Showing posts with label architect. Show all posts
Showing posts with label architect. Show all posts
Thursday, June 4, 2009
A meeting of the minds
Jerry and Michael sat down with us yesterday to finalize the plans. Jerry had his timberframe plans for Michael's inspection and approval. Basic blessing was given. Michael will now tweak a couple of areas (skylight in upstairs bath, laundry area, poured concrete walls instead of CMUs) and we should be good to go. One step closer!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Michael
We renewed our business dealing with Michael-The-Architect today. We spent time being updated on his dog (doberman) then got down to business discussing Phase 2. The Baron took basic drawings and our list. We'll see what he comes up with. He suggested Timber Peg as a possible framing company.
I feel better knowing we have an advocate on the job. We discussed a basement versus the breezeway for mechanicals; Michael said a walkout might work to aleviate my "old knee" access concerns. We talked about Tukilivi and the weight of a masonry/soapstone furnace. Michael offered that we might not use the whole house generator but it's easier to build it in than to wish we had. He also agreed with the water storage tanks. He gave us several options on bathroom floor heating, too.
Could we be in a new house by Christmas '08? Perhaps.
I feel better knowing we have an advocate on the job. We discussed a basement versus the breezeway for mechanicals; Michael said a walkout might work to aleviate my "old knee" access concerns. We talked about Tukilivi and the weight of a masonry/soapstone furnace. Michael offered that we might not use the whole house generator but it's easier to build it in than to wish we had. He also agreed with the water storage tanks. He gave us several options on bathroom floor heating, too.
Could we be in a new house by Christmas '08? Perhaps.
Wednesday, March 3, 2004
Spring 2004
Feb. 29, 2004
Our second Spring Break in Julian, we wandered around trying to imagine what it will be like to live here. We saw evidence, a foot print in the snow, of a bear. It seems late, or early, for a bear to be out and about. We met with our team of Architect par Excellence, Michael Haluga, and Ameron Excavation Lead Engineer, Steve Balkey. We got all lawyered up again and signed on for the house on March 2, 2004.
While the Baroness was straightening her left toe, the Baron visited his construction workers to lay out the site and semi-finalize the floor plans with Michael. We can change things up to the beginning of construction without much bother, but after that it will cost time and money.
He cleaned up 17 bags of trash: cans, bottles, shotgun shells, and other detritus of a by-gone era. Trash will not do at the Barony. We had our house plans, so all we though we needed was the big shovel. We were, of course, still waiting for Joe Hall, King of all Septic Plans, to decide on our fate. We aren't too happy with him since he signed off on our first plan which was then kicked back to us by the Pa Environmental Protection Agency for being too close to the drop off. We had to start the whole process all over again including paying new fees.
Our southeast corner is adjacent to Paradise Ranch, a 777 acre hunting resort. They have an 8' high fence to keep us out and, presumably, the exotic wild animals in. Our side is a wild tangle of grapes, roses, and barberries. We'll call it our Bear's Lair. This corner is our lowest corner at about 1,000 ft above sea level.
The northeast corner is near the top of Blueberry Hill and the Jennifer Trail, the old logging trail that runs north/south most of the length of the property, down to a great, private camping plateau. (We haven't yet named a good Shannon trail.) It's close to the highest part of the property at about 1300 ft.
Following the northern boundary is an easy walk down hill, but tracking the orange ribbons on trees and "posted" signs can be tricky. The boundary takes a slight jog about 2/3 of the way down and crosses a seasonal trickle of water. The northwest corner is near a hemlock patch.
To find the final corner requires a hike up hill, across the meadow and driveway, and back into the forest. It's west of Paradise's fence, but we haven't actually found it yet.
Our second Spring Break in Julian, we wandered around trying to imagine what it will be like to live here. We saw evidence, a foot print in the snow, of a bear. It seems late, or early, for a bear to be out and about. We met with our team of Architect par Excellence, Michael Haluga, and Ameron Excavation Lead Engineer, Steve Balkey. We got all lawyered up again and signed on for the house on March 2, 2004.
While the Baroness was straightening her left toe, the Baron visited his construction workers to lay out the site and semi-finalize the floor plans with Michael. We can change things up to the beginning of construction without much bother, but after that it will cost time and money.
He cleaned up 17 bags of trash: cans, bottles, shotgun shells, and other detritus of a by-gone era. Trash will not do at the Barony. We had our house plans, so all we though we needed was the big shovel. We were, of course, still waiting for Joe Hall, King of all Septic Plans, to decide on our fate. We aren't too happy with him since he signed off on our first plan which was then kicked back to us by the Pa Environmental Protection Agency for being too close to the drop off. We had to start the whole process all over again including paying new fees.
Our southeast corner is adjacent to Paradise Ranch, a 777 acre hunting resort. They have an 8' high fence to keep us out and, presumably, the exotic wild animals in. Our side is a wild tangle of grapes, roses, and barberries. We'll call it our Bear's Lair. This corner is our lowest corner at about 1,000 ft above sea level.
The northeast corner is near the top of Blueberry Hill and the Jennifer Trail, the old logging trail that runs north/south most of the length of the property, down to a great, private camping plateau. (We haven't yet named a good Shannon trail.) It's close to the highest part of the property at about 1300 ft.
Following the northern boundary is an easy walk down hill, but tracking the orange ribbons on trees and "posted" signs can be tricky. The boundary takes a slight jog about 2/3 of the way down and crosses a seasonal trickle of water. The northwest corner is near a hemlock patch.
To find the final corner requires a hike up hill, across the meadow and driveway, and back into the forest. It's west of Paradise's fence, but we haven't actually found it yet.
Thursday, May 15, 2003
Subdivision
030515Our next trip to PA was in mid-May 2003. No snow, but lots of rain. Wet weather is getting to be a pattern. By this time the seller, Jim Cowan, had presented us with his subdivision plan. He hadn't taken our advice at all. "Our" south facing land was not the 10-15 acres we planned, but was now almost 60 acres. We got all lawyered up and signed our retirement plan. Dale suggested we ask Michael Haluga to be our architect. Although the Baron had found generic plans for basically what we wanted the first phase of the Barony-to-be, we needed site-specific tweaking and local building code knowledge. For a long-haired Beatles and Mickey Mouse fanatic, he designs houses very well.
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