Windows and Foot Pedals

The windows are all in except one that is being moved to a different location and 2 that have just been ordered.


The rough-in for the plumbing is almost complete and we have a walk through with the electrician on Monday. Last Saturday we spent almost half the day with Nic at Green Mountain Electric supply figuring out our lighting plan — about 90% LED and mostly flush mount or cans. Except for the light over the dining table:



And the one in the staircase to the second floor:



The foot pedals for the 1/2 bath sink are in too and Michael is very happy. Here, he demonstrates the proper technique for use.



The gas stove is in place and being vented. Took awhile to find a style that we liked. We found this one at fiammaus.com



I spent a few hours today deciding on tile — mostly subway tile stacked vertically so that all the tiles align — looks more modern that way.

We’re back out tomorrow to do some preplanning before our walk through with Don Schroder (the electrical sub contractor) and Jeremy.

Framing continues . . .

Framing continues

We're 3 or 4 weeks into framing and all is going well. Click on picture above for new collection of framing photos.

Framing 1st Week

Framing has begun with Jeremy's crew working fulltime on the project. Some tweaking of plans is continuing as well as decisions about plumbing and fixtures. Click picture below to see a batch of framing pictures.

Framing 1st week

Concrete Wall

The concrete retaining wall is in. Man, that thing is huge. Handball, anyone? Check the photos:

Retaining Wall and Floor Joists

House Plans and Week 3 Photos

Almost finalized floor plans above. Sill working on the layout of the second floor of the main building. Other details are being resolved, but thought we should share these now that construction is underway.

Well drilling started today and should finish by early next week. We met Jeremy at a house project he is currently finishing to make a decision about concrete floor finishing. During our conversation there, he mentioned that framing would start within the next 3 weeks. Moving along pretty well, because the weather has been uncharacteristically nice for Vermont.

Also posted more photos from week 3 : click here

Concrete Days

Anchor Foundations arrived on Wednesday and concrete is happening. I stopped by after work today and they were placing the forms for the basement. I’m amazed by how different things look as the footprint for each of the structures becomes defined in 3 dimensions. When we met with Rolf and Jeremy on Monday they told us that throughout the process we’ll have different perceptions of the space—and that this happens in all projects. There’s a shift between things looking too big to seeming too small and back again. And we eventually end up (hopefully) with the space feeling just right. Kind of like Goldilocks and the 3 bears.

Well, this process started for me today. The foundation hole was seeming HUGE to me on Tuesday — and now that the forms are going in, it’s looking much smaller. . . glad I was forewarned of this process. More photos are here http://picasaweb.google.com/tinacvt/VillaVerdeConstructionWeek2#

Another Planet

Stevie (in the photo) and I went out to the land this morning — the dirt piles keep growing! The basement hole looks complete — and massive to me right now. The landscape is so altered, that it felt almost as though we were on another planet. With great weather forecast for the entire week the concrete work will commence! I’m hoping to swing by during the day to get photos of work in progress.

I’m also in the process of creating spreadsheets for our bathroom and kitchen fixtures and lighting. Hoping to have most of that complete by June 1st, so that things can keep moving, especially since I’m entering my busy season at work.

More later.

Let the Games Begin

I can’t seem to stay away from the land now that things are happening. Ran out there after work again tonight to see what progress had been made. I’m finding lots of things to photograph out at the building site. Take a look at them here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/tinacvt/VillaVerdeConstructionWeek1#

The first few photos are of a model that Rolf had one of his interns build. We hope to post floorplans sometime soon.

Dig This! Excavation has begun.

First tilling, note driveway. Then excavating according to site plans. Pictured below is Steve from Island Excavating.

Furniture Finds

The house excavation hasn’t started yet and we’re already buying stuff to put in the house. Tina made a great find at Barge Canal Market on Pine Street. Two Cantilever Cane Chairs designed by Mies Van Der Rohe in 1927. We’ll need to have some caning repairs done but they are in great condition — the chrome near perfect.

