Shingling the Turret

My husband, the puzzle enthusiast, is awesome at putting things together.  Since he did such an awesome job on my last house, I asked him if he'd pretty please do the shingles on the manor.  Being the awesome guy he is, he agreed to do it.

After I stained and painted each shingle (a good time to do some meditation) and an almost full day of work on hubby's part, this is what he has done so far.  I love that rosette!

the left side

see the rosette?

the back

He'll be working on the turret today and will likely get it finished.  Then it's on to the main roof!  I hope his bill isn't going to break the Pennethorne bank!

Rooms with Views

In the morning the sun comes in through an east kitchen window streaming sunlight onto Pennethorne Manor.  It's a magical time of day . . .

I've been plodding away at the manor in what seems like endless trim work.  I finally got all the trim on the house and got the bay window sashes and trim painted and installed.  In real life, I'd rather be a builder than a carpenter.  Give me the big guns!

I had to install extra trim at the corners of the bays where the middle window meets the side windows because there was about a 1/4 of an inch dead space.  This is one of those serendipitous moments where a fuddle becomes a welcome detail.  Once the trim was glued on, I set about painting everything with cream paint.  I painted the inner part of the exterior trim with gold paint.  I painted the undersides of the top trim cream and will be painting the end and top with the garnet paint.  I'm thinking there's a little too much white, but when the siding goes on with the green I selected it shouldn't stand out quite so much.

I finally finished the main hall flooring and after two coats of super gloss Mod Podge, I set it in place.  It looks pretty nice!  I'll set it in permanently once the wiring is done.

I'm still trying to decide how to finish the foundation.  Brick or stone?  I'm thinking brick because that's how I want to finish the fire place.

Next order of business . . . painting more trim, completing the fireplace and installing the dining room windows.

Contemplation

So as I sit here this morning waiting on a group for a tour of the farm, I'm contemplating the exterior colors of Pennethorne Manor.  I'm hoping to stay as true to Victorian style as possible, even though the colors can be somewhat dark.  As I was strolling through the internet I found this picture and my heart skipped a beat . . . inspiration!!

Soft green, cream, cranberry and a touch of gold around the windows . . . some of my favorite colors!

Pennethorne Manor ~ Basement

What I thought would take us a day turned out to be two full days of working on the manor basement.  This baby is not slapped together.  It is built solid and should support the weight of the manor house with no problems.

Yesterday we finished with the base and all the walls cut and dry fitted.  Brian cut grooves for the interior walls with his router for a good solid fit.  As well, I primed and sealed everything.

Today we glued and nailed everything together, adding "support beams" on each of the corners to support the ceiling.  After installing one of the interior walls I realized we hadn't cut openings for the doors.  So much for my note to self!  Brian had to manhandle the wall out after which he cut the opening and I reinstalled it.  Tragedy averted!  Happily, we remembered to cut the openings for the other doors before installing the other walls.

Since I had some dead space at the front of the basement, I decided to use the space for all the wiring for the house.  Brian framed it in and we cut the side panel to accommodate a door.  I'm glad I thought of this as it will hide all the wiring and circuit panels, and maybe even tiny bins full of Christmas and holiday decorations.

After taking up dear hubby's whole weekend I can say that I'm very pleased with the outcome.  He's really a dear for helping me and I can honestly say that, although I'm not sure he'd admit it, he enjoyed himself and is happy with his work.  And can I just say that he's scored major brownie points?!

I'm going to find some decorative molding to cover up the bottom and sides so they look pretty.  I didn't want to have the two braces in the corners on the back, but structurally speaking, they had to be there.  I'll just wallpaper over them.

Up next is wallpapering, creating the floor from those tiles I bought a few weeks back, and crown and base molding.  I've also ordered a simple staircase that will go along the left kitchen wall.  The doors will go in once they arrive sometime in the next month or so.  I ordered them from China because they were much cheaper and I needed at least 6 interior doors for the house.  Since I added the sewing/laundry room I'll need to order another one . . . and then there's the bedroom closet.  I forgot about that.

I'll be landscaping the top of the basement once the house is built and situated on it's new lot.  Now what to do about the front and sides . . . I think some molding, decorative wood pieces and paint ought to do it.

The Beacon Hill dollhouse kit should be here tomorrow . . . fingers crossed!