UP the MESS!
Have a very safe and Happy 4th of July! How will you celebrate?
Well I want to post an update on the house and I think you will get the idea if I caption the photos properly. Hubby and I have done several remodels over the years and I have always enjoyed that process. When it came time to “design” our forever home it was really hard for me because there were no boundaries. For a girl who really likes to color outside the box I was surprised to learn that sometimes I like being in a box. When you are doing a remodel (on a budget) you have to keep in mind load bearing walls, where the plumbing is, incorporating the new with the old and having them blend nicely.
With the new home design I had a blank piece of paper – and I kept drawing perfectly square boxes and rectangles so I wasn’t getting any character. I realized I had to find a roofline I liked for a single story house and then I could tweak the floor plan (thanks to my friend Patty – for unknowingly pointing me in the right direction).
Hubby purchased a software program that he could use to show me what things would look like, including floor plan, fly overs and walk throughs – very cool stuff! And not terribly expensive.
For the next several months we worked on “our” floor plan. At one point I told hubby my quilt studio wasn’t big enough – he asked how much bigger I wanted it – I said “I don’t know – just bigger” So he worked with it and coincidentally when the quilt studio grew so did the garage for the house – maybe that is why I did not hear too much complaining from the peanut gallery when I asked for more space!
Then we started “interviewing” builders and I fell for Shay at Jimmy Jacobs Custom Homes. Shay was our sales person and from the get go she set our expectations that “No, you cannot build that house for the price you think you can!” She LISTENED to us and returned phone calls and emails – she is fabulous! Although she has left Jimmy Jacobs we are still friends!
We have another kink in our build process – we are 3 hours away from our build site – another reason we chose Jimmy Jacobs Custom Homes to build our home, we walked through numerous homes they were building in various states of construction and liked what we saw. As you know we poured concrete on April 17th (wow, in my mind I thought it was March 17th and was amazed by how quickly everything is going – it is actually going twice as fast as I thought!) and here is our project 5 weeks later on May 25th.
So enough gabbing from me – here are some photos……
When we started designing the great room, we tried moving the fireplace all around the room – only to end up with it where it was to begin with. This will be all rock with a nice size hearth.
To the left of the fireplace is my “wall” of windows, 3 windows that are each 3’x6′ and a set of french doors that are 6’x8′ that lead to the covered back porch.
Standing in the great room – looking into the kitchen. The island is 5′ deep by 9′ long and the side you see here will be all rock to match the fireplace – see the french doors to the right?
Lots of duct work for this house and hubby, Mr. Engineer is VERY impressed with how much bracing and framing is holding that roof up! Regarding the HVAC – it will be nice when they have the correct furnace units up there, we determined this past weekend they ordered and installed electric units, our exhibits called for propane! Hopefully those are in stock and not special order!
The fireplace is to the left of the arch so this is the other corner of the great room. I planned space here for a beautiful cedar table, chairs and bench we have that is bistro height – it will be fun to sit here and play monopoly with the grandkids!
The arch to the left leads to the master bedroom. The arch to the right is from the entry hallway.
This is the pantry it is just shy of 5′ wide x 8′ deep with a pocket door. Hubby will be doing the build out in this room so I get just what I want!
The pantry is located just past the garage – very convenient for unloading groceries!
(for this photo I am standing in the garage) AND see that long skinny room with the high window and a pocket door? That is the “closet” for the studio – it is 6′ wide by 19′ long and the ceiling is over 11′ high! And guess who will be doing the build out for this closet – yep Hubby!
The pocket door is currently installed with the opening on the wrong side but that is a quick fix. I love love love this closet space! And next to the closet is the studio powder bath. As a quilter I love design walls, but I also love natural light and lots of it. When you get a tour of the studio you will see the doors are full glass, big windows in the corner of the room and then a high window, but tons and tons of design wall space. And the ceilings are over 11′ WOW!
What is the 1 thing your dream home must have?
