Great fireplaces! We are in the masonry biz so I enjoy looking at all of them. This isn't the best pic, but here is ours all SaranWrapped up :) It is a see through fireplace that is approx. 20' tall. Sits in between our future living and dining areas and is faced in stone from our property. You can't really see the hearth in this pic. I haven't found my mantles yet, but they will most likely be very old pieces of wood. I also have electricty on each side for Christmas lights or whatev.

Aw Shucks Thanks everyone!!! Our house has been a long time coming. We have lived in "crappy old farmhouse" for almost 15 years. Our new house is about 100 feet behind the old one. Kimberly- the porch flooring is Ipe - Brazilian walnut. I learned about it online- check out the porch and deck forum here. It does require some maintenance but it is minimal and then it should last 100 years. I was not pleased with the reviews and the look of most of the composites. Really happy with how this looks. Owl - I can't wait to check out your site.. .my home computer is dial up so it will take me awhile...after everyone else is in bed ( with my evening vino!) Not much happening inside yet..... drywallers where supposed to start today but didn't show... contractor was not happy. The basics... white woodwork, hickory floors. Slate in our clutter room, mudrooms and bathrooms- although that is all open to change ( well except the hickory!) I have a few friends who are into "authentic" old interiors and I don't find those liveable so it will be more of an electic farmhouse type on the inside. Cabinets will be a frost glaze birch with black Zodiaq on one side of the kitchen. Other side will be Oak cabinets with almost black finish and ligher Zodiaq. Pedestal sinks in master, very plain rectangular soaking tub, Walk in shower with slate with river rock floor. When I can't decided on what I want I err toward the simple/plain. Simplicity to the extreme is elegance. There's a brief overview!!! I will post pics on the blog as it goes. Totally blessed- are you building a barn at your new property? Horses are like crack to me. I have to have one in my life (or 11) or all I can think about is getting another one. I am a veterinarian so it's also an occupational hazard. Love the Chincoteague ponies.... that's a trip we need to make soon. Joan- well you have noticed the pony of my heart- my red headed child- Cat. She is a Connemara as are the others. We have quite the herd - 5 now with 2 on the way. Cat does have a full brother for sale... I think he will be a little larger than her. He's not mine.... but I could hook you up!! We also raise TBs - could hook you up there too!! Connemaras are like the dirt bikes of the equine world. Cat is the most athletic thing I have ever been around. She literally can canter through the BARN doing flying changes. She is 13.1 - a little small for me. I have her mother also- she is 14.2. She is bred to a 15 h stallion who was recently sent back to Ireland. Really excited about that foal. Have to stop talking horses....LOL. It's a nice distraction from house stuff...... I am regretting I didn't put a tack room in the house LOL- but then I wouldn't have a reason to remodel the barn! My current kitchen is knotty pine.... I think we will put those cabinets in a tack room someday. It's just money!!!

Aha another Hamiltonian! We are new to Hamilton - love the architecture :) Well, if the kitchen is anything like the bathroom, it will be like an archeological dig. We had no fewer than *8* layers of floor in our bathroom. We stripped it all, except for the very last bottom layer, which we had some concerns about being made of asbestos. Now our bathroom floor is 1.5 inches lower. I need to stand on my tippy toes to see in the mirror, lol. OH woe the lack of insulation. We are freezing. Is the character worth it? Maybe...lol...no, it is. Maybe. In July ;) ;) ;)

Love the house! I'm probably new to you all here, I do post now and then but I was more active on the kitchen forum for a while, and sometimes the garden forum. My house, if any of you sort of know, is a 1915 Craftsman with some Victorian elements (I suspect the original owner had this built to their very specific specs). I had a historian take a look at photos and even they were a bit puzzled at all of the different types of Craftsman homes it draws on. Having said that, we're always in the middle of doing "something" here. Over the summer, I had my landscaping professional done, including a paver patio put in; some continuing electrical upgrades (like, we needed outdoor receptacles on the house and garage), emergency gutter repairs, etc. Right now I'm at kind of a standstill because I'm waiting on contractors to fit me into their schedules. I'm having my chimney/fireplace repaired to the tune of $6000 (it needs to be brought up to Code and the firebox has some damage needing repair). But scheduling them this time of year has been difficult to say the least. I had an attempted burglary and they compromised my sliding door in the kitchen so I'm waiting on the new one to come in which will mean taking down some masonry and the stairs to re-install. Also waiting on several new windows for the basement since one of the fell in on it's own accord (they were ancient). I had schedule the house and garage to be painted but this can't start yet - because of the masonry at the sliding door having to be repaired (I'm already 1 month behind on that and concerned now it might get too cold to do it). All of the gutters were about to be replaced BUT when they came, they discovered the fascia boards were rotted - so now I'm waiting on a price to add new boards also (I saw the condition of them - yikes, don't know how the gutters were even being held on!). I have regrading to be done on one side of the house, and installation of underground piping from the gutters to the street. That contractor left for Italy right as I made the decision to do the work. Expected back I think this week. And, I need 5 new doors. Front door, 2 sides (one is in my living room to the original car port which is now a covered patio), the garage door (not the pull-ups, we had those done already) and last is the door leading from a bedroom to the upstairs balcony. I have no idea what this is going to run me yet *terrified* I've picked what I want for the most part, but still have some questions for the contractor and am waiting on him to stop by to discuss. I really wanted all of this done by the first week of November. I have a TCO on the house and I've renewed it twice already. I think all of this work would have cleared it out but it's clear that I'm going to have to renew for another 6 months. Oh well. I'm sure the Town will be happy to have another $25. On a good note I finally bought a small flat screen TV for the kitchen. I got tired of running back and forth to the Living Room while cooking to see what was happening on my favorite shows :D