Great progress continues to be made on the Chase Street project.  The windows are in, exterior doors are in (except for the sliding barn door on the storage room), and siding will begin next week.  The roof membrane is done and the skylight is installed.  This week, some great exterior steel structural elements went up.  On the front entry porch there are two slender steel pipe columns that will support the front porch roof.  On the back side of the house, there are three steel pipe columns to support the second floor deck.  These sit on exposed hockey puck spacers to isolate the steel posts from moisture in the concrete piers (perfect size and material for this application, this time of year hockey pucks are not hard to come by in Vermont) .  At the top of these posts, the connection to the wood framing is exposed, creating another nice steel detail.  The last image gives a sense of the loft-like living space on the second floor, which is really one large space with two small rooms for closets, bathroom and laundry.  The proportions of this space are really great, with lots of natural light and interesting sight-lines.

Here are photos of the finished prototype for the new addition to the Sonoma Series.  These side tables are designed so that they may be rotated to have different sides facing up as the top.  When combined together in multiples, a number of patterns may be created by alternating the orientation of the individual tables.  The tables are 18″ high and may also be used as seating, adding to their versatility.  The materials used in this prototype are solid black Valchromat MDF (no added urea-formaldehyde), and solid cork.  While the prototype shown is 9″ wide, final versions will be available in 12″, 18″, 24″, and 36″ widths.  The open space in the center may be used as storage for extra coffee-table books or that stack of periodicals waiting to be read.  The finish is VOC-free oil.  The Sonoma Series is expanding to include a Club Chair coming out soon.

Progress on the project has been great thanks to hard work and good weather.  Roof framing is complete, and the final siding selections  have been made.  The windows have been delivered and will be installed this week.  Framing of the entry porch roof has begun.  It is now possible to look out the second floor windows and appreciate the great views of the Winooski River and downtown Winooski.  Design work continues for the kitchens, bathrooms and interior finishes.

The Winding Brook Road project is featured in a book that will be published this spring, “Prefabulous + Sustainable” by Sheri Koones.  This is a well-written and timely book with interesting projects and great photography (Eric Roth photographed the Winding Brook Road house among others).  The publisher is Abrams Books.  As Robert Redford writes in the forward, “Prefabulous and Sustainable will inspire you to consider more environmentally friendly options and show you how to create homes that will bring balance to our future.”