Welcome!
It's been awhile since I last posted. It has been hectic, exhausting, wonderful, blessed, crazy, hard, easy, exciting, demanding, relaxing...and joyful!
We've had so many of our family and friends here to join us to enjoy all that this past year of building has brought to us and those we love. Yet, there are many that still need to visit, and still more boxes to unpack. But today, let me get back to "The Foster Porch Post" to show you what our Christmas season looked like here at the lake.
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| Finished brick work |
We hired our own brick contractor to finish under the front porch. We needed to keep air flowing through the underside of the porch since it is made up of wood. The weather can be harsh here so any other material besides brick would not hold up over time, with the one exception, PVC Bermuda shutters. I received 3 price quotes all around $5000.00. So brick was our best and least expensive option.
I found it really difficult to take pictures at the house at night. because the roof shingle is very dark, one has to take the pictures as the sun is setting. It took me two days to finally figure out when to get the best picture. The sun sets on the back of the home. The orientation of the house plan is perfect for this lot. The pool gets the west exposure and the front of the house gets the east. The sun coming up in the morning and watching the mist over the bay is awesome when sitting on the front porch or the breakfast room. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I have pictures of the breakfast room coming up.
The small lights in the upstairs dormers are LED candles that look so real, they twinkle. We asked each of our children to give them to us as a Christmas gift so that each child is represented in the window as a welcome home and remembrance. We have 4 children, we have 4 dormers. Every time we see them, we remember the symbolism of what they represent. It makes us smile.
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| Love the rain-chains |
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This picture was the image we used for our Christmas
card this year.
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We installed working gas lanterns(propane) on either side of the front door. We are still working on getting the orifices corrected to reduce the soot. Apparently there is a different orifice for gas, and another for propane. These were installed for gas, but we have propane. They look pretty, but until this is corrected they put out too much soot on the light fixture and the ceiling. Buyer beware. I'm presently working with the lighting supplier to find a remedy.
The Foyer
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| Not your typical doorbell |
I always wanted a larger foyer. The one in New Jersey opened immediately into the living room, which meant constant clean up. The Frisco home had a small un functional foyer, that was so chopped up there was no place for a small piece of furniture to drop down your keys. Even the area rug could not find the right spot to work with the staircase and the side walls. Here this room is large enough that it does double duty as a playroom for the grandchildren. They can play with various building blocks and be in the sight of us "older" folks that prefer to sit in the soft furniture in the adjoining room rather than the floor. The room has ample light , which is protected from the strong sun because of the deep front porch. We love it!
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| Interior of doorbell |
My husband's grandfather clock is PERFECT for this space. We planned ahead. We made sure there was an outlet there for it.
TIP: When building a home try to place your furniture in the plan BEFORE the sheetrock goes up. You might not get it ALL right, but you will be very very close. One area we neglected to think about was the front porch. Now that we have a problem, yet to be fixed, with the gas lanterns, the front of our home is very dark. We have since put up a spotlight in one of the urns on the front porch, but the cord drags across the wood floors.
Tip: Think about how you may want to decorate your home for special occassions BEFORE the rough electrical is finished. We were going"minimal". So we didn't consider an every night spot light. Some things you just miss. Forgive yourself.
Okaaay, the glass is dirty. I had to go back and clean my light fixtures AFTER the cleaning crew came in. They did clean them, but they cleaned them just before we moved in. Unfortunately, we HAD to move in before the house was finished. So this is what your light fixtures can look like after they are cleaned and contractors are still in your home, painting, cutting, tweaking. We moved in in mid June. The contractors weren't out of here until August. We were at worse case looking for a move in date of April, then May, then desperate we HAD to move June. We started this home June 10, 2014.
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| This is what the house looked like on June 10, 2015 12:03 PM. We were to move in 7 days later. |
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| This Audubon was a gift from my brother in law |
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| These two I got off of ebay (1937) and had them professionally framed in matching frames. |
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| Found this mahogany plant stand at an estate sale in Tyler. Fun! |
The husband's study is just off to the right of the foyer. I wanted to keep the foyer peaceful and bring in the famous, local and true to this period artist, John James Audubon (April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851), born Jean-Jacques Audubon, was an American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. He was notable for his extensive studies documenting all types of American birds and for his detailed illustrations that depicted the birds in their natural habitats. His major work, a color-plate book entitled The Birds of America (1827–1839), is considered one of the finest ornithological works ever completed.
There is still much more to see. I think I should best break it up into a few rooms at a time, otherwise you will be reading a novel instead of a blog. Yes, I know, some of you have told me. Ha ha ha. The weather is starting to get nicer so I better get after this before I am once again distracted by ALL the other projects that await me. Now off to sort out the garage....oh what fun.