When I went with Tina to check out the chairs we saw a great sofa that seems like a good fit for our main room. It was made by the Troy Sunshade Company probably back in the 50’s or 60’s. Troy Sunshade featured some interesting mid-century designers including Gilbert Rohde and Donald Deskey. We’re uncertain who designed this particular sofa, however, it will also need a little work — the gold, vinyl upholstery is in good shape but not exactly what we’d like.

Foot Pedal Faucets Are Go!

I believe we are going with a foot pedal faucet in the first floor bathroom. Yes, like at the doctor/dentist’s office. I’d love these for all sinks but I guess we will limit it to one.









Here are some quotes I picked up from various websites about why Foot Pedal Faucets Rule:









“Here is a gadget that is almost a must-use in most of the homes across the planet and one wonders why more people are not using this with amount of scarcity that we are facing regarding the fresh water resources available. The Foot Pedal faucet Controllers at your sink allow you to control the flow of the water from your tap using nothing but your feet. They allow you to precisely control both the speed and the duration. They are obviously as simple to use as your toothbrush and it might also give you some early practice with your car accelerators.

Foot pedal faucet controllers allow you to control a faucet hands-free. These devices are efficient and hygienic. You can reduce water use by 50% using pedal controllers, and if it’s hot water, you’ll be saving powertoo. At a sink, you control the flow of a faucet with a pedal much like the accelerator in a car. It’s easier to turn off the faucet when you are brushing your teeth, shaving, or doing the dishes. In a four-person household, the use of pedal controllers in the kitchen alone can save up to 7500 gallons of water annually, as well as conserve the energy needed to heat those gallons.
Hand-free faucet controllers also guard against the transfer of bacteria between faucet fixtures and hand. They are particularly useful when your hands have paint or soil on them. Pedal controllers can be installed relatively easily under the sink and hopefully they will be used more from now on.

The foot-pedal faucet in our bathroom is really a new application of an existing technology used mostly in the medical field. For us, it was a great way to reduce our water usage, to reinforce the clean modern lines of the bathroom, and to make the sink more fun to use.”

“In addition to its novelty and the interest it draws, this pedal-valve system does some pretty cool things. It allows us to use only the water we need and saves a great deal of water we’d otherwise waste, which stretches both our money and our limited resources. Functionally, it keeps more water and soap bubbles off the countertop because we no longer have to reach beyond the sink basin to operate the controls. And aesthetically, it keeps the countertop a little less cluttered for a cleaner look.
Using the pedals is entirely intuitive: You step on the pedal and the water flows; you lift your foot and the water stops. To get warm water, you push both cold and hot pedals at the same time (it’s not as awkward as you might think). So without a second thought, it’s easy to staunch the otherwise constant flow of water down the drain while brushing teeth or washing hands. If you’re a parent, you’ll save your voice because there will be no need to scold the kids for wasting water while at the sink.”

Furniture, Falafel & Ikea

We went to Montreal this weekend. Our primary goal was to visit Ikea and make some kitchen planning/cabinet decisions as well as scope out options for bathroom vanities and storage for the walk-in closet in the master suite. On a previous visit, on our way to Milano, (a wonderful Italian grocery store north on St. Laurent in Little Italy) we passed a number of contemporary/modern furniture stores. We decided to spend yesterday scoping these out and reserved today for Ikea.

We didn’t find much of interest at the furniture stores on St. Laurent. However, we discovered a great little middle eastern restaurant called Rumi Grill with delicious falafel and authentic Moroccan mint tea. We’ll go back, and highly recommend it.

http://www.rumigrill.ca/en/

After lunch we continued north on St. Laurent and spent a little time shopping at Milano where Michael bought a 3 liter jar of “meaty” green olives (which he will most likely consume within the next week). After this, an hour remained before stores would close for the evening. We decided to go in search of a lighting store that I have driven past for years, but have never had the need or excuse to visit. Au courant is located just off 15 north before the exit for 40 west and has a vast array of contemporary lighting fixtures. Not sure we will end up purchasing from them, but saw some beautiful things.

www.aucourantlighting.com

We returned to our hotel in Old Montreal and spent a few hours assessing what we needed to accomplish today. After this, we went out for a nice dinner of mussels at Holder and decided to be at Ikea when it opened this morning. We arrived around 10 and, after a rather dismal breakfast in the cafeteria, launched our attack.

