Open House: 11 Stone Drive, SoPo, Sunday, June 29th 11:00-3:00

This Craftsman Bungalow has gone through a dramatic renovation in the last 6 months.  With 3 bedrooms (2 upstairs, 1 downstairs) and two full baths, it has 1518 square feet of living space.  A short walk from Willard Beach, the Square and restaurants, it sits on a quiet, dead-end street.  It's offered at $340,000.

The home is highlighted with custom woodwork and built ins throughout.

And the open floor plan is perfect for entertaining!

The Living Room has large windows that flood the space with light.

The Dining Room is flanked by custom colonnades and wainscoting.  

We decided to have a little fun with the Visual Comfort light fixture and its Compass Rose Canopy.

The kitchen has maple cabinets and brand new appliances.  It overlooks the sun drenched Breakfast Room.  Note the mud bench, convenient for removing your shoes when you come in from the garage.

There is a full bath and bedroom on the first floor - but the painters are frantically trying to get them finished, so I'll have to share those photos later!

Upstairs, we have the loft, with its custom built in bookcase.

The Master Bedroom is on the back of the house and has a beautiful tree top view - very private!  There is a walk in closet for storage.

The Kids Room has lots of space for a bed and play area. 

There is a deck across the back with a great space for a BBQ, overlooking the private back yard.

The oversized 1 car garage provides storage space for your car as well as lawn mower, snow blower, bicycles, etc.  And there is a large 'bonus' room above the garage that has potential for many different uses.

Please stop by on Sunday and check it out!  We'd love to show you around!

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The Garage Beautification Project

This house has a really nice garage.  It has room for one car, but also has a huge amount of storage off to the left side.  So you can easily store your bicycles, snow blowers, lawn mower, etc.  And for even more space, there is a bonus room above the garage, that has lots of potential, for whatever the new owners decide to do with it.

But.....with the rusty door above and the polished brass light fixture, it just seems a bit tired.  So we decided to make it more attractive.

What did we change?  Well, we added a Craftsman style light fixture.  And forged hardware on the garage door.

Then we dressed up the rusty door with a mahogany barn door.  And we topped it all off with a reproduction barn light,  to light the whole area.

And finally, we seal coated the driveway, to provide protection for years to come.









Quite a difference, don't you think?





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Coming Soon, 11 Stone Drive, SoPo

Craftsman Bungalow - Before

After 6 long months of work, we're nearing the finish line.  There are still lots and lots of 'to do' items, but we're hoping to get them all done and have the Open House on Sunday, June 29th.  This Craftsman Bungalow has come a long way and all the custom woodwork and finishes are really starting to shine.

The original maple floors have been refinished and we're doing the last of the finishing work on the amazing new stairwell.

The hutch in the dining room is getting its last coat of finish.


































Kyle installed the mudroom bench and mirror this week.  Of course the weather has been so nice, it's hard to remember how necessary that is for removing boots in the winter!























Our antique bathtub in the 1st floor bath will get reinstalled this week.......I went bold with the color, to tie into the stained glass tile 'window' above it (to see more about the bathroom, click here).  And the new, vintage style sink was installed today.




Appliances come this week.  The kitchen is ready for them!

Dominic Installing the Bridge Faucet

The Loft

The 2nd floor still needs light fixtures, but everything else is ready.  We have 2 full bedrooms upstairs (there is another one on the first floor), a full bath and 'the loft' - a bright open space for a desk, easy chair or reading nook.  And it has its own custom, built in bookshelf!

Kelly's Sealcoating came out this weekend to freshen up the driveway - part of the Garage Beautification project!

Light fixtures?  I can't wait till you see them.  I found some really great Craftsman style fixtures for this home.  Including the $2800 one that I shared in this post.

Curious about how much has changed?  Click on the '6th House Before' tab above and you can see all the before pictures.

I'll be sharing a lot more photos this week as we get it pulled together.  And hopefully I'll get to meet you at the Open House next weekend!


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When Things Don't Go Exactly As Planned.....Try, Try, Try Again

One of the big design elements between the Living Room and Dining Room are the Colonnades.  They're a classic Craftsman feature and they're one of the first design elements we wanted to build.

First step - Kyle needed to trim out the opening.  We were able to reuse the original moldings for the vertical pieces and created new matching trim across the top.  We used the same wainscot detail on both sides of the opening.

Source: Barnyard Gazette

Next we need the columns.  We're making them of quarter sawn oak.  As a quick primer - quarter sawn was a popular way of cutting lumber in the late 19th and early 20th century.  It results in wood that has a beautiful grain, is stronger and more stable, with little warping or twisting.  Have you ever seen a quarter sawn floor?  They're incredibly hard and beautiful.  But cutting wood this way reduces the yield,  so it fell out of favor as modern practices were utilized.

This is a tricky carpentry project.  There are a lot of compound angles to contend with.  But Kyle was up to the challenge.  We laid them out 'to scale' with a drawing on the floor.  They looked great and we were very pleased with the proportions.

Kyle went back to the Waterhouse Builders shop and started putting them together.  He started with the basic column and then glued, screwed and finished nailed the surrounding frame.  They were very well made!









He brought them back to the house.....

and I hated them.  Really, really hated them.  While they looked really great in a 2D drawing, when you saw them in 3D, the mass was just way too big.  I kept trying to like them, but they looked like parts from a much bigger house, the proportions didn't work.  I even tried giving it another day, for them to grow on me.  But they were just wrong.



















Sooooo, as much as we hated to do it, it was back to the drawing board.  Literally.  We scaled them down and Kyle got to make them all over again.  But this time, we loved them.  What a difference it makes, getting the proportions right!

Next up - finishing, flooring, paint & more!

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