Happy New Year!

The year 2011 is drawing to a close, and a short reflection back on our first few months in the New Norris House reveals what we learned and what happened during that time. Similar to any new residence, there was a period of familiarizing ourselves to the house and the systems inside it. Some things in the house were brand new to us (the heating and cooling units, the rainwater cisterns, the solar hot water, and the small refrigerator and freezer), while others were familiar but required an adjustment (low flow faucets and shower, cabinet and storage configurations, and the furniture).

rainwater cistern in backyard (on flickr)

The house was ready for occupancy on July 1, and the finishing touches were completed throughout July and August. We set up our post office box and internet service, and enjoyed meeting people who came by for house tours over the 4th of July weekend. Students wrapped up their work on the yard and rainwater garden, and seeded the lawn. Kinks with fluctuating water temperature in the shower were worked out, and the solar hot water heater was installed. Railings on the deck and entry were leveled and secured. Temperature and humidity sensors were installed throughout the house. We became familiar with the air conditioning unit manual as we figured out the ideal way to run the systems in the summer heat.

the house in december (on flickr)

The official ribbon cutting ceremony for the house was in August, and hundreds of people attended and toured the house. Also that month, there were multiple media events to promote the finished project within the Norris and Knoxville areas, and at the University of Tennessee as well. Professors Tricia Stuth and Bob French, along with the student researchers and other student participants, have been a pleasure to work with during this experience. We've appreciated their patience with us while we went through learning about the house.

In the next six months, we’re looking forward to some new activities, including starting a garden in the raised beds in the backyard and exploring more of the Norris area. Until then, we wish you a Happy New Year!

Saturday Work Day

Today we had an official Saturday workday - and what a great day it was. The rain finally subsided and warm temperatures allowed for a great deal of progress on the landscape front. A number of landscaping students came out today to help with filling Deltalok bags and forming the retention beds in the backyard (as spoken of in Valerie's blog). Other exciting achievements include setting the west deck and ramp along the side of the house - in addition to cutting the bottom edge of the siding along the north (front) elevation.

Chris and Matt C. set the range-hood vent and continued siding along the East elevation, while Katharine and I finished up paint on the ceiling in the loft and living/kitchen areas. The house has been cleaned out to allow for a clean painting environment, and we began priming the window frames and casements. Arya and Matt have also been making an amazing amount of progress on the tiling. We can certainly see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Painting various wood materials in the house have caused a great deal of conversation over the past couple of days. There is exposed structure (joists, structural decking) in the bedroom - and it has been discussed as to whether that material should be left exposed or painted white as originally planned. With delivery of the reclaimed red/white oak flooring, in addition to the painted "Yarborough Yellow" accent wall, it seems that we must decide whether the wall or ceiling will be the accent. Between the oak wood floor, yellow wall, and pine ceiling - there may be too many materials with competing tonal/accentual values.

Though it was tough to paint the beloved Atlantic white cedar fixed window frames this afternoon, after stepping back it became obvious that it was the right choice to paint these the same white as the walls. The frame begins to disappear into the wall and the landscape beyond becomes the main foci. This began to clarify the fact that materials may be beautiful individually, however their place in the overall scheme or palette may not work effectively to emphasize the intended effect.

In other news, progress has been made on the East/West door hardware. Phil Clawson, our Andersen representative will be coming up to the site on Tuesday to help us re-evaluate our integration of Andersen door hardware into our custom doors. He and Sam Ledford of Hiwassee Window & Door have been a great deal of help to us in coordinating this initiative. God-willing, we will procure the hardware and start construction on those soon.