Month: March 2016

Doings around Carlisle and house update

I was in California last week so a bit late on posting Prior to going to San Francisco, my parent’s and I took a walk along Two Rod Road in advance of the incoming snow storm Sunday evening (still was a bit squishy).  Two Rod Road heads off toward’s Concord, passing by Punkatasset hill before … Continue reading “Doings around Carlisle and house update”

I was in California last week so a bit late on posting

Prior to going to San Francisco, my parent’s and I took a walk along Two Rod Road in advance of the incoming snow storm Sunday evening (still was a bit squishy).  Two Rod Road heads off toward’s Concord, passing by Punkatasset hill before making for Concord proper.  We set off from the Malcolm Meadows parking area and even though it is spring time, it managed to look fairly ‘Spooky Hollow” forbidding.

According to the trail guide published here, Two Rod Road was built to service the Blood family – who settled the part of Carlisle where my new house is and they where the family that built the sawmill in 1660 that is on my property.

“Two Rod Road and Estabrook Road:

There are two roads within Estabrook Woods that connect Concord with Carlisle to the north . Two Rod Road was built about 1697 at the request of James Blood of Carlisle so that he would have a road from his house to Concord. It was built within a right-of-way between two stone walls set 33 feet (two rods) apart. In 1735, a second, better-known road was built from Concord to Carlisle, the Old Carlisle Road which became the Estabrook Road. This road, really a cart trail, was the route used by Minutemen from Carlisle and elsewhere to join the fight at Concord, April 19, 1775. It is the only known Minuteman route-of-march that remains in its original condition. “

A nice walk – but you could definitely feel the snow in the air – a raw day

Goings on at the house are exciting and picking up speed.  The slate floors are all in as of the end of last week and Paul is planning on starting the sanding of the oak floors tomorrow (Monday).  The slate and the tile look great.  Atlantic Industrial Models was doing machine work on the I-Beam last Friday – so it should be finished Monday or Tuesday.  My Dad is going to pick that up as well this week.

Great stuff!

Winter storm clean up is needed

A few weeks late, but some photos of winter storm damage.  Today (3/13/2016) is now fully spring.  I was in NYC late last week and it was 81 degrees on Thursday down there AND in Carlisle.  Things are not kicking into gear in terms of spring growth – but you can see it out on … Continue reading “Winter storm clean up is needed”

A few weeks late, but some photos of winter storm damage.  Today (3/13/2016) is now fully spring.  I was in NYC late last week and it was 81 degrees on Thursday down there AND in Carlisle.  Things are not kicking into gear in terms of spring growth – but you can see it out on the horizon.

I am going over to my property today and I am going to spread around some wild flower seeds from American Meadows (a special mix of native wild flowers – both annual and perennials designed for New England).  It may not work since I am just going to be doing it the natural way (tossing things around by hand) and the final site landscape work has not been done – but it shouldn’t take long either.

Big house update

It has been a few weeks since I last posted.  I have been travelling a fair bit and lots has gotten done First off and exciting – the Geothermal system is installed and running.  With that up and going, Paul was able to bring the house up to full temperature and get the floor and … Continue reading “Big house update”

It has been a few weeks since I last posted.  I have been travelling a fair bit and lots has gotten done

First off and exciting – the Geothermal system is installed and running.  With that up and going, Paul was able to bring the house up to full temperature and get the floor and trim to all acclimatize and stabilize over a period of a week.  The red oak flooring and trim are now installed and look absolutely great!  This includes wonderful oak heating/cooling floor vent registers that just cleanly blend in.

Interestingly, with the hardwood floors in, the house feels a light quieter and softer from an acoustic perspective.

 

We made final decisions on flooring for the entryway and the bathrooms based on the samples Paul got.  We are going with the Home Depot Montauk Black slate in 12×24″ size for the full entry, utility room, laundry room and pantry as well as the bathroom floors.  The bath tile in the master bath is Ice White Home Depot Daltile (3×6″ subway) in a stacked pattern (no overlap from one course to the next) and an octagon flooring.  We are going to have an orange/pumpkin accent color strip running horizontally around the bath at around the inset soap dish level – to break up the pure white look.

Atlantic Industrial Models sent to me the CAD design for the I-Beam machine work and I signed off on it – it looks great and I can’t wait to see the results in person!.  They should be cutting metal very soon – which means we can pick it up soon and the kitchen island can progress

My parent’s and I went over to Wolfers Lighting and picked out all the fixed lighting fixtures/product and paid for it all in one fell swoop.  It should be really great!  I did purchase a couple of special order items from Hubbardton Forge – a local Vermont Blacksmith lighting fixture company.  Fantastic craftsmanship and design aesthetic.

What I ordered from them:

I also got LOTS of track lighting for both the house and the shop.  It will run along the main beams in the house and some 64′ of track along the full length of the 3 walls in the shop.  This should provide a lot of task lighting there.

 

Finally here are some outdoor shots with new angles