Lake Placid, New York

No update this week as we went to Lake Placid, NY for a weekend trip. I have always wanted to go to the Adirondacks and I was not disappointed! It was so beautiful there. We stayed at the Whiteface Lodge which was awesome. My favorite activities were kayaking on Lake Placid and the tourist-y and gossipy Lake Placid Boat Tour. We saw many fabulous houses and the boat houses were better than many lake homes! We also went to the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton (Thousand Islands) New York on our way to Lake Placid. It was a lot of fun although we were disappointed that the wooden boat rides weren't yet operating. A beautiful old Century Boat at the Antique Boat Museum
The view at Thousand Islands - Clayton, NY
No boat ride but a great sign
Lake Placid, NY

One of the great boat houses on the lake. There is a larger main house behind this one. Many of these boat houses had multiple antique wood boats in them.

Quick trip to the lake today to see the progress on our foundation and to meet with our builders, Mike and Art. We discussed the kitchen and master bath layout so that we can finalize the plans and get ready for the log work! The kitchen is basically the same layout as our kitchen at home with a few changes.

The foundation has 6 courses of block in the rear corners. There will be a total of 14 courses of the 12" block. Every time we go now it feels more real and we are even more excited!

Foundation and Fireplace Stone

Yesterday we stopped in Morgantown to return the sample of the stone for the foundation and fireplace/chimney. Here is the Eldorado Stone that we're going to use.

Moving along...

Several things happened this week...footer is poured, gravel covers the bottom floor, and the block, sand and mortar have been delivered.
This picture shows the kids laying in their rooms.

Exteriors

Floorplans

OK, with my newly learned skill of turning PDFs into JPEGs I'll post the plans for the new house. Gretchen and Chris, we have your room all picked out so that you can stay with us. Chris, we are getting you excellent appliances!

Early season skiing

David and Sam managed to squeeze in a few sets last weekend between the rain.

A big hole

The foundation is now dug out and the ditch for the footer is ready for concrete. The lot feels very small with this big hole dug out of the center and dirt piled up all around. The driveway just keeps getting wider and easier to navigate which I know many of you will appreciate. The other picture is the view that we'll have from the gameroom.

And more...

More pics

Wide Open Spaces

The site as it looks today. Right after this picture was taken they were about to start digging the hole. They took out 6 trees and made the driveway considerably easier to get up. There is still one tree to remove after the power wires are buried.

Moving the Hot Tub

Sam operating the PosiTrack that we rented to move the stone patios and hot tub.

Logs for the new house

The logs for the new house sitting at the Yellowstone yard.

Tomorrow is the big day

After three years of planning and discussion, eight months of work on the plans and six months since the signing of the contract, we are on the eve of construction of our new log house at the lake. So exciting!

Today was a bittersweet day as we went to the old cottage to try to save a few of the old logs. The house was having none of being torn apart by hand, and not wanting the walls to collapse on us, we finally decided not to try any further. Our kind neighbors said that they might try to pull a few of the logs for us when the excavator comes to begin demolition.

Currently our lakefront lot has a circa 1940 log house that is 700 square feet built on stacks of rocks. Although the little house has been a much-loved friend, it is just too small for our family of four and does not allow us to invite guests to stay at the lake with us. There is no way to move, add on, build up or otherwise utilize the current structure into a new house, and so the decision was made to raze the house and put up a beautiful new log home with 5 bedrooms, game room, 3.5 baths, and modern kitchen.

I will definitely miss the little house and the inviting glow of its aged logs.