Go out and make the most of this day! I will be teaching members of the Bay Area Quilt Guild how to make the Cactus Flower Table Runner!
Hubby’s birthday was earlier this month and he got to pick out his present! And let me tell you he is just like a kid with a new toy!
The new toy – we might need a bigger barn!Or at least a bigger opening!Hauling a stump away from the front “yard” to the side yard!And like all nice kids – he shared his new toy! This is our builders son and he is a doll!
I had not seen the progress on our home for 2 weeks so it was fun to walk around – but I spent more time visiting with future neighbors than taking photos. Lilly and David were at their property adding to their pile of fire wood. Lonnie stopped by on his ATV while his wife was out horseback riding in the neighborhood. Pat and Joni stopped on their way home from a Sunday matinee, she said Million Dollar Arm is the best film she has seen in a long time and she looks forward to seeing it again! And while grandpa was running the tractor the Red Horned Deer that resemble elk went running between our property and the neighbors a couple of times.
The back porch trusses, cedar ceiling goes up next weekCedar ceiling on the front porchA view from the drivewayA view from the street, walking back from Lilly and David’s little piece of heaven!
Looking forward to a long weekend coming up. I teach on Saturday (check out my schedule on the left for where and when I will be in your area), then we will head to the property with a couple of chain saws and hopefully a lot of ambition!
Ok – they aren’t logs – but it is wood aka sticks! I had not been out to the site of our new home since they started framing.
This was my view from the road – YIKES – this is REAL!
What we see as we pulled down the driveway.
And now for quick tour…..
The view from the streetJust a peek through the treesRight side is the master suite areaBack porch, roof is not framed here yetView from the back french doors, through the great room, entry hall and out the front door!Quilt room corner – looking inQuilt room corner – looking outCacti in bloomStruggling to survive in the sandA field of happy yellow flowers….. just around the corner from our home.
No visit for me this weekend, teaching on Saturday and then working around the current house on Sunday for Mother’s Day. Corey will be heading out early Saturday – I look forward to his photos!
April 17th, 2014 was the big day! They poured the foundation for our new home.
The pump truck arrived just before 7:00 am to get setup prior to the caravan of 20 trucks, each carrying 9.5 cubic yards of cement, to be poured over a period of 5 hours, weighing in at approximately 617,500 pounds or 308 tons!
It was a cool overcast day which is very nice for pouring concrete, no wind to dry the top and the rain held off until they were near the end of the finish work and then it was just a drizzle.
7:00 am all set to goA little bit cloudy in the am – good news as long as there is no lighteningOne of the crew was getting some exercise walking up the sand piles8:08 am and the first truck arrivesMike, the boss, oversees the start of the pour – those boots won’t stay white for very longThe real boss is checking it out!Filling up the first grade beam, this first 5 trucks were loaded with a high/early mix to speed up the hardening process so the forms can be removed for the quilt studio and garage poursGrade Beams get filled up and then a “stinger” is used to vibrate the concrete to insure there are no air pockets.This is how Mr. Green finished his small poursWhile we were at lunch the crew made it pretty!These guys work hard – the nice thing about a cool day is they don’t get as over heated – there is a chemical process involved with the curing of concrete and it really heats up as it cures….Who said I can’t play video games when I grow up? This guy is in charge of the pumper rig and the boomWere these boots made for walking?Notice the boots now….The first form is removed so the garage and quilt studio can be poured!See those purple casings? Inside those are the cables that will be tightened next week for the “Post Tension” Foundation – this is the studio!The stairs from the main house, down to the garage and quilt roomIt’s organic!Looking good!Getting it’s smooth onKnee sliders ….Whirly machine that puts the really smooth finish onWhile the concrete was being poured I was busy cleaning up the trees, trimming the lower branches and suckers at the base of the trees.We have 2 very large organic debris piles, today we worked on the oldest one, separating kindling and firewood. It’s a big pile but we did make some progressThe pump truck is washing out and the last truck is filling up the garage….
