Bristol III

Fall builds can be hectic. The chances of everything being exactly the way you want it to be are harder to obtain as the building season progresses.

While we were off-loading one of the three trucks required to deliver this package to the site, the concrete trucks were busy finishing the foundation pours for the garage and solarium. The main foundation was already done and the first floor Jager Floor System was part of this delivery.

We were lucky this site was easily accessible for not only our trucks, but for the concrete trucks and all the various workers involved.

There is a tremendous amount of material loaded on these trucks, and that does not include the windows or any roof trusses, which arrive separately at pre-arranged dates. At least it is not necessary to store those items while the building process is underway. We no longer ship ALL construction materials, but bring it to the site as needed by the builder. This eliminates worries about inclement weather and possible theft.

Just a few weeks later, and this house is really taking shape. Notice the windows have arrived and have been set in place where they are ready for them. For the sake of blocking out winter's chilling wind, the house wrap is covering where most of the fixed glass panels will eventually be installed.

Not all winters are as forgiving as some that we have had lately. This home was able to progress with little or no delays due to weather, with only one day of 'shoveling' required before the roof was on. It truly should not be a long process.

While the front portion of the house is under control, the rear area, where the garage is attached via the Breezeway, is getting some attention.

This area has been designed to be the main entry, with a full glass door & full glass sidelights leading the way into a grand entrance before actually entering the main portion of the house. Rather than being set at right angles to the garage, the breezeway was angled off to the side to take the bulk of the garage away from being directly behind the house.

The larger hole seen near the doorway in the log wall here, is where the solarium will eventually be attached. The larger hole is the area that the 'see-through' fireplace will finally be positioned, allowing for perfect viewing from both the living room and the solarium.

The dormer upstairs is part of the full upstairs master bedroom suite, which boasts a full bath, walk-in closet and large loft area overlooking the living room and having a gorgeous view through the fixed prow glass.

A glimpse from the inside, this is the view from what will be the kitchen-family room into the living room. The tarp over the doorway will be an extremely large sliding door. The framing to the immediate right is for the laundry - mud - pantry room - which has a separate entry from the outside - handy if you are full of muddy clothes and want to leave the mess there, not track it through the house! This area also boasts it's own cathedral ceiling area above, lending more space to an already spacious room, with additional fixed glass for added natural light.

With the exterior all but done, work is progressing on the inside. All the windows have been placed, and this gives you a pretty good view of the rear of the house, and the solarium portion that was added to the side of the house.

The two windows on the downstairs rear wall are two individual bedrooms for the main floor.

Panning around to the rest of the rear of the house, you get a better view of the main entrance. Garage entry is just out of view to the left and the mud-room/laundry door entry is just to the right of the main entry, almost hidden by the tree!

And finally getting to that point of being able to live in it! It will take several years for this home and the land around it, to "mature" and finally be "done".

In the meantime, it's a home that is the pride and joy of the homeowner!