Evolution of ideas and plans

Here are some examples of the drawings for our house that we made over a two year period. We had a fairly good idea of what we wanted from the beginning, but had to come up with a design that was practical and affordable. Affordable meant that many of the fancy features such as a bump out in the bedroom and a balcony disappeared before the end. Practicality meant that we had to shape dimensions and spaces to meet standard block and timber sizes.
These are for the south elevation:
The first shows some of the very first free-hand sketches I made as Linda and I discussed layouts. Even in these first drawings the south orientation, the kitchen and living areas appear pretty much as they would be in the final.
The next drawing is from the the dream stage when any fantasy could still be indulged in. The bump-out on the right would have allowed us to lie in bed and view the world. The balcony and central window would have been nice. The tall tower would have been neat.
In next drawing, reality and the advice of Aaron have intruded. The fancy parts are gone and the roof line is lower in order to save timber. The tower remains an tower, but also lower.
The last drawing is the as-built. We went back to an eight-foot second floor to simplify the timbering. but kept the total building height the same. As a result, the tower sits lower on the roof.
More drawings of the floor plans later.

July activites at the new place.

The center of our house, looking up.
Despite a lack of entries here, July was a busy time for us. With the south deck on our new house finished, we could start to enjoy sitting out there, cooking, eating and watching the corn grow. Linda cleaned the old cushions and we were set.

We turned our attention to the kitchen. We cut flooring to make a countertop and finished it with four coats of nice, old-fashioned shellac. The plumber got in there and now we finally have a working kitchen sink.
We started to add the railings to the east deck and by the end of the month had finished all but a few balusters on the steps.
This has been a rainy month, but we still have the sun and the views to remind us that we live with nature and take whatever the weather brings.