Sunday, December 12, 2010

Update December12, 2010 Inside View

A lot of work is taking place on the inside of the house.  We have had painting, tile work, and the brick pad for the wood buring stove in the upstairs family room.  The garage is full of hickory wood for the floor in the
sewing room, office, dining room, family room, and the great room.  An update of the interior as of today includes:
This is the brick pad in the family room for the wood burning stove.  The pad is 5ft from the wall and 5 1/2 ft wide.  We hope to have the wood stove installed in the next 10 days. A picture of the stove can be found at
Steph says my job this winter will be to get the fire going each morning while I read the paper, drink my coffee, and watch Fox Morning News and Squawk Box.  Now you know why we need so much wood.


These two pictures are the large walls in Steph's sewing room.  The first picture is a light green color and the second picture is a soft blue.  The pictures do not accurately show the color due to the light available at the time of the picture.

This is the east wall of my office.  The color is a little more bold than the soft pastels in the sewing room.  This is pretty close to an OSU Cowboy orange, but not exactly.  I like it!!!

This is the partially completed master bath shower.  The tile in the shower is also used on the floor in the master bath.

This is the master bath floor.  The tile has just been grouted and is not cleaned-up, but it will give you an idea of what the room will eventually look like.

This is the tile in the kitchen/breakfast room.  Note the pattern of large tile surrounded by the smaller tiles.  Like the master bath, this picture was taken after grouting and before cleaning.

This is the  upstair bathroom at Steph's sewing room.  The tile in this room is the same as the kitchen/breakfast room. 
This is a quick update of the major interior changes at the house.  The rest of the rooms are painted Kilim Beige and this is the color of the walls next to the fireplace pad.  This week should be a week of change as we expect to begin work on the wood ceiling, start installation of the wood floor, and our custom cabinets for the kitchen and the vanities in the master and sewing room bathrooms should be installed.  We are actively talking about a mid-January move-in date.  Keep your fingers crossed we have no unexpected
delays.  Next update at progress warrants.

Update December 12, 2010 Outside View

Since the last update we have celebrated Thanksgiving with our daughter and her family in Springfield, Mo. and returned to Texas for a wonderful extended weekend in South Texas.  Our good friend, Pete Wardenburg, invited Steph, our daughter Ann and her husband Jared, and me to his ranch for a big game weekend. 


The guest house was awesome.  We have had the pleasure to hunt at Pete's many times during the past 12 years and this year was one of the best.  The wildlife was abundant and we saw turkey, hogs, quail, and lots of deer, including a couple of trophy class bucks. 

One of the highlights of the trip was our youngest daughter, Ann Marie, harvesting her first buck.  Pete had scouted this blind ahead of time and told Ann there was a good first buck for her at the Creek Blind.  Ann and I were in the blind at 6:30am and the buck entered the feeder around 7:45am.  One shot at about 110 yards and Ann has her trophy to put on the wall next to Jared's, which by the way, was shot at the same blind last year.  Now on to the house!!!

The brick work is essentially complete, only need to do the front entry when we finish the concrete work. 

Another view of the front and the west side of the house.  We better really like the brick because everywhere you look you see Arkansas Rose.

This is the back side of the house.  Note the brick pillars under the decking and the way the bricklayers outlined each window.

This is the east side of the house showing the garage doors, master bath window, and the shop window.

Before the bricklayers left we had them build a mailbox for us with the same brick as the house.  Like I said earlier, you better like this brick because it's everywhere.  We made it a double mailbox since our neighbor across the street has his mailbox on our side of the road. 
Our address is the 403 Jims Road.


Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Thanksgiving Holiday Update - November 24 2010

The past two weeks have been very productive, but the work is difficult to show.  We have completed all the drywall work, installation, mud, texture, and clean-up.  We have traveled to Harrison, Arkansas, twice to check out wood floors and granite for the counter-tops and after a couple of "changes of mind" we have decided on Hickory Floors in the sewing room, upstairs great room, dining room, foyer, and the master bedroom.  We have also decided to have a wood (Hickory) staircase (it's only money).  As for granite, we have found a very unique piece for the master bath, you would have to see it as I can not decribe it with enough detail.  I will try to get a picture on our next visit.  The "big" event is the brick work that has been completed.  The next few pictures will give you a good perspective of the final product. ENJOY the view.

The brick crew started on the west side of the house and had it completed in about two or three days.  This side of the house is the bedroom for the Grandkids (downstairs) and Steph's hobby/seewing room upstairs.


This is a view of the same two rooms from the back of the house.


This view (sorry for the late hour) shows the shop area, the Master Bedroom, and a little of the lower patio area.


This is the most recent photo (about 4:30pm today) of the front of the house.  If the weather allows the brick crew will probably stay and work the rest of the week.  They are from Fayetteville and don't want to make the round-trip for just one day.  We have had 18 thousand bricks delivered and will probably be ready for more by Monday or Tuesday.


Another view of the front with the entry.


In addition to all the brick work today, we now have garage doors.  The large door is 18 feet wide and 9 feet high and the smaller door (for the Mule) is 8 feet wide and 9 feet high.  This will allow us to seal the house for painting, wood floors, and tile work.  The brick work on the east side of the house is also visible in the photo.


This is the pad for the wood burning stove.  The pad will be bricks on all sides and the top and we will have bricks up the wall to where the catheral ceiling meets the wall.  The pad is approximately 4 bricks tall.


This is the shower in the master bath with the frame for the seat.  The shower is about 6 feet long and 3 feet wide and will be ceramic tile. 
That's the latest from the LakeviewDream.  We expect the house to be completely bricked by the end of next week and the next major milestones are paint, wood floors and stairs, tile work in shower, master bath, kitchen, and guest/sewing room bath.  The excitement is really starting to build and we get closer to our move-in date.  Stay tuned for more news in December.




