Something to stand on (and more)

My father-in-law has told me that the fastest part of building a house is the framing. It seems to be true! Just two weeks ago I blogged about the land being ready to go, with the house corners staked...and now we have a house (or a floor with a few walls). Here's the view driving up the hill.

It was cold in South Carolina today...temps hovered in the 40s for most of the day. I guess when it's cold (or blazing hot), framers are motivated by the weather to be fast. Thankful for that! Here's a view of the front--you're looking at the living room in the middle and our master bedroom on the right.

When we walked around on the actual floor, the house didn't feel as big as it seems when I'm standing on the ground. I can already tell that the common area of the house will be a perfect size. From this view, I'm standing the guest bedroom, looking into the living room (kitchen will be to the left, dining room to the back).

View of our master bath from behind.

View of the back. The back screened-in porch is going to be nice (2/3 the width of the house--this is something we altered from the original plan). We're definitely excited about that--I'm already looking forward to eating supper (and other meals) out there.

The porch floors will be added later. For now, a view of the cinder blocks that form the supports.

The Glen View Cottage plan specifies 2x6 exterior wall construction. We briefly considered going with the average 2x4 but quickly decided to stick with the plan after learning it only cost a little bit more for the larger lumber. We'll be able to increase our insulation value and the window sills will be deeper--maybe a place to set plants?

This week's big decisions have been window and door types. We're basically sticking with the plan specs as far as looks go. Just to make sure I liked what we had chosen, I drove around a neighborhood in Lexington that has a few homes that look similar to ours. I can't say it enough how important it is to see what you want!