Round and Round

Can I just say it? I love my round columns! And I'm glad I didn't let anybody talk me out of them. But they have posed a few challenges for our rough-in carpenter, and he is still working through a few issues, namely an interior column set to be at the foot of the stairs, forming a wall between two round columns on the screened-in porch where the outdoor kitchen will be, and now the tricky business of the column caps sticking out on the side entry. But he appreciates how those round columns fit into my vision for the house and has been creative in his solutions for these issues.

In the meantime, framing continues while I am fine-tuning color choices for the roof and the exterior trim (How many different shades of white can there be?) and following up on my daily assignments and midnight thoughts and ideas. I'm also considering exterior trim choices and have never paid such close attention to window trim and soffets.

In the photo to the right, you are on the front porch facing the garage. Below you are in the backyard looking at the back porch.

Rock 'N' Roll!

The rough-in carpenter and his crew arrived this week, and as you can see in the photos, we are rockin' and rollin' on this house. We have been very pleased with his work and attention to detail, and I have had to work hard to stay one step ahead of him by making decisions about materials and details. Anyone who has a hard time ordering a latte at Starbucks would probably be a little overwhelmed by the many choices that go into new home construction.

One decision that came quickly was the exterior columns. The plans had called for square columns, which was an oversight on our part because they looked round on the drawings. But I've been adamant that we have round columns. My vision for the design was Southern colonial meets coastal flavor -- or coastal colonial, as I call it. In my mind, the elegance of round columns is truer to the style.

Now many of the guys involved in this project have tried to talk me into square columns. It's easier for them; I get that. For one, on the back of the house, a portion of the porch will be screened. The question that has been hanging out there for a while but came to the forefront this week was, how are we going to screen it in with round columns? What we found is that it's a little tricky, but it can be done, and the straight, round columns -- as opposed to the tapered -- should help.

Other decisions are coming quickly at us, too: flooring, fireplace inserts, roofing, shingle siding. It's all good, though. It's fun and busy, and we are excited about the progress we're making.

Slab Happy!

Yesterday at 6 o'clock in the morning, an army of concrete workers arrived at the lot and poured our slab. We now have a foundation -- an underground fortress of a foundation built to support our home on the sand and mud. For us, it was a cause for celebration, a victory in the face of adversity. And while we have many more feats to achieve, this one represents a turning point. And away we go! The rough-in carpenter arrives tomorrow and begins framing this week.

The photo above shows the slab looking at the front of the house. The lower level you see in the front is where the front porch will be. The photos below show us in our first family photo at the house and then our project manager dancing on his achievement.