For Clare

No post, going to see Rob Thomas in Charlotte. Long Day ahead, but it will all be Back To Good although I'm sure, we won't get home until 3:00AM.

Non-Celibate Monastic life in Burlington

I was just speaking with Jeff, our radiant heat guy and he asked me if I could really go without many closets. I am past the age and body type where buying clothes are any fun. That activity has sort of gone out the same window the fascination with mirrors did. So yes, I can go without alot of closets since I've worked out a basic uniform that works well for me. We had the usual discussion about Gandhi. At his death, he had a prayer bowl, loin cloth and spectacles. I didn't tell Jeff that although I'm tossing out clothes, towels, Tupperware and furniture right and left, I'm less sanguine about getting rid of my books. I've managed to cull about 5% of them, and Pat is fine with that. He just knows that part of his interior work once we've moved in, is the hallway bookshelf for starters. So, I'm ready to give up clothes but not books which sort of fits into the monastic title of this blog, because as you know, monasteries were among the first libraries.

The other monastic angle is in the windows. Clerestory window is derived from Clear Story, which was a common type of window in churches. I think it was also used in monasteries to let in light, and I'm thinking kept the Monks on task without that daydreaming common to most people stuck in a room doing busy work with large picture windows beckoning them to the world beyond.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerestory

The soul of the house, with apologies to Will Shakespeare

If eyes are the windows into the soul, then can windows be the soul of the house? I think they are in the case of the Usonians. The entire focus of the Usonians is the thrust of the inhabitants to the world outside. Although the side that faces the street obscures the house from the common passers-by, and the entries are somewhat hidden from view, once one enters a Usonian or for that matter, most of Frank Lloyd Wright houses, the world outdoors is welcomed in through multitudes of well designed and well placed windows.

Windows are the most expensive part of any house, and this one is no exception. We have so many windows that, I think I have mentioned this before, we are using plywood as our framing material as well as 2x6s instead of 2x4s to ensure stability. We have clerestory windows, casement windows, windows that are also doors, sidelights on the door and windows that edge along the fireplace masonry. So, when our still nameless builder called to tell us that if we ordered them today, we'd get a 10% discount from Anderson, we jumped right on it.

The reason we went with Anderson is that they have a good rep, and they also have Frank Lloyd Wright art glass inserts. Later on, when the money all settles out, then we can see about purchasing the inserts for the front door etc.

http://www.andersenwindows.com/servlet/Satellite/art-glass_Frank-Lloyd-Wright_artisan_classic.htm

This is right from the Anderson Windows website.

WE'RE GETTING A FLOOR! WE'RE GETTING A FLOOR!

This is a big deal, because with the floor also comes our heating and plumbing! The cement fellows were at the site last week, and did all the preliminary stuff so that Jeff, the heating guy, can lay the little chairs which will hold the radiant heating tubes and then the concrete can be poured.

It is raining right now here in Burlington NC, but that should end. The cooler weather is here and we should have our dyed concrete floor in place within ten days.

The photo shows the insulation UNDER the cement floor. The plastic tubing sticking out are various plumbing intake/outgo pipes.

the yin and yang of heads

We went to the Raleigh home show looking for deals on concrete staining, walked right past the fried mac&cheese booth, and ended up buying two Kohler potties. They were show specials and they have these little yin/yang buttons on the top of the tank. The smaller button is the flusher for small jobs, the larger button for the other...

If our town had water availability issues, we could have also gotten a 50 buck rebate but luckily, we have water other municipalities only dream about. But, this was an easy "green" decision and the price was right.

Now, if we can just get the grandkids to hit the right button at the right time...

a thousand here, a thousand there

and pretty soon we're talking about real money.

We're getting close to pouring the concrete slab floor. And now we have to make a decision, integrated red dye in the actual concrete or pour regular concrete and do an acid stain to get the Santa Fe Red floor. The Floor at Chili's was integrated dye. We're hitting the home show in Raleigh tomorrow to see what we can do as far as a little less money..

Chilis today...

Our builder called this afternoon. "Go look at the floor at the Chilis near Target," he advised. It is the same exact colored concrete floor we are looking to use. The usonians generally had a "Santa Fe Red" floor dyed to match the sunset of the desert where Frank Lloyd Wright built his second Taliesen.

The hostess was very nice, even after expending all that smile wattage on us only to find out we just wanted to look at her floor and leave. The floor is exactly the color we want.

The plumbing has been stubbed in, inspected and gravelled over. Now, if the Georgia rains can bypass our little town, we may see the insulation, chairs and webbing in anticipation of the radiant heating tubes which must be in place before the red concrete floor can be poured. The question there, is do they pour the upper level first, then the stairs and finally the lower great room area or do they pour the stairs first?

This is why we have a builder.