How's the House Coming?

Holy Sh#t Our House Is Done!**

2007-09-11T07:15:00.000-06:00

**Jamie does not approve of the title to this posting.

We closed yesterday. Now all we have to do is move, paint, unpack and open up a revolving line of credit at Home Depot. We're gonna have a lot of good Saturdays. Here's a few more pics of the finished exterior and plexi in the loft. We'll post some more once we get the furniture in and get the innerwebs all hooked up.

Plexi on stairs and loft railing:

We had a visitor the other day. Nice complement to the stucco:

That's it for now. Hopefully the next posting will be an open invitation to a gigantic party.

Chairs and Pendant Light

2007-09-01T15:40:00.000-06:00

The house is very close to complete and we should be closing on or before September 10. Even though we've been waiting for so long, we're still scrambling trying to get everything ready to move and shopping for furniture in the meantime. Today we bought a dining table from Four Hands and chairs and a pendant light from Design Within Reach. If you make it by DWR reach ask for Melissa - she was very helpful.

We don't have pictures of the table, but here's some pics of the chairs and the light I snagged off the interwebs. The light is actually going to be a glossy white to match the chairs.

We'll post more pics of the house soon.

Landscaping, Front Walls and Screen

2007-08-26T20:22:00.000-06:00

More random pictures. We have grass now and some trees. One tree was planted right smack dab in the middle of the front of our house and we had it moved. We also have a CMU wall and stone wall that extend from the front of the house. The CMU was stuccoed and will eventually be painted to match the stucco on the house. Finally, we have a screen in our carport to prevent pets, toddlers and party attendees from escaping the backyard.

The offending, recently moved tree:

Backyard (we got a fence too!)

CMU wall

Carport screen

Bathrooms

2007-08-26T20:03:00.000-06:00

We haven't posted an update in a while and lots of things have happened at the house. I've got a bunch of pictures from different visits that I'm going to attempt to categorize. First up: bathrooms. We've got tile, floors and plumbing fixtures in both upstairs bathrooms. We're very happy with how our choices turned out. The master bath shower is huge.

Master Shower

Slate Floors (and a "modern" toilet)

Master Sinks

Bathroom Faucet

Guest Shower

Also, last time I promised to post pictures of the light fixtures in the loft. Here you go:

Fans & Fixtures

2007-08-06T20:37:00.000-06:00

The ceiling fans and light fixtures went in last week and they look good. We're changing the fixtures over the stairwell, so we'll post pics of those as soon as the new ones are in. In the meantime check out these fans. George Jetson has nothing on me.

Fan Switch:

Outdoor Fixtures:

Bathroom Fixtures:

Finally, no posting would be complete without an appearance from our lovely spokesmodel. Here she is showing off our brand new back steps and one of our ac units:

We're expecting tile, bamboo floors and counters any day now so we'll keep you posted.

Stainkonia

2007-07-24T21:25:00.000-06:00

Jamie and I got a pleasant surprise this week when we took one of our nearly daily visits to the house and found that our cedar had finally been stained. We couldn't be happier with our decision to go with a dark color and we're very relieved that the international wood stain shortage has obviously come to an end.

Also, it looks like we'll have an entry walkway and steps any day now.

Slow but Steady

2007-07-22T21:37:00.000-06:00

Slowly but surely our house is starting to look like, well, a house.

We have a driveway, nicely modeled if I do say so myself:

Drywall and interior paint are done:

And, we have cabinets:

Oblogation

2007-07-17T09:25:00.000-06:00

I just took a look at our site and realized it has been just over a month since our last post. We've seen some progress since then and should get some pictures up soon. We now have drywall, a driveway and cabinets. The drywall has been textured and they were painting yesterday. Pictures coming soon...

Colored & Stuffed

2007-06-16T08:22:00.000-06:00

No more need for a placeholder. Although it's still not moving as quickly as we'd like, there has been some more progress on our house. Last month, they managed to paint the exterior and install insulation. Golly these guys are fast - an example of efficiency. We've been told that the house should be done by August 15th, or by the end of August, or Mid-September depending on who we talk to. At any rate, things have improved and the house is moving along.

Even though it's not stained yet, they also managed to finish the cedar trim in the upstairs balcony:

What's next? Drywall. We may be in this thing by mid to late August or maybe September or whenever after all.

Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35

2007-04-25T19:43:00.000-06:00

And, we have stone:

I promised to explain about the stone, so here we go. Our builder Joe called the other day and told me to come out to the house because we had a problem. Turns out the problem was not really a problem. The mason ordered the wrong stone and Joe, conscientious guy that he is, wanted to try and save the mason some money. We liked the sandstone better so we kept it. That's called making lemonade people.

FM 969: Creative Gateway?

2007-04-17T15:12:00.000-06:00

"Villa Muse" is a proposed 681 acre mixed-use development centered around "an innovative professional campus for the creative industries." Villa Muse will be located 15 minutes east of dowtown Austin on, you guessed it, FM 969.

For those of you who don't live in Austin, or who aren't familiar with Agave's location, FM 969 is the same road our little neighborhood is on.

More from the Villa Muse website:

"It will offer high-end production and post-production facilities for film, television, commercials, music and videogames. Key elements such as soundstages and recording studios and an outdoor amphitheater will be designed and operated by a team responsible for some of the best facilities in the world."

Sweet.

Are the Drawers Upside Down?

