Then there was the house. We'd already done things like install central air conditioning, insulate the attic, and pour a cement floor in the basement. But the old kitchen was really not much more than a large hallway: it has six doors and four windows, with the largest unobstructed wall space being just wide enough for a stove. The harvest gold refrigerator stood in front of one of the windows, and there was only one small wall cabinet and maybe 2' of counter space. Right next to it, though, was the florida room, an enclosed, uninsulated porch stuck on the back of the house sometime in the 50's that was collapsing under its own weight. So John and Campbell put their minds together (and John put his computer mouse to keyboard) and designed a new addition to replace the florida room with a new kitchen, mud room, and studio space for John. Construction began in April of 2001 and finished up that July. The old kitchen was then converted into a studio for Campbell.
Here's what the back of the house looked like BEFORE April 2, 2001:
This picture taken during demolition on April 2nd, shows the old back porch, visible again pretty much as originally built. Only shreds of the florida room are left:
The new addition needed a crawl space under it, so Ken Beers and his crew dug a Very Big Hole on April 3rd:
By April 12th, they had filled it with a foundation, cement floor, foundation drains, and radon venting:
Then they covered it with joists and subflooring on April 16th (inspection courtesy of Campbell and the dogs):
By April 23rd, the walls were up and the roof was pretty much on (subject to the dogs' approval, of course):
Basic construction was finished in July, 2001, but it took another year before we were able to get the 80' retaining wall built and the gate finished.
Here it is in the summer of 2003, with the last of the landscaping finally finished:
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