As we wove our way through different showrooms on our way to the kitchen section, we found a possible desk for Michael’s office, bathroom vanity for the kid’s bathroom and some ideas for storage for ours. I was busy taking pictures on my Iphone — and making notes. After about an hour of meandering through the displays, we found

ourselves in front of a computer screen (the only one set-up for english-speakers) using the kitchen planning software to configure our cabinets. Ikea is a busy

place on a Sunday . . . luckily, between us we only needed to ask two quick questions before finishing up our preliminary plan.

We need to run our ideas by Rolf and have two cabinet finishes we are interested

in. They don’t have samples of the finishes. But Michael had the great idea of purchasing drawer fonts of both. I ordered them online rather than wait for a staff person to place an order for us to pick-up before leaving. we chosen a flat panel door design with a simple handle. We use a plinth or kickplate under the cabinets rather than having the legs exposed. It’s a cleaner andsimpler look. The sides of the cabinets will be facing with matching finish panels so the finished installation won’t be two-toned like these photos.

As we printed our our plan and the itemized order form that is generated by the program, Michael looked at his watch and we had been working on the plan for about two hours. It was 2:00 and we had been in Ikea four hours! We decided to head home. I felt exhausted, and relieved after we finished, and Michael did too. Not too many exciting visuals to share, but as we progress,we’ll have plenty more. We think we’ll hear back from Jeremy, our contractor, later this week with a preliminary estimate. Then we’ll know if what we have planned up to this point will be within budget. More to come.

Site Plan and Awaiting Estimates

Two posts within a few days, I know, but this one will be short. We got a package from Rolf on Friday that’s on it’s way to Jeremy for estimating.

The site plan, which is very close (if not final) is included here so you can see the “U” shape we discussed in our first post. It gives a good idea of the footprint of the house and how it will be sited. We love this plan and look forward to implementing it all once the construction is complete.

We’ll share floorplans and other drawing when they are resolved—we still have a few details to work out on that front.

Tina

To Shed or Not to Shed

I promised a recounting of the shed roof discussions around our house design. I’m sure everyone has been anxiously awaiting this post. In high design speak it’s called a mono pitch(ed) roof. Funny, when I googled mono pitched roofs, I got lots of images of garden shed designs from the UK. Hmmm, wonder why? I’m including a photo of a one story shed roof home I found in my search on the internet for reference.

When Rolf first suggested this as a good solution to reducing our square footage on the second floor of the main house (the master suite area), Michael and I were both open to the concept. The next weekend we drove around and saw examples of this roof style on existing homes. After this, we both felt that we weren’t interested in this design direction. However, in subsequent meetings, Michael started to stray to the dark side. Rolf tried unsuccessfully to sway me as well—showing me photos of multi-million dollar homes with shed (oops, I mean mono pitched) roofs and explaining why it would be a great solution for our house. I know if anyone could make this visually appealing, it would be Rolf. But, I just can't “go there.”

I think of myself as open to new and unconventional design ideas. But, on a gut level, I just can’t bring myself around to the mono pitch design. My original thoughts of how I would describe the house we wanted to build was “loft meets modern/minimalist farm house.” None of the other exterior surface finishes need to be conventional—but I need the overall shape to have a reference to the vernacular architecture of Vermont. And to be something I know that I won't regret or grow tired of.

As it turns out the solar hot water panel will be sitting on the southern pitch of our conventional gable-to-gable roof, which wouldn’t have existed in the mono-pitch design. So, it all worked out in the end (especially since I got my way).

Rolf mentioned to Stevie (his wife and my best friend) that I was closed to the idea of the shed roof . . . her reply to him “I hate shed roofs!” (Thank you, Stevie.) And Michael’s latest idea was that we should put a hinge in the roof and when I’m not around he can open the hinge and have that mono pitch roof he was considering. Now, there’s a realistic solution!

