Need a Lift?

Yes, the rumors are true.  The house has a small elevator.  It is the favorite appliance in the home for Dave's mom.  She is looking forward to being able to visit all three floors.  All aboard! 

Carpet

We must be getting close to completion because the carpet was installed this week.  Everyone who enters the home now needs to remove their shoes or wear paper booties, to keep from tracking in dirt.  No exceptions!

Stairs and Railings

This past week, the metal railings were installed on the interior stairs.  They make quite a statement upon entering the house.  The exterior railings were also installed on the decks (pic below is an exterior railing off-loaded in the driveway).

Golden in Snow

We had a dusting of snow on Wednesday.  Here's the view from the back of the house.

Driveway

Our driveway was formed and poured on Thursday.  It is slightly bigger than originally planned because we were able to pour a parking pad to the left of the garage.  Further, the concrete contractor was able to slope the concrete up to the front walk so we don't have any steps.  He also created a nice curved design to the front walk.  The decorative block walls and short pillar now look integrated with the entire front of the house.  We are planning to place decorative flower pots on them to add some color to the front.

 

Landscaping

Not much to see inside.  It is all taped and covered in plastic while the painters stain the doors and woodwork and paint the walls.  Meanwhile, the landscaping contractor was hard at work , installing irrigation, walkways, and boulder walls and generally cleaning up the yard area.  We will wait until spring to plant low water-use plants in the beds near the house and trees for screening between our neighbor's house.  The rest of the yard will revert back to native grasses.  Low maintenance is the goal!

Fireplace Limestone Surround

The contractor installing the counter tops and tile also installed the limestone around the fireplace.  It has a subtle gray coloring and contains a lot of small fossils.  The pattern Mary and architect designed gives it a contemporary look.