Chapucas exterior and rain garden

Took a couple pictures this weekend and then went back to this photo & rendering I had done before the construction.  Glad we went with the black trim.  The model and all the drawings were done in Archicad.

The rain garden has sure taken off.  I've had to do a lot more watering than usual due to our dry weather.  Each weekend I do a little more planting.  It's been hard to just stick with a few types of plants...I'm more of a color and texture experimenter when it comes to choosing landscaping. And it's looking a bit chaotic, but I'm having fun.  The Ben Moore gray siding is a nice backdrop for the different grasses and plantings.

Our solar panels are installed and just waiting on final equipment from Seattle City Light.  Here are 6 with another 10 on the upper roof.

We have been quite comfortable living in the 530 sqft apartment. Neil is working on the bookcases upstairs now and once they are done and painted we will be able to move up to the main part.

If you look closely you can see the cats lounging on the walkway.  Being strictly indoor cats, they have been loving exploring the garden and just being outside. 

exterior window trim

While the subcontractors are inside, Neil has moved to the outside.  He will be adding 1-1/2" of rigid insulation on the exterior of the building...over top of our weather barrier which covers our 1/2" plywood sheathing.  Once the insulation is applied, he will then install 3/4" plywood battens vertically, aligned with the studs in the wall.  This will create a drainage plane behind the siding.  We are using 2 different types of siding.  1x6 cedar beveled siding that we are having pre-stained black and 8" exposure James hardi lap siding which will be painted an undecided grey.

Because we are adding more thickness to the wall, we had to rethink our exterior trim.  Originally we were wanting a 3-1/2" wide trim that would be picture framed around the window, but after mocking it, we came to re-evaluate this due to the multiple 12 steps to building it out versus 5 for the 2x on end.  12 x 34 window groupings equal a painfully slow process.  So we decided we liked the more streamlined look.

You can see all the extra blocking needed in this side shot.








We also briefly looked at adding a stepped trim piece around the frame, but decided against it's fussiness.

We have tried to minimize the fan vent locations and while we do not have individual exhaust fans for our main part of the house, we still have them for the apartment portion.  For every hole coming through from the inside to the outside, Neil has boxed it out and flashed it like below.  All of the vents, hosebibs and exterior electrical outlets receive this treatment.

port townsend homes

We finally went away for a weekend last Friday. Our friends Nancy and Scott have recently moved to Port Townsend and they invited us out. What wonderful hosts they are! We ate delicious home-cooked meals with fixings from their garden and freshly caught King salmon that melted in our mouths. They live close to town, so we were able to walk most places. Port Townsend has some lovely old Victorians and many small houses to draw inspiration from.

porches + plants

My tulips I planted in the boxes are popping up now. They are very fragrant when they are open. On a still day you can smell them when you walk on the porch. I never thought of tulips with a strong fragrance.

I had bought the rain chain over the internet at Overstock.com. There is also a website devoted to them that I looked at... http://www.rainchains.com/ There is a catchbasin under the rocks that links to the deep drywells in the front yard. We seem to be alternating between beautiful sunny days and days of soaking. Hopefully our newly seeded lawn is not drowning.


The concrete guy did a good job finishing the stoop. I had chosen these tile leaves at Seattle tile and we have fish in the back stoop.

The Nandina "Moyer's Red" seems to be doing okay. I was concerned because there are a lot of leaves on the ground around it. It seemed to be in shock for the first couple of weeks, but I think it's settling in now. The color is beautiful.

Neil put in a bench outside the back door. I have eaten lunch out here a few times with my back against the post. It's always in the sun.

sunday open house 12-4pm

We are having an open house every Sunday in March, so if you are in the area, stop by and see the house in person.

soaking up the sun

We had a big push on the landscaping at the end of last week through the weekend. To deal with the grade change at the front, we had Matt Collins and his crew of Weigh Bones put in a rock wall. They also put in a gravel path from the front to the back patio and they put in the patio.

There were about a dozen large rocks left over, so on Saturday I placed them around the patio to help with the grade change there. We only wanted 2 risers from the back deck down to the patio, so they had to build the area up with gravel. Originally we were going to put a step, but after using it this weekend when friends were over, we liked how it created seating.

We had a few friends over to celebrate the completion of the house and before we put it on the market. What a beautiful day it was! The south facing back deck and patio worked just how I had envisioned it and many of us ended up gathering there to soak up the sun. Inside, the house was filled with light and the raised counter in the kitchen was perfect for the buffet of cinnamon buns.

It was fun to have kids running around, exploring and finding their own spots to sit.

aia seattle january open house - part two

Here is the continuation of the house tour. We liked the exterior. It is just hardi assembled in a brick pattern with a wider gap between them. It also appears they attached hardi in a similar pattern to the garage door. Very clean, simple look.


Next up on our house is the landscaping. I'll be posting more on that later, but have been keeping my eye open to how others have done it. It always looks so bare at the beginning, but I know it only takes one good season for it to take off and 2 to fill in.


This is just a wood door with a nice paint texture. The door hardware is Emtek - Mode lever".

happy new year!

Yeah!! Our front door is up! I love it. Love the color. So glad we went with the red...and there is Neil to welcome me home! I just picked out the door hardware yesterday at Builders Hardware. It's a great place to see a variety of door and cabinet hardware, but also every other kind of hardware piece that goes in a home. I also picked up 2 doorbells, door stops and pocket door pulls. The front door handle is Schlage - Wakefield with a Merano indoor lever handle We switched to the oil rubbed bronze for the front door to match the light fixture we FINALLY decided on. Just have to install the doorbell and the front porch is done.  The front door is made by Simpson and is "Craftsman One Panel #6811".
I didn't even notice the flower boxes til I was leaving. They put those up earlier this week. Now I just have to plant them!