Tina

Our interpretation of Modern/Minimalism

I thought I’d flesh out our interpretation of Modern/Minimalism as it relates to our new house. Pictured above are Bocci 22 electrical wall outlets. There are no face plates, just a simple, flush, functional outlet. To me, this illustrates one of the major factors in minimalist design—no unneccesary trim, embellishments, or just plain crap. This idea carries over into:

Process. We will try to keep construction simple by using standard sizes where possible for trusses, drywall, etc.;

Lifestyle. Attempt to declutter our lives by paring down non-essential material possessions;

Design. Keep to simple forms and colors that align with natural surroundings.

The minimalist approach also works well with “green building” principles. We will “buy local” where possible, use energy star appliances, minimize chemicals (i.e., no VOC paints) and, hopefully, install solar panels on the roof for our hot water, PV array for power, thermal or ground water heat exchange for, well, heating.

The reality is that these require larger upfront investment. Although there are financial incentives from the state and some power companies, many of these things end up costing more than the conventional systems that rely on oil or gas for combustion. So, some of what is on our wish list might not be possible.

The “modern” component of this relates to our love for great, classic design as exemplified by these well-known 20th century modernists:

Charles and Ray Eames

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Le Corbusier

I tend to see things in musical terms. There’s been a minimalist movement in music for quite some time, going back to Erik Satie’s experiments with what he called “Furniture Music.” “In the midst of an art opening at a Paris gallery in 1902, Ambient music was born. Erik Satie and his cronies, after begging everyone in the gallery to ignore them, broke out into what they called Furniture Music—that is, background music—music as wallpaper, music to be purposely not listened to. The patrons of the gallery, thrilled to see musicians performing in their midst, ceased talking and politely watched, despite Satie’s frantic efforts to get them to pay no attention.”

Contemporary music minimalists that I love include:

Arvo Part

Goldmund




Library Tapes



Olafur Arnalds




I’ll save my interest in foot-pedal faucets for another post. Stay tuned.

Getting Started

In January 2009, we found the perfect piece of land about 20 minutes outside of Burlington. It’s 10.5 acres, mostly wooded, and the building envelope sits in the portion of land facing a meadow. It’s situated off a 400-foot private road/driveway which is off a dirt road just about 10 minutes from the interstate—like we said, perfect! After some negotiation, we closed on the land in May and the design process began.

After we first looked at the land, we asked Rolf Kielman, a close family friend, architect, and senior partner at TruexCullins, to give us his opinion of the site. He validated our thoughts and is now designing the house. He also suggested that we call Keith Wagner at H. Keith Wagner Partnership, a talented landscape architect and artist, to help with the siting and in developing a comprehensive landscape plan that would fit our modern/minimal/low maintenance approach.

Throughout the this summer and fall Rolf has been working on floor plans based on our initial desire for a U-shaped house that would create a courtyard. In the initial phase it looked like our square footage needs and building budget meant we would have a “stubby-U”—not too attractive! But we held on to the courtyard concept—could see ourselves sitting at a small table outside in the evening with a glass of wine, surrounded by the house and enjoying the outdoors. (Can you tell we would love to be in a campo in Italy?) An added incentive is our small meadow, surrounded on 3 sides with woodland—it seemed the perfect container for our U-shaped structure.

During the summer, Keith invited us, along with Rolf, to visit his house which is modern/minimal and incorporates elements we’re interested in using. There are several structures on his property and that maybe inspired Rolf to create a floor plan that arranges the main house, garage and Tina’s studio into the “U” shape and gives us the courtyard we wanted. We’ll share the site plan and some of the floor plans as they are finalized.

Since we will be breaking ground in May, it dawned on us this fall that we needed to line-up a contractor. Rolf suggested several for us to consider and we meet with a few. Jeremy O’Neill of O’Neill Builders was among those. We met him in November and immediately felt he was “our guy.” He’s young, enthusiastic, pro-active, and has extensive experience in the green building arena—and we think we’re going to have fun working with him.

We’re looking forward to sharing the process as it unfolds.

Michael + Tina

P.S. There was a bit of a kerfuffle at the outset of the design process about a shed or monopitch roof, but Tina will cover that in another. And Michael will share his minimalist wall outlets and his obsession for floor pedals instead of faucets in 1/2 bath downstairs. . .stay tuned!