cabin closer...

 

A few weeks ago, El Paso invited me to keynote a water brainstorming meeting this past Friday. It was short notice, and I need my weekends these days to get ready for the next workweek (especially since I am teaching this semester), but the temptations of (1) staying at Henry Trost's O.T. Bassett Tower (more on that in a subsequent post) and (2) daytripping up to Cloudcroft to check on the cabin were too great (not to mention speaking in El Paso, a great worldwide center for water innovation). Plus, I caught the 5:20 am direct flight to Austin early this morning so I could be here to get ready for class.

It's just shy of a two-hour drive from downtown El Paso to Cloudcroft, so off I went early Saturday morning. My first stop (which is usually the case) was Black Bear Coffee to get a latte and see if Gabe, one of the architects, was there (he was). From there, it was a short drive across town to the cabin. It was a beautiful morning, but gathering clouds promised monsoon rains around the noonhour.

The first thing to see upon arrival was the new hardscape out front, and it immediately brought a smile to my face. The primary purpose of this concrete pour was to keep someone from sliding down the hill and smashing into the cabin but to also bring in some visual interest to the drive, and it does just that. Plus, the concrete squares at different heights look really, really good, both in design and execution. The builder said that the guy who attached our address to the tallest hunk of 'crete kept asking about dropping the "o" at the end since it didn't seem right to not be straight. There will be a black fence/structure around the propane tank to hide it from view. I've got some LOL designs slanted black pots coming to place to the left of the door. Once we move in, we'll plant wildflowers and some other bushes to soften the front a bit.

 

The gutter isn't yet hooked up to the rainwater tank in the lower level. The original thought was to bring the gutter inside the front of the house and then down into the lower level, but now the thought is to bring it straight down, around, and then into the lower level. This is probably for the best since bringing the pipe into the thermal envelope would have required some serious concrete cutting and digging. Hopefully the first flush will still be inside such that the front stays uncluttered.

Down in the lower level, the pooperpumper is all hooked up as is the water. The rainwater treatment train is up and ready for water. There is a filter and then a UV light as well as two back-flow preventers (one to keep the rainwater from getting into the city's system and another one to keep the city water from getting into the rainwater supply [ha!]). This set-up is far more civilized than what is done in Texas (or at least Austin) where the backflow preventer is a large and ugly thing that sticks up in your front yard.

The AC condenser is installed:

Stepping in the house, the kitchen is an eye-grabber with the black pulling you in like a gravitational blackhole of baking bread. Almost everything is complete except for some details to address on the fridge connecting the water supply (and pushing it all the way back to its counter depth) and one of the burners not working.

The backsplash behind the cooktop is installed and, sadly, the color of the tile clashes a bit with the color of the countertop. It's good enough for now, but I see getting a hunk of the countertop material and replacing the tile with that in the near future. Nonetheless, the whole look of the kitchen works well. No regrets on going black.

 

 

The fireplace is in (although not working quite right yet...), and the living room is ready for living:

 

 

 

The stairwell is looking really, really good. It's a visually interesting space with the angled wall, the windows, the lighting, the translucent clerestory, and the railings. The metal railing came out really, really nice and fits in well with all the black bidness in the house. And that ceiling fixture is the bomb!

Downstairs is pretty much done: the bathroom is all there, and the vent covers are rockin'. Forgot to get photos of the upstairs vent covers, but they look good as well: old skool steam punk (and black).

The only thing holding up the certificate of occupancy at this point are the glass railings, which have been a pain-in-the-patootie. The first batch arrived intact but had the mounting holes in the wrong place. The second batch arrived with a number of 'em shattered. So we await the third batch. Our next visit will be in November when we will move in and stay there for a week and a half, so hopefully this will all be resolved then. The white on the ground in the photo below was hail accumulation a couple hours after it hailed, so that gives you a sense of how cold it is up there. When I drove back to El Paso, I stopped in Alamogordo for an early dinner. It was funny stepping out of the car all bundled up into the warmth of lower elevations.

The builder says ours is his favorite house so far, but he probably says that about all the girls. ;-) Can't wait to move in and coze the place up with furniture and art.