Snail's Progress at the House

This week we didn't see as much progress with the house.  The rooms are being painted and the staircase is getting primed.  The builders installed lighting, plaster coving and the ceiling rose in the reception room / living room.  There was some work accomplished in the garden, but not everything was built according to the drawings (grr).  Things have generally slowed down while the builders wait for the kitchen windows to be delivered - this delay has put us behind schedule.

 

 The new ceiling rose (waiting for a yet-to-be-selected light fixture)

 

 Garett is measuring the layout for the bookshelves (notice the new plaster coving near the ceiling)

 

 There is now a low wall around the back terrace...unfortunately it's the wrong color and not built 100% per the drawings

 

The planter wall will act as a backrest for the built-in benches

House Progress

Since my last post we decided to go with the grey marble fireplace surround.  I'm excited to see what it will look like once it's installed.  There are a few things causing schedule delays, but I'll skip the tedious details.  In the meantime, the builders are staying busy with other priorities and Garett is on site almost daily to make decisions.

We have to be out of our flat by April 15, so it's starting to feel like we don't have much time left.

 Ryan's loft bed is coming along.  The wardrobes (closets) are located on either side of his door and the bed is built above.  The ladder will be on the left side with built-in bookshelves on the right.

 

Garett and Mark are discussing Garett's new fridge.  Compared with our current fridge it's enormous!

  

As you can see, Ryan was getting bored of discussing house stuff.  Garett's second fridge (ahem) is in the background.

 

This is the new fireplace in our master bedroom.  Walls are painted Little Greene French Grey Mid.  Love it!

 

In the master bath we chose Farrow & Ball Mole's Breath for the walls.

 Here is another view of the kitchen.  I'm standing at the back of the kitchen with the windows behind me.  The island hasn't yet been built.  We made a decision this week to raise the height of the utility room door to match the other openings (2.4 meters...almost 8 feet).

 We need to select a new front door.  This isn't the original door and we're unsure of when it was replaced (possibly the 1930's). I'm hoping to save the brass door knob and letter box.

And finally...my treasure for the day.  I managed to salvage these bricks from a pile of debris in the back garden.  It's the original London yellow stock that was used to build the house.  It would have come from local London clay that was unearthed on site (or nearby), then shaped and fired into bricks. 

Bathtub Delivery

Ever since we decided to keep the stairs, Goni and his team have been working quickly to repair, rebuild and prime them.  However, the main news of the week was the bathtub delivery - see the video below.  Our Albanian builders partnered with a Spanish crane operator to get it in through the master bedroom window.  I'm glad neither of us was onsite when it happened.  There would have been a few too many nail-biting moments for me, but it went in smoothly after all.

Now we're contemplating paint colors and the design for the (tiny) front and back gardens.  Two of the fireplaces will get delivered this week.  We decided to keep things simple and opted for wooden fireplace surrounds and Victorian arched gas inserts.  On the ground floor we're planning to replace the original fireplace surround with something similar (antique marble).  There are two options we like - either the white Carrara marble or the grey marble with black veining.

Bathtub delivery (video)

 White Carrara marble

 Grey (I know, British spelling) marble with black veining

 

 Love the veining!

 

The master bedroom wardrobes/closets are in - they look great! 

 

The stairs to the kitchen were finally built this week (no more walking the plank)

 

Look at the new spindles!

 Choosing colors with Charlotte

Mid-Week House Update

We're on a tight schedule to finish everything by March 20th, so things are moving quickly at the house.  There are still lots of small and large decisions to make. The biggest decision (and longest-running debate) was about the stairs.

Drum roll please...the stairs are staying!  Garett won this one with the compelling argument that if we removed the original stairs it would no longer be a Victorian house - instead it would be an entirely modern house inside the shell of a Victorian facade.  And there was also the cost factor - I would have to promise Garett that I would not buy any furniture for two years.  Um, tough one.  Let's keep the stairs.  The plan is to replace the spindles with reproductions, repair where needed (but not rebuild the steps), paint everything but the handrail, and then strip and sand the handrail back to the original finish.

A trip down memory lane...

 When the builders knocked through the walls in May 2015 you could see the entire staircase and the beauty of the curved handrail.

 

This is another view from May with the original spindles.

 

 

In its current state, the staircase is now missing most of the spindles (these needed replacing anyway).

 

 A view from the ground floor - Goni needs to shore up the entire staircase so it doesn't list to the left. A coat closet will be built underneath the stairs.

In other news, the scaffolding is down!  We are quickly finalizing the design for the low front wall and the entry. Don't the clean bricks and new windows look nice? You can almost picture the original look of the house from 1875.

As a reminder, here is what the exterior looked like in November 2014 on the day of the open house tour.

 

The master bath is coming along nicely, with a couple of small issues to sort out.  The tile is marble-effect porcelain tile and not marble slabs (which would have cost a fortune).

 

Meanwhile, the builders are creating my library niche in the corner of the reception room/living room.  You can see the entry doors to the right, where there will be a glass transom light above the doors. Originally this space was two separate rooms, but we combined them into one and gained some space for the powder and utility room behind the wall (where the bookcase will go).

This is the same view, taken a few steps back so you can see the fireplace.  Garett and I are still finalizing our choices, but we will go with something traditional to maintain the spirit of the house.  Unfortunately, none of the original marble fireplace mantels could be salvaged.

And that's all for now.

