Getting there

We've spent the last few weekends at the house and slowly some of the finishes are coming together. This suddenly makes the house much more livable and although the weekends are not "high glamour" they are comfortable. We have airbeds in the bed rooms and hot and cold running water. The baths are all functional and the UV filter is up and running so we can use the water.

Running water and sink in the guest bath room

...and fully functional WC...LUXURY!

This weekend's new feature was the fireplace surround. Daniel has done a fantastic job taking some of the simple door header details from the book of 18 century Dutch Vernacular Architecture by John Stevens (who visited and documented our house almost exactly one year ago) . The mill work for the fire surround and the library is being done by two excellent local artists John Cox and Josh Finn.

Fire surround panelling

Restored corner fireplace

Our new living room, almost complete...just need to mop the floor!

Daniel's spectacular details...he's good at that!

Daniel came to the mantle design on his own by mixing a couple of door details with other pieces. I think the proportions are absolutely gorgeous. The "spirit Gods" have also reaffirmed the design! A couple of weeks ago, as we rode our bikes down Huguenot Street, we looked in on the house that they are restoring at great expense. On the work bench was a design almost exactly the same as the design we had come to through our own research.

Last weekend (Memorial day) we had our first overnight guests in the guest rooms. Now Jane Edwards-Hall and Allison and Ken have gone the rooms are a little stark. Jane stayed in Cindy's room. (It's Cindy's room for two reasons. First, she claimed it when she first stayed here. Second, the huge glass window ensures that anyone who stays there is living with maximum public exposure).