The Rebirth of the William Tripp House: subtlety of detail.....

The small nuances of design and craftsmanship are what sets G&S apart from other builders. No this is not an ad for Gulick and Spradlin but rather a comment on how pleased we are with how the house is coming along. It has been a little shy of a year now since I first sent that e-mail to Peter asking if he would see our little wreck of a house. We saw the other houses that G&S completed and were of course impressed. But looking at a finished product really tells you nothing about how it got that way. Now that our house project is in full swing it has become more and more apparent that this crew not only are great people and fun to work with but absolutely master craftsmen as well!

The last few weeks were taken up with very ho hum aspects- insulation (did not have it, got to have it), dry wall (yawn) and plaster. Plaster is at least interesting and really cool to look at. I'm just glad that my job does not require me to walk on stilts!

Thank you but no-

The walls of the first floor were done with real plaster and not a skim coat like the upstairs. You can see how much texture there is with the real deal plaster. You can get real plaster smooth but it takes longer and not as visually interesting. I love the patterns that it makes!

Plaster in new mud room/ entrance

Once the subcontractors were gone the G&S crew returned from their week or so at another project. It was good to have them back! The first thing that happened was that the windows got sills and casings. The downstairs is getting "the treatment"- meaning all the little nice details that G&S are known for. They used poplar wood around the windows. This particular casing looked like marbled rye bread. I was hoping not to have to paint that one but Dave filled in the nail holes and I think it has to be painted now. Anyway, this window shows off the lovely beaded edge that the casings have.

They also built all of the sills nice and wide. I have always wanted wide sills and here they are- just perfect! How did you all know? Dave is afraid that each sill will have a coffee mug abandoned on it. I can't say that that won't happen or at least the upstairs bathroom but I can always try!

The front entrance/mud room is getting a large coat closet. Now I have to remember to hang up my coat. Nice to have an actual closet for that!

The pantry is really wonderful. Dave wants to sleep in there. I told him I could find the feather bed and make him a nice little nest if he wanted. Some husbands sleep in the dog house. Mine may sleep in the pantry.

I love the beams and old window that was moved from the old house (up in the attic) that has the old wavy glass.

The bedroom is really looking like a room now and feels so pleasant and inviting (I would like to start sleeping there). The attention to small details are apparent everywhere. There is even a cute little fixture for the ceiling fan to be installed. We are trying to decide about the finish of the wooden ceiling. Do we leave it natural with a little oiling or white wash it? Not sure yet.... Is it too much wood to be left natural?

New wooden ceiling

The angles of the ceiling and the addition of the wood and trim has really for made an interesting room!

It's amazing how the addition of the floor ties the room together. Even though we did not put the reclaimed pine floor in the bedroom the #3 pine is really lovely. At first sight my mind thought "oh, small hooked rugs would look great".

With flooring....

#3 Pine flooring

It was decided that the triangular area would need to be finished with wood. Dave said I was there for that discussion but I could not remember it at all. I started to panic about my mental state. Much to my relief, Peter said that I was not.

Triangle area filled in with wood
Note the closets!!!

The master bath is still in it's primordial state. The wonderful Water Works Brickworks tiles that we chose will not be coming to live at our house since the time frame was suddenly all off for the project. Apparently they got really popular and a 6+ week production time. In an attempt to lessen by disappointment Peter met me at Dal-Tile and helped me to find something else that would be nice. We found a nice mosaic strip that has a wave pattern and will pick up the colors of the floor. There will be a complementary subway tile. I also noticed a mosaic that is very similar to my beloved French tile that I wanted for the downstairs tub area but could not find the field tile to compliment. So, it was a very worthwhile expedition! The terra cotta will arrive tomorrow for the bathroom floors.

Notice the nice bench and shelf to collect all my bottles of stuff!!!
(poor Dave)

Wave mosaic for shower

Flower mosaic for downstairs with Minna Water Works bath tub

The terra cotta flooring will be 9 x 9 squares and lucky for us was part of an overstocked lot! I think that the tiles will add the rustic charm to the bathrooms (upstairs and down) that I was hoping for. A miracle has also happened, the Restoration Hardware vanity will also arrive on April 12th!