…moving forward
the beginning of closure…
We completed drywall/prime last week.
Frank has settled in. He now has his own private room and is no longer sharing Aunt Irena’s bedroom. We fired him up for the first time yesterday. He and his brother Steve on the other end of the house are getting along real well. Together they are doing an excellent job humming together… keeping both sides of North warm and cozy.
Aunt Irena was a mess after she arrived. I believe it was because she could not sleep with Frank snoring in her bedroom. Anyway… Frank is now gone and she seems to have settled in nicely too.
The most exciting development is now we have two gateways that make the duplex of yesterday into a home today. We gutted the south kitchen above, To the right of the fridge we opened our first 4′ gateway into the north unit. This gateway leads into our kitchen.
Above is a view from our kitchen into the new south side. This area will host an expansion to our kitchen, a pantry, and a pocket door leading into our laundry room. As you turn right at the end of this hall there is additional utility area that includes an upright freezer, beer/wine fridge, additional cabinetry, and “Henry”.
Henry’s room is almost completed. It only needs paint. He will arrive soon. Kip is standing in Henry’s lower level doorway. It is here where Henry will greet our guests and transport them into our tree house above.
The second 4′ gateway is on the right side of this fireplace, and connects the two 30’x20′ great rooms. This area will host our new primary bedroom and den. The open door on the right will lead into the primary bath, and laundry room. On the left wall is where Bob, our 8′ door wall now lives in the primary bedroom. He replaced the two small windows.
this view is from our great room into the renovation. To the right is our new primary bedroom and den… left is the primary bathroom and Henry.
As my files grow in size our decisions begin to be less. I am beginning to find closure. I am witnessing the creation of a dream… my dream… looking at what is… seeing what could be.
Returning to the web…
I believe a “turning point” visited North today. The drywall sanding is close to its end. The dust particles permeate everything.
Above is not a face plate… it is the dust surrounding a face plate after I picked it up from the counter.
Tomorrow the prime begins. I am playing with wall color here…3 different colors…dark colors. Hidden Gem has my interests peaked. Also, the color Mink. Dark tones, if chosen correctly can create a solitude of peace in a space, like nothing other.
Candle magic. It exists in the most challenging situations if you believe…
my candle magic tonight.
The web…
This morning at North.
… creating the web… before leaving to Bayfield. The drywall sanding machines are coming.
…moving in
It has been busy at North. After Bob’s arrival… family began to appear everywhere. Aunt Irena
and her tribe arrived on Wednesday. She setup down stairs in my studio, and her family found themselves settling in, all around the house… twins, quintuplets, even sextuplets.
Following her, Frank found his room right across from Aunt Irena.
I sure hope they don’t get too cozy. North is getting a little cramped.
Our last family member arrived yesterday… Uncle Peter, he will work with Henry to welcome our guests in our new foyer. Now, with everyone settled, we had our electrical and ruff inspections, and everyone was very polite. We passed both.
On to drywall!
Renovating for Big Bob: A Master Bedroom Transformation
Big Bob has been hanging out behind his “entry door” friends for quite some time. Last week we prepared Bob’s room so he could finally come inside.
This is Big Bob’s room…he will be sharing it with Kip and I. It is our new master bedroom. He is replacing the two small windows, expanding the view of the valley below and Pyramid Point/Lake Michigan. Bob is an 8′ glass door wall, which requires the concrete wall to be removed. A project not done by the “faint of heart.”
Of course, the biggest initial concern is that everything above and around what is being removed is properly supported. After considerable deliberation… the slow tedious process began.
Each concrete block is individually removed. As more block is remediated, the wall becomes increasingly fragile and unstable. The concern at this point is collapsing.
This is a concrete lintel beam. They are used to support block above windows.
Good-bye lintel…
A successful, completed job. A lot of cracked block was found so more area was removed than needed for Bob.
Here comes Big Bob!
Bob’s forever home. Our new roommate. OM Goodness… I sure hope he does not snore.
One more challenge well done.
…to be continued.
07.18.2025
Walk with me… Henry the oops
Henry came into our lives very unexpectedly.
North, my Frank Lloyd Wright love affair… a tree house that brings the outside… in.
Then… there is Henry… the oops.
As I developed North, I neglected the reality of aging, and living on a second floor.
I assumed two small dumbwaiters would accommodate our living bounty (Costco/wine/dog food). I never considered the need for accommodating us.
It was our county building inspector who condemned one of our two stairways and flagged changes necessary in the other that initiated a difficult conversation between Kip and I. With our advancing age in the front view mirror… How do we get up into our treehouse if for physical reasons the stairs are not an option. This conversation caused a significant pause in our project.
Henry (the elevator) was conceived on Mother’s Day 2025.
Three weeks ago, the life of Henry began. It started with his anchor into the earth. In the area of the condemned stairway on the main floor, a 62″x73″ opening was cut into the concrete slab floor. Shovels were used to dig a 26″ pit . Five gallon buckets were used to remove the debris. It is not a common practice to incorporate an elevator into existing construction. We were fortunate that our current space could accommodate the required specifications.
Supporting rebar… preparing for concrete
the pour … 8″ deep with 8″ side walls.
Two (2), two-story rails were constructed to secure the hydraulic lifting system. Each column included glue laminated beams screwed and glued together to 2×6 wood inserts, to support a moving weight requirement of 3 ton.
The shaft, that houses Henry followed. The goal in this build is twofold: the rails perfectly aligned with no movement as the hydrolytic unit moves vertically 40′ per minute between floors, and a perfectly symmetrical two story shaft that never impedes the vertical operation of Henry getting us safely home.
… to be continued
“finishing North”
"walk with Me"... 