Branson Week-End Nov 12 - 13

Steph and I took a little break from home building and went to Branson, Mo. the weekend of November 12 and 13th.  We joined our friends from Houston, Sharon and Dave Haynes.  We saw three shows, all with a Christmas theme, including Andy Williams, the Twelve Irish Tenors, and the Miracle of Christmas.

Thanks to a wonderful Son, Steph and I had a spectacular room at the Hilton Branson Landing.  Our room overlooked the main street of shops and the water fountain.  Branson Landing is the new outdoor shopping mall on Taneycomo Lake (really White River) and all the good shops are located at the mall. 


The patio for our room (we were on the 4th floor) overlooked the main water fountain area along the riverwalk.  Late at night the fountain shoots water to the beat of the music being played.  We arrived back to the room around 11:00 pm Friday night and the fountain was shooting water to the Star Spangled Banner and included fire coming out of the back tubes in the picture.


When your benefactor has achieved Platinum Status you get Royal Treatment.  We had a "condo room" that had a living room/kitchen, the patio, a huge bathroom, and an outstanding bedroom.


The window at the head of the bed looked out to one of the mall streets and the behind the drapes to the right was a sliding door to the patio.  We had a great visit with our friends, saw some great shows, and enjoyed a great night at the Hilton thanks to Brent.  Keep buying jet fuel for N397DR so that Mom and I can have another mini vacation.  We will get your rooms ready for your family at the LakeviewDream -- Thanks a lot Brent!!!


Monday, November 8, 2010

Another Major Milestone 11 08 2010

 Steph and I spent the week-end in Springfield, Mo. visiting our daughter Laura and her family.  The main purpose of the trip was to look at bricks and take care of the Grandkids, Clara and William, while Mom and Dad enjoyed a night out on the town.  Tom and Laura have 10 acres and recently found someone to bale the hay for them.  They were able to make 10 bales on the 3-4 acres set aside for the trap shooting range and future cattle ranch. 
As I said, the MAIN purpose of the trip was to find a brick pattern we liked.  I never imagined that ACME brick had so many patterns and sizes.  We had considered using the same brick as currently on Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, OK. home of the OSU Cowboys, but the color combination and the smoothness of the brick did not fit for us at this time.  We looked at close to 50 houses in Rogers, Arkansas, and Springfield, Mo. and selected:
This brick pattern is, you'll never guess, Arkansas Rose!!  Hope you like it because there will be over 20,000 of these little fellers on the house and mailbox.  We will also use a few in the house as a pad for the wood burning stove.

After my last post, there were many requests for pictures of the front of the house so here are a few snapshots.  This is looking straight into the front door.


                                         The next view is the dining room and the garage.

The last view is a whole front view.

The change of season is in full swing now.  The trees surrounding the property are colorful and leaves are dropping more every day.   As the leaves fall the view of the hills and the lake improve.  Enjoy the view from the Ozark Dream.


One last shot taken today of the inside work currently going being done in the house.  The workers have completed putting up drywall in the Master Bedroom.


That's it for now.  Next decisions will be to decide tile for the Master Bath shower and flooring for the rooms not getting wood.  See you later!!!
(P.S. Don't forget to double click the photo for a full screen view.)

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Update October 11, 2010 to October 31, 2010

The past three weeks have been very productive.  We are now at the stage that most of the major work is on the inside of the house.  We are taking a road trip this weekend to Springfield, Mo. and Fayetteville, Ark. to make the final selection for bricks.  Our No.1 choice increased in price about 15% and is not available until early December so we are now on a search for a new No.1.  Our two main choices, until we find one we like better, are Acme's Bay Lake and Richland Meadows.

                                      Here's an update of where we are in the building process:

As you can see, all the doors and windows have been installed (except upstairs sewing room).  We are pleased with the installation and only one window arrived slightly damaged.

This is the front door.  It is not finished, we are planning to have it stained.

This is the door to Steph's sewing room from the deck.  Remember in the first picture the door was missing, but it is now installed.

This picture and the next two will show you the insulation package we are having installed.  This picture is in the downstairs family room looking into the media room to the left and the grandkids bedroom on the right.  We are using foam (a product made by Lyondell Chemical) to fill all the exterior walls, both up and down, and on select walls for soundproofing.  In addition, the ceiling of the downstairs and the vaulted ceiling upstairs will be foamed. 

This picture shows the Master Bedroom.


This picture shows the shop/mechanical room and the sound barrier wall between the downstairs adult bedroom and the shop.
The current focus is to have all the drywall installed by November 9 and then start the taping, mudding, and texture work.  When that is completed we will move to paint, trim, floors and appliances. The  often discussed move-in date is January 2011.  Keep your fingers crossed the weather holds and we can find a brick we like.  Stay tuned for the next update in about a week.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Update September 13, 2010 to October 10, 2010

While it may not appear much has changed, we really are progressing.  The roof is totally complete, much of the plumbing is installed, the area in the front and sides have been cleaned up, and the dirt has been filled in around the perimeter of the house.
Work is now centered on the interior of the house.  The vent stack for the fireplace is installed (plastic covered inlet), the HVAC contractor is busy installing the duct system, and the electrical crew is busy wiring all the rooms.


Lights and plugs for the Kitchen


Upstairs bath off Sewing Room


Downstairs Bath with plumbing and electrical work


Main unit for the HVAC Geo-thermal system.


Beginning of workbench in the shop area.



Washer/Dryer and wash basin in basement.

View from Point 2 on the lake. The trees are starting to show the first signs of fall.  Acorns are falling in the woods and the leaves are starting to change color and drop from the trees. 
Future updates will focus more on the interior until the brick, doors, and windows are installed.  Stay tuned as we will update as progress warrants.