It’s done! It’s been a great experience all around. The curved features of the plan for this home required some thought and coordination not necessary in most projects. But, the extra time and attention to detail has paid off. The impact of the curves on the exterior is clearly apparent as you approach the home. It’s obvious why the curve was needed now, as you look at the finished house against the landscape. It fits in p ... Read full post »

The custom kitchen cabinets went in this week. Installing these too were tricky, owing to the curved south wall. But they are solidly built and look terrific. Diane is an artist and has been doing this for many years. I’m giving two and a half weeks to get the interior trim and stairs in. We’re simultaneously installing the ceramic tile and most of itshould be in at the end of this week. We’re also templating for the granite ... Read full post »

We’ve started interior trim this week after installing the heartpine floor over Christmas week. The heartpine layout is tricky: there are “rays” coming off the north wall and extending across the great room to the more expansive south wall. They’re layed out approximately every 5’ where we’ve installed steel columns that support the elevated walkway on the north side. Then we infilled perpendicularly between the rays. The fl ... Read full post »

We are now about to spray foam insulate the roof and walls. The beveled cedar siding looks great. All the corner boards and trim are 5/4” cedar. Installing on the curved walls took more effort to get the measurements down but went well. The 5-V crimp metal roof also took more effort, particularly at the rakes since it all flares out since the south wall is much longer than the north wall and it shows up on the roof accordingly. Insta ... Read full post »

Check out the article in The Chapel Hill News, September 27, 2009, on the front page of the Real Estate section. Correspondent, Sally Keeney, has written a wonderful article about Tom Howlett’s new house. Hacienda Under the Oaks: Bold colors say ‘bienvenido’ at builder’s personal residence By Sally Keeney Correspondent If you’ve ever tasted the mango salsa at Flying Burrito in Chapel Hill, then you know the intensity of ... Read full post »