2007-04-16T15:58:00.000-06:00

In addition to our new chairs, we have also purchased new bedroom furniture. It arrived last week to our modest size apartment. Late into a furniture assembly marathon, we realized we put the drawers to one of the dressers in upside down. Ha! Well, it really wasn't that funny at the time. One less room to furnish, a heck of a lot more stuff to move. I know, we should have waited to buy this furniture. However, I was afraid if we waited too long (like until the house is complete)...well, you know the rest.

Take a Load Off

2007-04-16T15:30:00.000-06:00

We purchased two of these lovely chairs for our upstairs loft area from local Austin store I F + D. Kristen and George, the owners, have a fabulous inventory and the customer service can't be beat.

Stone & Stucco

2007-04-16T07:06:00.000-06:00

Not much progress inside the past couple of weeks other than some wiring. But, the exterior is coming along nicely. The stucco on the North side of the house is almost done and should be painted soon. Also, the mason started the stone on the South side.

Front:

The stucco on the North exterior:

Stucco on the back living room wall and guest room balcony:
The stone:
Getting started on the carport:
South side of the carport:
We were originally supposed to have limestone like the other houses at agave, but instead we're getting sandstone in a flagstone pattern. I'll publish a full explanation when they finish up. How's that for a cliffhanger?

Sweet Progress

2007-03-11T16:59:00.000-06:00

The stairs are in and so is our electrical. As expected, the view from the second story is excellent. For a little icing, the builder also started framing our kitchen island. Check it out:

The stair railing will eventually have plexiglass in the middle. For now it looks like this.

The beginnings of the kitchen island and a nice view of Joel's carport which, by the way, will make one heck of a movie screen once we're settled in.

The upstairs view; similar to the downstairs view only better.

And, finally, electrical things. Don't you wish your wires were hot like mine?

There was a big pile of stucco mix in front of the house this weekend. Hopefully that's coming next and soon.

Stairs and Superdogs

2007-03-05T12:28:00.000-06:00

We had a bit of a lull in construction while the builder was waiting on the last of our windows to arrive. While they waited for the windows, our hot and cold water lines were installed and they built our stairs. Unfortunately, none of these additions to the house are particularly photogenic. What this really means is that I haven't taken any pictures of the house in a while.

So, in the meantime, and in an effort to trump Joel's puppy pictures, here's a picture of a dachsund in a superman outfit that Jamie and I saw at Mardi Gras:

Special thanks to soon-to-be neighbors Jason and Carrie for letting us tag along to New Orleans.

Windows, Wrapping and Wood

2007-02-11T18:22:00.000-06:00

My old digital camera finally bit the dust after coming with me on every adventure I've had in the last six years. Of course, it did so only after I made a commitment (ie: this blog) to post pictures of something (ie: this house) on a regular basis.

So, I'm the proud owner of a brand new camera and a lot happened to our home in the meantime:

We were wrapped;

Our windows and cedar siding were installed;

And they put in the ducts for our a/c.

Once they get the stairs built, they will install the electric. Hopefully we'll be posting more often now that we've replaced our camera.

BRRRRRR!!!

2007-01-16T12:13:00.000-06:00

It's snowing in Austin. Right now. Work was canceled today because we got a night full of ice and freezing rain and something called graupel: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graupel.

I think it's safe to say that there won't be much work done on the house this week. Things could be worse though; I could be at work.

Quick Update

2007-01-11T10:33:00.000-06:00

I went out to the house yesterday and it's completely dried in. We're waiting for our windows and once they're in the A/C and electrical will be installed. Sorry I didn't include pictures with this post, but they would look a whole lot like the last two.

More Progress

2007-01-07T21:17:00.000-06:00

The holidays are over and work has resumed on the house. This week they finished framing and started the plywood siding and the roof.

Here's a view of the front. You can see the carport on the bottom left and the front door in right center.

And here's a view of the rear from the lot next door. Hopefully I'll be a little more creative with my shots as the progress continues.

We've Been Framed!

2006-12-21T22:34:00.000-06:00

Pretty punny right? Anyhoo, they began framing our house this week and it looks like it should be ready for some plywood siding soon. We're now able to get a better feel for the house - the view from upstairs will be incredible.

Can You Say Margaritas?

2006-12-13T18:46:00.000-06:00

As promised, here's a couple of shots of the view from our soon-to-be patio. The tree line west and southwest of Agave is floodplain and dedicated greenbelt so the view will never be too crowded. If you squint, you can make out the Frost Bank Tower and a few other buildings downtown.

More East Austin Development

2006-12-12T10:35:00.000-06:00

Here's a link to a posting on Austinist about two proposed developments north of Agave. The title of the post translates to "After me, the flood." I guess Austinist isn't happy about the development sure to follow the completion of SH 130, but it's good news for us:

http://www.austinist.com/archives/2006/12/12/toll_road_sh130_apres_moi_le_deluge.php

Here we go!

2006-12-10T16:42:00.000-06:00

After waiting several months, our house is finally getting started. Our slab was poured on Thursday and it's beautiful. I went out to get some shots today and the weather could have been better. We'll get some pics of the view up as soon as the clouds leave.

2006-12-10T16:04:00.000-06:00

My wife Jamie and I are building a home in the Agave development in East Austin. We've created this blog so that our friends, family, and anyone else can stop by and see how the house is coming along. Agave is a unique development where a few local architects have teamed up with the property owner to create a neighborhood comprised entirely of green built contemporary homes.