David, Dolly and I will be there in less than 5 weeks! I was just talking to my mother and she updated me on the progress of their projects that they want to have complete before we arrive. Mom and Dad have removed, repaired and reinstalled every old window sash, so now all the windows have green sashes with white trim. They also repaired and painted all of the window screens. Next week they plan on taking out the front door, stripping repairing, priming and painting it green. Soon the trim of the two peaks of the original house will be painted white, and then the exterior will be complete!
Within a couple of days of arrival, the piles of earth behind the house will be spread out around the house to raise the level of the yard. MacKay's will bring a bobcat to do the work, and while they are at it, will move the old foundation stones into place in the three new retaining walls to hold back the earth. I will determine exactly where they go once I see the place. After that we can plant some grass seed, and visit some nurseries to start planting the place up. Below are images from the Sketchup model I did of the place and they roughly show where the retaining walls will go. Trees and a lot of the detail is not shown to focus on the grade of the land.
A wall will come off the back of the house and turn west along the property line where the spruce trees used to be. The purpose is to make the side yard high and level, and provide privacy around Mom and Dad's bedroom window in the basement.
This shows the retaining wall that will come off the front corner of the kitchen, to level off the front yard and keep the grade low at the new back porch. You can also see the cedar deck that I plan on building at the kitchen door, but building that will be for another summer. It is the same size as the original stoop, but the stairs will go toward the road, not down the hill as before. That hill is a lot higher now and would require about 8 steps, so that's why I'm putting a wall there instead.
This view shows what I am proposing for the main front door. I need to keep it within about 4 feet of the house because cars drive through there, and I want a railing, so I think this should work.
This is the concept for the covered porch at the back. Again, this is a project for another summer, but I want to someday have a covered area outside so we can drink beer and watch the rain fall on the field.
Another project for this summer though is to install handrails going down the stairs from the main floor, there will be three runs of railing. We will buy the wood railings when I'm there and paint them white. I found brackets to secure the handrails to the walls on-line and ordered them this morning. They will be shipped here and I'll carry them to the River in my luggage. I wanted something with a Victorian feel, and this is what I found. Obviously, to me anyway, NO detail is too small.
That's an update on what is going on and what will happen when I' there. I'm trying to figure out projects I can get done and still have time to enjoy the place. Lots to do but it's getting done. Once again I have to thank Mom and Dad for all of their hard and painstaking work. This could not have happened without them.
