new Vermont farmhouse

farmhouse in winter

2011-02-10T03:01:00.000-08:00

ready to move in

2010-08-10T17:32:00.001-07:00

The house is finished and ready for occupancy (after the cleaning crew comes). Look for final photos this fall.

stairs

2010-08-10T17:16:00.000-07:00

The interior stairs connect the lower, middle and upper floors. Antique heart pine flooring is used for treads. Painted risers, stringers, balusters and newels match the rest of the trim. The handrail is cherry.

more stone steps

2010-08-10T17:10:00.000-07:00

Blue stone steps lead off the deck to the east at the entry and to the west at the back yard.

stone steps

2010-08-10T16:58:00.000-07:00

Local granite steps and Panton stone walls make the transition from the upper to lower level.

deck, railing and stone wall

2010-07-15T04:46:00.000-07:00

The deck is designed to integrate the house with the site. It wraps the house on three sides. To the east the deck is covered by a porch for the front entry. To the south a portion of the deck projects to create a sitting area that takes advantage of the view.

The deck then becomes a narrow walk way leading to the deck on the west. The narrow walkway allows light to penetrate the living space below. New timber posts and existing cedar trees stand side by side.

The Colby Hill landscape Company has just begun work on a stone retaining wall and stone steps. The retaining wall further ties the deck to the site. Stone steps provide a path from between the upper and lower levels.

kitchen cabinets

2010-07-02T04:15:00.001-07:00

The kitchen cabinets by local cabinet maker Dan Ober were installed this week.

coming together

2010-06-28T05:22:00.000-07:00

doors and floors

2010-06-16T04:32:00.001-07:00

Inside the four panel shaker style doors are hung and the antique heart pine flooring is being installed.

covered porch

2010-06-16T04:10:00.000-07:00

The covered porch is complete including the red roof.

deck

2010-06-16T03:58:00.000-07:00

Progress on the deck continues.

porch and painting

2010-06-06T06:05:00.000-07:00

While the porch is built on the exterior the painters keep busy inside. The pickled v-groove pine ceiling shows in the foreground of the final photo.

paint colors

2010-05-19T03:12:00.000-07:00

While the crew works outside on the decking, the painters prime the interior. The interior wall colors throughout the house are loosely based on the colors found in a carton of eggs.

decking

2010-05-19T03:06:00.000-07:00

Deck boards are installed on top of the timber framing. A thick nosing wraps around the perimiter of the deck.

timber frame deck support

2010-05-06T04:02:00.000-07:00

The local white oak timber posts sit within the rock retaining wall. The timber deck framing wraps around the house on three sides. The basement siding is completed. It is deliberately different from the clapboard siding on the rest of the house.

exterior finish

2010-05-06T03:50:00.000-07:00

The carpenter are putting up local quarter sawn spruce siding over a rain-screen. Dave Brett of the Colby Hill Landscape Co. worked excavator work the excavator to place boulders to retain the grade near the house. The boulders fit in with the other rocks that are strewn about the site.

fireplace

2010-04-17T14:48:00.000-07:00

The original fireplace surround and hearth remain. The firebox has been rebuilt for safety.

windows and casing

2010-04-17T14:42:00.000-07:00

The windows and doors have been installed. They are cased with cedar that was salvaged from the original house, milled and painted.

stairs and walls

2010-03-25T04:07:00.000-07:00

The interior partitions and stairs are framed while the mason rebuilds the firebox and chimney.

rebuilding firebox

2010-03-25T03:59:00.000-07:00

Recent progress includes the rebuilding of the firebox and trenching for the bath plumbing in the basement slab. We had hope to save much of the existing fireplace and chimney but the mason was concerned about safety. There is evidence of at least one fire in the framing near the firebox.

roof line

2010-03-05T03:14:00.000-08:00

Nestled into the sloping site, the new house sits on top of the existing foundation. The views from the second floor window are great. The mason has carefully removed the existing chimney leaving only the fireplace. A new taller chimney will contain two flues - one for the fireplace and one for a wood burning boiler.

roof framing

2010-03-05T03:00:00.000-08:00

The roof framing for the main portion of the house and the back ell went up in one day with the help of a crane. There are trusses on the ell and a structural ridge and rafters on the main portion creating second floor bedrooms with sloped ceilings.

second floor

2010-03-05T02:47:00.000-08:00

The timber frame floor system over the living room is decked with 2x6 v-groove pine. The rest of the second floor framing consists of wood I beams. Together the two types of framing create the second floor.

timber frame

2010-02-06T04:16:00.000-08:00

Liberty Head Post and Beam put up the hand cut, hemlock, timber frame above the living room. Details include housed and pegged joints and chamfers on the joists and beams.

comments

2010-02-03T03:16:00.001-08:00

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basement beams

2010-02-03T02:56:00.000-08:00

The beams in the basement are made of parallel strands of laminated lumber (paralam). They span the width of the foundation creating one big open space. The beams and v-groove pine will be the finished ceiling.

framing

2010-02-03T02:48:00.000-08:00

The basement and first floor walls are up. You can see the stair well in the foreground of the first picture.

red roof

2010-01-19T06:55:00.000-08:00

My client asked for a house with a vernacular look and a red roof. The exterior finishes are a red standing seam metal roof, local quarter sawn spruce clapboards, timber framed deck beams, posts and braces of local white oak. Trim and deck railings will be milled from the salvaged cedar. The windows are clad.

chimney and fireplace

2010-01-19T05:21:00.000-08:00

We also saved the existing chimney and fireplace only to discover that the two are not really connected to one another. The crew went to great lengths to deconstruct and rebuild around the fireplace. We may rebuild the chimney to improve the connection.

deconstruction and salvage

2010-01-19T05:09:00.000-08:00

Before they could start framing, the crew deconstructed the existing house. Windows were removed and saved for reuse by others and large quantities of cedar decking were salvaged.

all hands on deck

2010-01-14T09:24:00.000-08:00

Pictured here is the crew of Silvermaple Construction. They are smiling today because it is lunch time and it is 30 degrees out. Yesterday the temperature was -3 degrees.