The last photos I posted of the house were from April...yikes, time gets away from me. May into June we laid the pine flooring at the upper level. The office here was the first room I did. Christine did the finishing work- a light sand, Woca Wood Lye, and Woca Oil- buffed in.

It was amazing seeing the transformation as the wood lightened from the lye. This is a Scandinavian technique that brings a lot more brightness into the space and gives the wood a beautiful even tone.

June and July was all about stairs and guardrails, more pine and more finishing. The stairs received the same Woca wood Lye so that they would match the upper level floors, only they have a polyurethane finish coat instead of the oil. And the rails are actually an eastern white pine so they started out with a lighter appearance.

Doors starting to get hung... eventually all the interior doors will be painted black.

Our cabinets were built and installed by Dwell Well, I showed these being installed back in April. But Christine and I finished the cabinet fronts, installed the counters and built the floating shelves. So here is a partial finished shot. The lower cabinets and drawers all got a black stain allowing the grain to still be present. The counter is a maple butcher block that has been oiled, and everything above was finished in white to match the walls. The floating shelves were first framed out, then clad in plywood on top and bottom, with a clear pine board on the face and finally sanded and painted in place. This gave them a seamless appearance as though they had been carved out of the walls.

And of course, the moment we have all been waiting for, the beginning of the siding. We are getting all the cedar up first, this is the most time consuming part and then we will come back with the corrugated steel, which requires no pre-finishing by us and no furring strips. The cedar, which is a ship-lap, mostly being installed vertically, is being finished with Cabot's Bleaching Oil. This gives it a bit of a grey pigment, and then over the course of the next year will give it the weathered silver look that usually takes years to accomplish.

Next time photos go up, I hope to show a fully sided house...

Diagram 1. Entering Rooms - Field/Entry Walkthru/Courtyard/Front Door/House/Woods

Rooms can be any scale from a large field to a front door alcove. In this instance, one room leads into another, in a sequence that connects you with the landscape and brings you further into the house.

Diagram 2. Repetition & Light

The main axis of the house guides you through alternating experiences of light.

Entry Walkthru - darkened/covered.

Courtyard - bright/open.

Entry - dim/enclosed

Main House - Bright skylights above/ an open covering

Diagram 3. Rhythm & Structure

Columns define space, direct movement in the house, and hold up the roof and upper level. Concrete walls define space, connect to the heaviness of the earth, and shelter. The location of these elements throughout the house form a rhythm experienced visually when moving through the house, making up a whole in the same way music is composed of individual parts.

Diagram 4. Field's Edge Plan

Every piece of furniture becomes an integral part of the unfolding plan of rooms, rhythm and light. Forming a story, a song that is being sung.