FLOOR PLANS & FINISH DETAILS

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UPDATED PHOTOS

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LAKESIDE THINK TANK WINS AWARD!!

The Association of Licensed Architects has awarded the LTT a Gold medal in the 2010 competition - congrats Rick and all!!

The Think Tank is IN SESSION!!

What a perfect place for a strategic retreat.....Click here for more photos

FINAL PHOTOS

Please check out the Final photos..... pretty amazing

Thanks to all!!

so close you can taste it

sorry no photos but I'd rather wait until it is done... which should be in a week or so... quite a transformation from when I last saw the place in mid-June.... Yesterday, I arrived in mid->late afternoon just as the "Boneyard" was switching to "Bach" (Bruce (see below) prefers classical in the evenings after the hard-cores leave)... the new structure is looking very very good but today my focus was more on the exterior ... decking, plantings and overall landscaping. It has been interesting to plan landscaping without the use of irrigation... grasses grasses grasses!!! The "lawn" that exists will stay but in a dry spell might go brown... green living can often mean brown. Gunner, a humble, hands-on Landscape Architect, is working his magic and we are boosting up the budget a bit to make the finishing touches really great

Here is my top 5 list so far:
- Solatubes - incredible light... really BETTER light than natural or bulb!!
- cork flooring - especially like the stair risers in cork
- IPE decking... that is some good looking wood...
- Bruce - really nice craftsman with an aesthetic eye... and not shy to share it... love that
- the view... it still really is quite something....

So, back to rounding up the last bits of furniture and furnishings... the fun part....

more soon!!

Our Gilasi countertops were in truck and spitting distance away when BOOM, hit a bump and cracked...do you think recycled countertops can be recycled?? that and unexpected permit fun for the hillclimber is torpedoing my return and Alex's departure from/to Nantucket!! oh the dog days of summer....

Progress! The 'Tank is looking good. The cork floors look (and smell?!) amazing. My favorite detail is the fir slat ceiling. The pictures do not even do it justice. Grey floor stain (samples in photos) picks up the grain nicely and give a zebra effect, but if you ask me (I know, I know - you didn't) the natural look is H-O-T! A clean modern lake house with a ton of warmth is really coming together.

Check out the updated photo gallery: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashtash/sets/72157621966988952/

Progress Pics

Check put progress pics taken today here: http://tiny.cc/aQzgL 

MAH JONGG is late and mah wallet is heavier

Remember my over-the-top seating purchase?? well, I have just been informed that it is running a couple months late... not a big deal since we won't be needing it until the end of the summer.... the good news, they are giving me an additional 15% discount because of the "inconvenience"... nice... now I can pay for that new hill climber...

Did we talk about the new hill climber yet?? No?? Well, we need to....

WINDY CITY

long time no blog... rain rain go away... but hopefully here comes the wind with out new gigantor wind turbine.... anyone see the movie UP?? this house is taking off for sure...

Turbo Tour of the Job SIte

Interior Framing

Window Installation

The windows will really help to control temperatures in the house with interior blinds that block the sun and hinges that allow the windows to open wide, and they are placed both high and low in the space which will allow for great ventilation.

unexpected pleasures

an interesting side effect of this project .... "liberation" and "unexpected contentment" for two people.... that counts as a bonus, right??

back from hiatus

after a few weeks out of the midwest to escape the winter cold, we come back to see what progress Alex has made.... a team meeting today brought a few decisions:

- selected Winter Turbine from 3 options Windterra, Swift and Urban Green Energy - although Swift was a European designed product being manufactured in Michigan, we liked the vertical design of the Windterra a bit better.. and it was a bit less expensive... $11,000 versus $12,300 before the $3,000 tax rebate. The Urban Green Energy wind turbine was just released and so not much practical use in the field plus it is manufactured out of NY which compared less favorably for us. All of them provided over 1.KW of capacity at peak which was about all we could afford... the larger turbines go up in the $20K range... believe it or not it says these things get rolling up to 90 m.p.h!!! this price includes installation, the controller/inverter and a mounting bracket for the roof. We have upgraded the electrical system to allow for a bi-directional utility meter and will be wiring for potential solar panels as well.

- we finalized our siding/trim, considered a generator ($6500) which we will prepare for but not install initially, and debated the different roof options, basically TPO vs PVC, and had a hard time coming to a decision... the PVC production process is notoriously maligned but the product is actually pretty green as it is made of natural gas and rock salt. Research can be found favoring both products as the "green" choice... a bit more Alex research is needed.... lets decide this week!

- we met with an arborist and Gunner Piotter, Landscape Architect, to discuss the large property... we will be removing much of the dead or almost dead trees including a couple that have been struck by lighting and could topple onto the house at another storm. We are trimming some on the bluff to open up the lake and sunset views but leaving all other mature healthy trees . We are adding quite a few white pines, the official tree of Michigan(!!), and the rest of the landscaping will be indigenous grasses which require no watering.... the 3 rain chains in our new plan will provide for some nice rain garden's along the front and side of the house which will eliminate all need for irrigation.

It was a treat to see the whole space framed out in FSC lumber (which cost a bit more).. we could really get a sense of the new space!

A visit to Community Home Supply "Green Week" Sale will finalize all the plumbing fixtures....

I was too damn cold to run back to the car to grab my camera so I took one crappy shot above with my phone... Help....Natasha!!!!!

time for the local news

Molly, my intrepid stepdaughter, just forwarded me the link to the blog of one of her Parker classmates... Jesse is running a vegetable farm in Three Oaks... the next town over from Lakeside.... maybe he can stock us up with some Ramps, Kale and other things I don't like the sound of ....the Granor Griffin

I am the world's worst blogger.... its been over a month!! more soon

Going, Going, Gone - Interior demo done!

Vote Earth!!

Brooke has brought us the "Switch off your lights" for Earth hour challenge.... Saturday, March 28th from 8:30-9:30pm.... does that mean TVs too?? OK!! www.earthhourus.org