Our first home was built in 3 months. Basic floor plan and not many extras. High gloss trim, maple cabinets and oak flooring. Don't get me wrong, it was great. We even had a bay window in the kitchen that overlooked the woods and it was perfect! Emma was born there and when she turned about 3 months old, we moved into our second home. The lot was bigger, the house was bigger and I got crazy with the paint colors. This was a big open floor plan, but again, not a lot of extras. John Connor was born here and a few weeks later, we moved into our third home. We had built-ins in the living room, slate in the kitchen, we even added on a bonus room so there was a cool, brick wall! All of these houses were build as quick as possible, live there a few years and find the next "best lot ever". The fourth house. Oh, that fourth house. I still think about the pool and the tennis court. You can see a little of the front of the house here.
But, it was the antique bricks from Chicago, the beams that were milled into 5-6" wide heart pine flooring and the trough from France in the powder room that make me miss it.
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| This trough was from France. We had a metal base built as a stand. |
As you walk in the front door, you see one of the beams that the we used to mill the floors. This one had a lot more paint on it and they talked me into sanding most of it off. I learned early on to go with my gut on things I like. The contractor for this new house will probably hate me. (wink) Those are the bricks from Chicago. You also see one of my favorite things to collect, foundry patterns.
Walking into the living room, you will see a wall of doors that open onto the back of the house, but turn around and you will see the other side of that brick wall and John Connor's first deer hanging above the mantel. The ceiling was clad with hickory planks. You can see a smidgen of walnut trim that we used on both sides of this room. It was from a house built in the late 1800's. The mantel was a piece left over and you can see the gorgeous detail that goes all the way across. You can see a few more pics here.
Moving into the kitchen, we pulled out all the stops. The cabinets were custom built from hickory and we used a red stain for the top cabinets. I love the lead glass across the top, too. The bricks were split to create a veneer for the backsplash. You can see a small piece of red granite that was amazing. It is surrounded by terra cotta tiles that were in boxes in the bottom of a church basement that was being cleaned out. (jackpot!) We used the same hickory for the bottom cabinets, but used the bead board side for the doors and just a clear coat to enhance the wood. Our kitchen table was a piece of granite attached to the island. Lots of homework and creating happened at this table!
The keeping room, where we lived ALL the time holds lots of memories. We sat in front of many a fire in this stone fireplace with that old beam as the mantel.
Ahh, the back of the house. We lived out here. The doors you see open up folding to one end. My kids were always in the pool and that swing? My husbands grandfather, Papa, built it for us! This is the best place in the whole house!! There is antique brick framing the arches and I can't tell you how many times we refinished that floor. It was not wood that should be outside!!!
My bathroom. Oh, this place was a close second to favorite places in this house! That copper tub? Yes, please. I could sit there and read a book forever! The best thing about this tub is the water NEVER got cold! We used the hickory for the cabinets and the bead board on the ceiling. I love that crown molding, too. This color is a lot brighter in this picture than it was IRL.
John Connor's room was so fun!! We pulled out all the stops in here. The tin was from an old barn that was torn down from our camp house. We designed it around the size of this hand turned bed.
I will have to dig up more pictures from the rest of the house. It was a lot of fun to build and I'm really looking forward to working on MoonGlow!
