I have refrained from posting any photos or updates on our house construction in Traverse City but am finally posting an update. The rise of social networking has blurred the lines between private, public, personal, business, friends, families and clients. As clients become long-lasting friends and old friends become clients, I find myself juggling how news is filtered. I used to tell friends and family to check my facebook page and would direct clients to this blog but has become an antiquated model. Most readers of this blog, including friends and family, know that we are building a house in Traverse City. We tore down our old cottage on Spider Lake and are nearly complete with the new place. I have posted a few photos on Facebook and usually direct people to that site for updates. That worked for a while and then I added a “hidden” gallery on my website where people could view the photos in slightly better quality than Facebook.
Rather than making things easier, this approach has caused some confusion on where to find updates, photos, etc. It has also caused *me* confusion as I can’t keep track of where I have uploaded photos or who I told to look where. I am flattered and honored that so many people are interested in the progress so I am going to simply post all future updates here on the blog. I may go back and provide updates on how the old cottage looked and the demolition process but for now, I will just post current photos.
This is the view as you are pulling in the driveway. We moved everything closer to the lake. The old garage used to sit close to where the well is now located on the left side of this photo.
The view from the lake. We have a walkout basement, a covered porch and the third level is the master suite.
This is the fireplace in the living room. It is wood burning and will be able to heat the entire house. This is my favorite part of the house!
This is the ceiling on the main level. The beams are white ash that we purchased and had milled just for this house. We bought the trees around 3 years ago just ahead of the ash borer problem hitting the area. Local trees, local sawmill. The ceiling is also the floor on the third level. We didn’t have enough White Ash so we used 2.5″ pine.
The iron hangers and bolts are sourced from a local blacksmith/welder. Custom made for this house.
We have concrete counter tops in the kitchen. Chris, our builder, still has some grinding/polishing to do but love how they look!
We placed a bunch of Petoskey Stones in the concrete. This photo gives you an idea of how they will look when polished and sealed.
This is our bedroom on the third level of the house. The ceiling is close to 20′ and the ridge beam is 12″x18″.
This is the hallway from our bedroom to the bathroom. Walk-in closets on each side.
by Darrin Wassom
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