Moving along nicely…

The progress at 78 E. 4th Street is really coming along. The landscaping and just about all of the exterior work is complete (I can’t wait until they paint the front door!). I don’t think I’m alone in saying that kitchens are an important room in any home. This particular home is going to have one GREAT kitchen!

All of the cabinets throughout this home were custom made. The detailing is really incredible although it may be difficult to really see in these photos. The house next door has similar detailing and I think you’ll agree that it will be fabulous! The Buyer has chosen to upgrade from concrete to granite countertops. He’s also having a wine chiller built-in.

The Buyer also chose to upgrade from stained concrete floors (down) and carpet (up) to hard wood flooring throughout. Here’s the guest bedroom:

And the a portion of the dining area:

The only tile work complete so far is the master bathroom shower:

More to come. Stay tuned…

Installing some curb appeal

Just before the rains came… the concrete work and landscaping were completed! More sod was laid after these photos were taken 

In keeping with the period styling, the builder laid parking “strips” rather than a solid driveway. River bed rock (think no maintenance or upkeep!) will be laid on either side of the drive (to the fence line and to the side of the home) and in between the strips. While we’re discussing parking I’ve included a photo of the carport showing the materials used to finish out the interior.

The back door of the home leads to this nice sized patio. Surround sound is pre-wired to this area! There’s a nice little backyard here… but not TOO much yard.

We’ve got walls!

Many of you might find this post boring…. but I think sheetrock going up in a new home really allows you, for the first time, to get a sense of the space and flow. It also allows you to really see where the lighting and electrical outlets are placed. If it does bore you, just scroll to the very bottom for some more interesting pics 

In the living room you can see where the can lights are going as well as the surround sound wires dangling down:

Kitchen:

Dining area:

Stairway:

If you’ve been following the blog, you know that the Buyer requested that the Builder move the master bedroom wall.  Here’s the wall post-move and the hallway which was also effected:

Master bathroom, vanity area:

They’ve also finished the main color and trim on the exterior. Pardon the mess:

They’re making progress on the house next door as well.  The wood floors are beautiful:

The House Next Door

So normally, the house next door wouldn’t be very important to a buyer, but in this instance it is really important. The home next door to 78 E. 4th Street is also under construction, same builder, a week or so ahead in the process. Yesterday I went by the house next door and took some photos of details that will be similar to those at “78.”

The builder is using this octagonal tile in the bathrooms in order to stay with the period charm of a bungalow:

All of the cabinetry throughout the home is custom made by a local cabinet maker.

The photo just above is probably the best representation of color/look of the tile (and you can’t see all of the construction dust). While we’re discussing the bathrooms, here are a couple of shots showing some of the built in storage:

So now on to the kitchen. The first time I saw the kitchen cabinets in the house next door I was really impressed by the attention to detail and craftsmanship. Seeing them further along made me fall in love!

Staying with the period theme, the cabinet maker created a built-in “hutch” that will have glass paneled doors. Notice it’s been modernized with electrical outlets inside.

The venti-hood will be hidden inside this custom cabinet:

The island was painted red (not as bright as the photos represent) in between visits so that’s why you’ll see photos of it as white and red. It has a slide-out bin for recycling, a shelf for the microwave, a bookshelf at the end for cook books, and space for seating.

I’m sure you have a good grasp of what the kitchen will look like. Here are shots of the pantry (under the stairwell) and utility room built-ins:

Here are some additional “detail” photos:

Talk about attention to detail – even the attic access panel was made of bead board:

Just in case you’re interested here are some photos of the house next door (still available for sale – listing courtesy of Crye-Leike, REALTORS):

Color Me Craftsman

The Buyer has chosen his paint colors!

Exterior:

Interior:

Using Sherwin-Williams’ online “Color Visualizer” you can get a good sense of how the colors work together:

How to customize a spec home

It’s a really interesting process for a buyer to purchase a “spec” home before completion. A spec (short for speculative) home is a new construction that is built for the general buyer pool rather than a specific client who would customize the home. Most new construction homes are spec homes; buyers get to have the “shiny and new” without all of the decisions (and sometimes stress) that comes with the building process. 

The home on 4th Street was meant to be a spec home, but because the Buyer moved quickly he is afforded the opportunity to select some of his finishes and modify a few things. One of the biggest changes – or at least most impactful in my opinion – is his decision to have one of the master bedroom walls moved.  I’ve uploaded the original architect’s floorplans for both level 1 and level 2 of the home. As you can see the master bedroom (labeled bedroom #1) was meant to have a recess in the corner with built-ins. Here’s how the wall was planned and originally constructed:

We talked through a couple of scenarios and ultimately the Buyer decided to ask the builder to move the wall as far into the hallway as reasonable. The “leftover” portion of the master’s recess was then added to the adjoining bedroom’s closet allowing it to be more spacious as well. Here’s the same wall now:

As you can see above the wall is now one contiguous wall (no corner, no recess). The Buyer has a lot more options on furniture placement now! He also has a significant amount of square footage added to the room.  See that red arrow? The wall used to be there.  Almost 13 inches was added to the width of the master bedroom:

The last impact the change had is in the hallway. There’s still ample space to maneuver the hall, but at the top of the stairs there’s now a recess that was created by moving the wall. This will give the Buyer an opportunity to place a piece of furniture.

This entire change was executed today! It just goes to show you how a great floor plan can be made even better to suit the specific needs of a homeowner relatively easily. And just in time! Sheetrock was being delivered today.