The wrapping advances...

The wrapping team is making quick work of their tasks.  The pictures which follow show the progress since Monday morning at about 10:30.  These pictures were taken by my wife, Pam.  Here they are:

The front of the house is completely wrapped, and is beginning to look like a house instead of a bunch of sticks.  The
porch finally begins to show some depth, and its columns stand out nicely.  The columns will be covered by stone from
the base of the porch.  The stone will match that used on the rest of the house.

These are the windows on the five-car garage
which face the main house, or at least, inside
the campus.

These are the windows will comprise the large
picture window in the Great Room.  The
kitchen sink window can be seen on the left.

These are the windows of the conservatory, and there are matching windows in its partner,
the dining room.  One can see the porch with the overhang and columns.  The house is
designed for a lot of windows, but they are shaded by porches or trees to minimize radiated heat.

This is a view of the covered lanai from the entrance to the casita.  One can see the corner
fireplace of the lanai.  Not only will the lanai be shaded, but it will have a ceiling fan, too.

Wrapping, and it is not even Christmas!

The wrapping of the house finally began two days ago.  We lost last week due to both a lack of crew and a lot of rain.  The wrapping of the house applies only to the exterior walls and involves sheathing (for structural support) and the air infiltration barrier.  An insulation crew is next, followed by a drywall crew, and then the exterior veneer is added by yet another crew.  Four different crews are needed to complete the walls of a house.  Below you will find pictures from the first day of wrapping, as well a final framing shot.

This is the right side of the front.  One can see that the dormers are
wrapped, as well as the bay window of what will be the exercise room.  Note
the Douglas fir columns which replaced the previous constructed columns.

A zoom of the dormers, showing the wrapping and the exterior siding.

This is from within the exercise room mentioned above.

Very excited to see our outside fireplace on the lanai!

Looking through the rear picture window(s) to the forest, with the window
seat partially framed.  I doubt we will grow weary of this view

Framing is completed

The framing of the house is now completed.  This week begins the "wrapping" of the house.  "Wrapping" means to envelope the house in plywood.   Other activities will include installation of doors, windows, and the first stage of plumbing.

The pictures of the finished framing are courtesy of my older daughter Michelle.  She took time out of her busy schedule (mother of a 7-year-old and 4-year-old automatically certifies your time as "busy") to take pictures while we were on the road the last two weeks.

My beautiful grandchildren in front of the finished framing.  At the time
of this photo, one dormer is not quite finished. but was finished later.

This is a 'zoom' of the front entrance to the house.  The opening in the rear
of the house is the 14-feet-high picture window which opens to our little
forest.  Entering the house, the woods will be the first thing a person sees.

The rear of the house at the completion of framing shows the picture
window (middle, and actually a grouping of windows).  To the right is the
covered lanai (my two grandchildren are exploring), and to the left is the
small porch extending from the utility room and master bedroom.

Reaching higher and higher

Even though we are on a road trip, progress continues at the house.  My older daughter is kind enough to take the 20 minutes drive to the property with her family to take photos for us, and so the photos you will see today are from her efforts over the last couple of days (Thanks, Michelle!):

Grandchildren in the foreground right, and the roof lines are beginning to
show as the framing of stage 2 marches on.

The structural challenge of blending the ceiling joist
patterns of the casita have been resolved.

The back of the house is taking shape, as the cathedral ceiling has been
framed, as well as the large picture window mosaic.  Note also the completion
of the bay window (breakfast nook) and the porch of the utility room (far
left in the photo).  The window mosaic is perhaps the most important
architectural element of the house so far as connecting the house and
property as a seamless design.

Standing in the foyer, looking out the front door.  My son-in-law
Taylor is standing in the Great Room where it meets the kitchen area, and
his presence gives one a sense of scale.

Standing in the foyer, near the 'left corner' of the Great Room, one gets
an impression of what our window mosaic will do to bring our private
forest into the home.  This will be what one will see upon entering the
front door of the house.

Frame Stage 1 continues...

The extra time it takes to cut and mount the ceiling and roof joists makes the progress slow compared to the wall framing.  It is almost a shame that the craftsmanship involved is only visible for a short while, then covered forever.  Nonetheless, the completion of the house is dependent upon this masterful work being hidden from view.  I am just glad I got a chance to appreciate it.

Pam and I are on the road right now, traveling to Bloomington, Illinois (nephew's wedding) by way of Portland, Maine.  Here are the most recent pictures we took from our site visit yesterday:

This is a picture from the driveway.  We are trying to save the fenced tree
and hope to bring the driveway around it CCW.

This view is of the rear of the house, and the one thing
missing is the cathedral ceiling which should be in the
middle where you see the pony walls.

The trusses on the casita are done, as is about 95% of the roof joists.  The
entrance creates a bit of a tight turn for the roof at the intersection to the
left of the entrance.

This is Google's enhancement of a photo taken from near the casita
entrance toward the porte-cochere joining the main house (left)
and the two-car garage/rec room (right).  Again, such geometries are
visually interesting to me.