 

House Update

We have a target completion date for the house: March 20 (plus 10 days for "snagging" as they say here).  After a slow month leading up to Christmas, the level of activity has picked up.  All of the rooms are framed in and have drywall.  The tiles, cupboards, appliances, wardrobes (closets) and hardwood floors have been delivered.  Now it's down to the details - paint, lights, ironmongery (doorknobs & hinges) and a new front door.

Yesterday, Garett spent 9 hours moving the kitchen and wardrobes from the storage unit to the house.  Today he and I met with Goni to go through each room.  THE STAIRS are still an outstanding issue, even this late in the game.  Garett really wants to retain the originals.  Goni and I are ready to start over, but it will mean a delay to the floor installation (and additional expense). It's a decision we need to make asap.

The master bath was originally a bedroom with a fireplace. The tiles are starting to go down and you can see where the freestanding bathtub will be centered on the wall.  They tried to deliver it last week, but it's too big for the staircase.  We will need to hire a crane and bring the bathtub through one of the master bedroom windows.  There is a slight concern about the size of the bathtub vs the doorways because we only have 1 cm of clearance.

 Ryan's bathroom (and guest bathroom) has the same cement-look tile on the walls and floor.  The grout isn't in yet, but you get the idea.  There will be a sliding glass shower door across the back, a sink and mirrored cabinet in the middle and a toilet on the left. This bathroom didn't exist in the original house.  Charlotte created the new room by stealing space from the bedrooms on either side. 

 

 This is the TV room, but it could be used as a fourth bedroom.  We are replacing the original fireplace (unsalvageable) with something modern.  The wooden drawers you see are part of the built-in wardrobes that will go in the master bedroom.

 Ryan's bedroom is currently the staging point for tiles and other items.  Soon Goni will build the mezzanine over the doorway for Ryan's loft bed.  See the drawing below.

Ryan's bedroom

On the ground floor is the kitchen. Goni and Garett discussed how the utility room will be built.  We decided to place our washer and dryer down here even though it means carrying laundry up several flights of stairs.  The new glass for the skylights is scheduled to arrive in a few days.  You may also spy a piece of the granite leaning against the wall.

 Although the kitchen is technically on site, it's in pieces at the moment.  Some of the units were damaged during the latest move.  Hopefully we can repair them so it's not noticeable.

 

Nobody likes talking about THE STAIRS.  This decision is to be continued...

Costa Rica Trip - Happy 2016!

I finally downloaded the pictures from our trip to Costa Rica at Christmas and New Year's.  It involved a lot of traveling to get there from London: 17+ hours on planes and in airports, hours of traffic snarls from San Jose to Puntarenas, a ferry ride to transport the rental car to the Nicoya Peninsula and more driving to reach the remotely-located house.  But it was well worth it!  This trip was just what I needed.  It was great to escape, relax and enjoy some much-needed sun.

Next weekend I will do a blog post with an update about the house.  The beehive of activity has resumed and the target completion date is now set at March 20th.

 

December 26 - After driving for hours on no sleep, we had to wait in queue for 2-3 more hours before boarding the ferry from Puntarenas to Nicoya Peninsula.

Nicoya Peninsula in the distance - our SUV was parked on the right-side of the deck and we sat with everyone else at the top of the ferry.

 

Ryan melted in the hot weather - yes, that is a can of cerveza pressed against his forehead .

  

This is the house where we stayed for the week.  Ryan and I were jet-lagged and we got up early to explore the property.

 

Most mornings we lounged in the pool before heading out for adventures in the afternoon.  There was no Wi-Fi at the house - not a bad thing!

 

And here is the town of Montezuma. As you can see, it's not overly developed.  The roads are appalling to reach it, but this is where we often ate out and took advantage of the free Wi-Fi at the gelato shop.

 

Ryan on a tree swing at the beach in Montezuma.  This picture was taken shortly before he tried swinging with no hands and gravity brought him straight down!

We took a day trip to Isla Tortuga by boat.  This is one of the beautiful spots where we snorkeled.

 

All of the kids are lined up and ready to snorkel!

 

Our wonderful friends, Greg and Molly

 

Snorkeling in a small cove - Ryan is in the foreground

The highlight of the trip for Ryan was seeing and touching a puffer fish caught by our boat guide.  We saw lots of other colorful fish too.

 

Ryan hanging out in the shade at Isla Tortuga

A beautiful macaw - Isla Tortuga

Macy and Garett defending the net during a competitive game of beach volleyball

 

"Felipe" the iguana - he was huge!  We saw Felipe on our way  back from yoga one morning.  We also watched some locals cut down coconuts from the top of a tall tree.

 

One of a series of waterfalls near Montezuma.  We went swimming in the natural pool and jumped from the rocks.

  

Typical road.  In this picture we are following Molly and Greg.  The roads were completely rutted and all of the roadside plants were buried under a layer of dust.

 

Shelly, Garett and Ryan in our zip line gear.  Do we look nervous?  We sailed above the tree canopy on zip lines from platform-to-platform.  It was really fun!

 

We saw several monkeys on the trip, including white-faced capuchin monkeys.  This one was having breakfast in a banana tree.

 

Shelly outside of the bar in Santa Teresa that was broadcasting the Clemson-Oklahoma football game.  Unfortunately, the bar closed at 4:00 p.m. because it was New Year's Eve, so we missed a good portion of the game (our poor timing was also due to navigating the treacherous roads in and out of town).

 

Ryan is enjoying a typical breakfast poolside at the house (eggs, avocado, tortillas and beans). The Costa Rican coffee was great too!

 Happy 2016!

 A family photo on New Year's Day in front of the house