For my friends in the arctic tundra of the Northeast...

It is with great pride and a lot of work that we have finalized our courtyard layout with pool/spa that will be constructed by Cutting Edge Pool and Patio (www.cuttingedgepoolandpatio.com).  Lisa, Glenn and Casey are a great team, and we cannot wait to see this first major project underway prior to the foundation being poured. 

I cannot stop imagining what it would be like to heat the spa during the day from my the iphone app so when I get home on a cold winter day, it's ready to go.  All friends are welcome!



View from back corner of lot

Aerial view



Courtyard View

At night

From balcony off upstairs living area

From Courtyard

Whole house and courtyard view

I know this tile guy...

One of the benefits of my job is the networking and friends I make across every imaginable industry.  I had the chance to speak to an emerging leadership group of the Jewish Federation and come to find out one guy owns a tile company, another a lighting company, another a plumbing company, etc.  Well-- without asking for favors, but wanting to keep business in the family, we have really made great friends who are helping us build a beautiful house on the inside!  With a great thank you to Shannon Green of AVID Associates in Dallas (http://avidassoc.com/)-- I highly recommend her services as a great modern interior designer, and the generous supply of tile samples and access from Concept Surfaces (http://www.conceptsurfaces.com/)-- Geoff Gross is the best-- we have some great bathrooms coming along.

Below are our tile selections and some descriptions of our bathrooms.  We made countertop selections for the bathrooms as well.  We still have to pick out fixtures and vessels for the sinks and faucets.  Ideas are welcome! Pool info is only a week away-- get ready! 



Guest Suite - Marble tile floor, smoke matte tile walls and glass tile mosaic per design for the accent wall.  Rain feature and wall mounted shower heads with grate drain.  This has been claimed by my mother as her guest suite and bathroom.

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Poweder/Pool Bath.  Back wall in textured tile - some nice drama and water kissed effect for the floor tile.  A very interesting and engaging space.

 

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Master Bath - Body jets, rain feature and wall mounted shower heads with grate drain.  The floor tile in teh shower is awesome to walk on, and the regular floor tile is the most beautiful gray with grain you can imagine.  The accent wall is special.  The tile chip above does not do it justice, but allow the pictures below to do so!

Porcelanosa makes some amazing tile (http://www.porcelanosa-usa.com)


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The two upstairs bathrooms will match with textured back accent walls and stone looking floors.  Very clean and modern.



Form over function-- at least form before function

Today was a big day insofar as it feels a lot more real now that the forms have been laid. The next few weeks entail the pool and spa getting dug out and brought to gunite stage, the foundation gets poured and then the framing and real shape of the house becomes real.

WARNING: Sizes viewed by forms and foundation may appear smaller than they are. 

If you ever build a home, don't get too frazzled when a 12x15 room feels like an airplane bathroom when viewed sans walls.

We had a great day comparing appliances-- some good options to be shared, and we will seek opinions!

Below are some pics of the framing today.

Looking from front to back

Side view towards courtyard 

Side view facing great room and guest suite

Facing towards front-- 35' setback from property line.

Whole house view and Alex

The Oval Office from Waco...

One of the earlier decisions that must be made with a new home are what fixtures we will be using.  The "rough-in" in the foundation must be determined before the foundation gets poured, which obviously, is in the beginning stages of the house.

After searching for modern bathtubs, toilets and showers, we identified a great buy for our one piece (looks more modern), dual flush (environmentally friendly) affordable (under the budgeted $250 per toilet) toilet at Home Depot.  The problem is, they are discountinued, not available in Dallas or online.  The nearest location with the five we needed?  Waco, TX. David Koresh country.  

Question:  How much does a toilet weigh?

Answer: 80 lbs.

Question:  How many toilets can you fit in a BMW 3 series convertible or an Infiniti G37 sport coupe?

Answer: 0

So we reserve a pick-up truck to rent for the day for our little field trip to Waco.  We get to the car rental location, and... no pick-up truck.  Instead, they give us a Chevy Traverse.  After getting the seats down, we take the gamble and drive down.

Question:  How many toilets can a Chevy Traverse hold in storage?

Answer: 4 (reminder, we need and bought five)

25 minutes later of lifting toilets in and out of the SUV, rearranging seats and moving the front seats to little person positions, by some miracle, we managed to get five in.  The boxes are bigger than one may think, and by the fifth toilet, 80 lbs starts to feel more like 100.  

Today, there are five pristine boxed toilets in our garage waiting to be installed.

Hurry up and wait!

So weeks of rain, then freeze, then ice has delayed us a few weeks. The lot is clear, soil samples taken and a bid is out for the foundation. Debating slab with beam or pier and beam. Cost is the factor. On a good note, we have a pool and spa design for the courtyard. Pics are below! We'll be adjusting the spa placement to align with the end of the master courtyard instead closer to the master bedroom sliders.

Looks like a party courtyard yes?

Dirt work

Now we start the waiting game.  Soil samples were taken to see if we need piers with our slab foundation.  For our purposes, all this means is it is going to cost more or not-- we are hoping not. 

Below you can see some pics of where the soil samples were taken and the cleared lot.  Also, there's a pic of Alex talking to the tree (he's not peeing-- I promise).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lot.

More clearing today... you can start to see the lot with the tree.  It feels bigger than I thought, and we are excited to imagine a house on it now.  The pic is from the back of the lot.

And the walls came tumbling down...

The cottage on Rexford was demolished in about 15 minutes by a backhoe.  On the one hand, the efficiency of it is impressive and on the other, it shows how flimsy or finite something believed to be permanent (i.e. a house) can be.  Typhoon in the Philippines and a backhoe on Rexford.  There's some philosophical thing happening there.

Domus Rex goes Anime!

Here it is folks-- the first video animation of Domus Rex.  Final plans to be uploaded and shared next week.  The video does not include the pool/spa which will be in the courtyard that the whole house and upstairs balcony opens to for viewing pleasure!  

For those that are wondering, it is a four bedroom, four and half bathroom home (we were pretty insistent on one bedroom = one bathroom, no sharing!) with a great room open to the kitchen and dining room.  It has a separate parlor area for media and entertaining that is more "intimate".  A guest suite downstairs opposite side of the house as the master suite. There are two bedrooms and bathrooms, a living area and balcony upstairs.  

Welcome to Domus Rex!

The ugly side of building a new home...

So, we are not what I would call "environmentalists," but recycling when it is convenient and appreciated nature is certainly part of our DNA.  Sadly, to make room for Domus Rex, we had to take down a 50 year old red oak from the backyard.  Fortunately, there are two, and one will remain.  Some pictures of the work are below...

By the way-- add tree trimmer to the list of jobs I never want to have!  Picture a guy tied around a tree 40' in the air swinging a chain saw at the very tree he is tied to for support.  That whole chop it down and call timber idea is not how it works.

Finally, we toured one of Tom Greico's homes in Lake Highlands owned by Pam and Casey S.  It was a great home, and we garnered a lot of ideas of things to do and questions to ask.  Lots of calls to vendors and service providers to learn about all of our options.  The next post will include floor plans-- are you getting excited yet?