Getting ready to head out for a wonderful girls weekend of sewing…..
but! – I really wanted to update you all on the HOME! We have broken ground! WooHoo!
Here are a few photos to catch you up!
It’s spring in the country – photo taken 3/20Love the indian paintbrush. There were bluebonnets too but they still need to grow a little for you to see them.And of course we visited with the neighbors!Early January the power company cleared a swath for the power poles to be installed – I will be seeding this area for wildflowers.Then they installed the transformer….And left the wires – to be hooked up after our electrician installs our meters. Local power company only does 200 amp service and we doubled that! You just never know how many “irons” are going to be in the fire (or plugged in at any one time).That’s a lot of power!The panel on the left will be for the house, the panel on the right for the barn, well and other auxiliary buildings0000000 power used – we are still waiting for this turn over!This is all the small equipment could do – they brought the big boys out to play on 3/243/24 update from builder Lot is cut! Trees are down! Surveyors and Foundation Crews to be onsite 3/25!3/24 update from builder Lot is cut! Trees are down! Surveyors and Foundation Crews to be onsite 3/25!This little neighbor is still not quite sure about us!
The Man Cave is BUILT! I was really worried the green we chose for the siding was going to be hideous, but we couldn’t have a red barn because our house will not have red. I don’t like those putty barns, they just look plain! We wanted a sage green, not too dark but natural. Mueller’s only option was a green that had a little bit of blue in it. When you see these metal buildings in fields they look really blue-green and that was not the look I wanted!
Well I was so happy when we drove up the property and the barn did not scream “Look At Me – I am the big huge metal building!” When we have leaves on the trees I don’t think you will even notice the building! PERFECTION!
The view from farther up the driveway – put a few leaves on those trees and you won’t even notice the barn! They were still working on trim but almost done!This side didn’t have the trim on yet – just like the binding on a quilt – the trim really dresses it up!This side has the trim up – much nicer2 overhead doors to provide lots of airflow during the hot summer –Lots and lots of space – we were both surprised by how light it was in the barn. The white insulation really keeps it bright. In that corner we will build a “clean” room that can be air conditioned. Batting storage will be above that room.Nice roll up doors – they are smooth!The next projects: bringing in the electricity from the road and then adding the well. This well belongs to one of the neighbors. We will be placing our tank in the barn – so the only parts I will need to disguise are the well head (the piece on the left). I think planter boxes will work nicely!
We have met with the designer for the new house and made many decisions; I have homework I am working on prior to our next meeting….. stay tuned for all the fun!
Well we did it! We signed the contract to build our dream home in Luling, TX. We are both so excited to continue with this adventure. We purchased our land in 2007 and started seriously designing the house December 2012. We looked at model homes and made our lists. We talked to many friends that have been through the building process and then we interviewed builders. We have chosen Jimmy Jacobs Homebuilders, we have walked through a lot of their homes in process, visited a few of their model homes and talked to many of their customers that are in the middle of building their dream home or have just completed their dream home. Everyone is extremely happy! I know we will be too! Shay Cosgrove is our sales person and we have found her to be a delight to work with. We found Jay’s knowledge to be invaluable when he met with us on our site and helped us figure out placement of our new home. For the next several months we are going to be busy busy busy running the roads between Seabrook, Luling, New Braunfels and San Antonio as we choose colors, door knobs, faucets, tile and all of that other fun stuff!
Is his hand shaking?
So here is a little bit of information about our new neighborhood!
Our property is located in the development, The Settlement at Patriot Ranch.
In the rolling hills of south central Texas, between Houston, Austin, and San Antonio is a truly unique sanctuary, where you’ll be surrounded by ancient oak trees, vibrant wildlife and the peace and quiet of a nature preserve.
Location, location, locationThe entrance….. to paradise
The subdivision has a pond with fish and picnic tables for residents to enjoy. Horses are welcome and can be riden through out the subdivision.
Just inside the gates…..
