Next One in the Queue!

It's been a while since Howard posted anything architectural to this blog. One might think by the bounty of cycling posts in past weeks and months that Howard gave up his day job for cycling.

But really I've been busy finishing construction documents for a modest addition & renovation project for delivery to county building departments and builders; I've been dealing with a new client and getting a contract signed; and I've been meeting with that new client couple to figure out exactly what kind of new custom home they've been dreaming of building.

Not exactly photogenic or blogogenic tasks.

A few weeks ago, I was up in Laramie and took some photos of a piece of property that will, if all goes well, some day have a house designed by Howard built on it. The owners have purchased the site and are now ready for design to begin.

Here is a photo of what will someday be the street and sidewalk in front of the house, with the house on the land to the left. Sure looks cold, doesn't it? That's only because it was! This photo is looking south-southeast towards the existing Laramie neighborhood that will one day expand to the north.

The second photo was taken while standing at the far northeast corner of the property looking southwest towards the street and towards Jelm Mountain, which is the peak to the right of the photo (click on it to make it big.) Like I said, it was cold that day. The building site contours drop about eight feet or more from north to south (from right to left), and the property owners want the house located tight to the north and west setbacks of the site to allow the southern and eastern portions of the land to be open for landscaping, gardening, and views.

Design started this past week and could take up to six months -- a long, very involved, but very exciting process. They want a 2,500 sq. ft. two-story house facing west with an unfinished basement, four bedrooms, three or four bathrooms, for the exterior -- a contemporary look with masonry, wood, and plaster, with a more European modern look with lots of light wood trim and detail in the interior. Plus, they want wonderful decks, balconies, and windows to take advantage of views to the east, south, and west.

Someday, this piece of barren tundra on a hill will be the birthplace of a wonderful dreamhome for Howard's next clients. I'll be sure to keep you posted over the next year-and-a-half (design + construction) as photogenic and blogogenic opportunities develop.