The Settlement at Patriot Ranch is a free-flowing subdivision with exotic game running throughout the 1100 acres. The property has paved roads and offers a variety of lots. Restricted homesites, Homeowners Association and secluded living are why people enjoy living in the Patriot.
Foundations can mean a lot. In quilting I like to foundation piece, i.e. I paper-piece. There are the foundations of life. This foundation is for hubby’s barn. No we won’t have animals in the barn, I just like calling it a barn instead of a workshop. He also calls it the batting storage facility, as a longarm quilter I have a lot of batting.
Friday morning we stopped by the property prior to lunch and saw a cement truck – and we wondered who is getting concrete? We thought our foundation was already poured and that is what we were going to see. Well as we arrived at our lot and we saw that we were getting concrete. The first truck was just finishing up and we had passed the 2nd truck on the way in. There would also be a 3rd truck showing up to finish off the job. 22 yards of concrete are now the foundation for hubby’s barn.
The end of the 1st truckSHE was our driver for the the first truck!!!gloppy concreteOh – so that is how they get it levelMuch smootherCan you hear the slurp of the boots?After leveling with the board, then they tamp with thisAfter they tamp they use this to smooth it off againUnloading the 2nd truckFoundations for the pillars for the canopyOne of the trees that will shade and disguise the barnThis little gas powered unit has large fan blades that very slowly rotated and added a “brushed” finish.Now that is a pretty slab!Looking up from a small clearing to the left of the driveway – I think a table and chairs will need to go here so I can enjoy this view!Lots of critters …..I was fascinated watching these ants build their bed. They go down in the hole and then each come up with a grain of sand on their back – I have more photos of these industrious little home builders!I had to walk to the top of the hill to see the sunset – a very pretty sky!A view of the road from the top of the hill. Our property starts at the top of the hill at the first utility pole, our property goes past the bottom of the hill to the 2nd utility pole (which you cannot see in this photo)A view from the road, to the left is the barn slab, to the right is where they are marking the envelope for the house. The little wild flowers were not here a week ago!
The rest of the barn arrives in a week, which means we should have a structure built by mid-December. I think we shall put a bow on it and let it be Mr. Green’s Christmas present! (Although, I think he asked Santa for a tractor!)
This past weekend was Houston’s International Quilt Festival – always an inspiring time of year. I love seeing friends that I haven’t seen in a while and taking a couple of minutes to catch up. The quilts juried into this show and the best of the best and several members of our guild had quilts juried in this year – I am a member of an amazing guild – Lakeview Quilters Guild of Houston, TX.
One of our members just published her second book – “Picture Piecing Traditional Quilts” by Cynthia England – I was honored to quilt a few of the quilts for her new book. Check out her work at http://www.englanddesign.com
I also had a big birthday on Saturday – you know one of those that ends in a 0. We celebrated with friends and family most of the weekend. Now I get to start over at 29!
The last 50 years have been amazing – my husband and I have been married 25 of those years and we had always talked about building a home together. We purchased property a few years back and now we are embarking on a very scary adventure – YIKES! I relate building in the country to the children’s story “If You Give A Pig a Pancake”. When you build in the country, you need a well, before you can get a well you need power, before you can get power you need an address, before you can get an address you need an entrance (road) to your property, before you can get a road you have to figure out where you want your structures. At the beginning of the year we started designing our new home, once you have that design then you can figure out about where you want it on your 6+ acres, then you can orient the barn aka workshop, then you can design the road. Good news is – we have the beginnings of a road, we have a “barn” on order and it should be completed by the end of this month! We hope to break ground on our home the end of March 2014! Life is good!
The hydro mulched that will be clearing our land – no burn pile when he is done – it is all mulched!This large head can chop down trees and then grind them into mulch!See how dense the undergrowth is in the backgroundAfter mulching – it is very park like!
And now I would like you to meat a few of our neighbors!
This one was from spring – I loved the setting with the spring bloomsHave you seen my horn?Across the street from our propertyPeek A Boo! They were just around the corner from our propertyNo hunting – we will live in a gated wildlife preserve
