up and down

Currently the crew on site is focusing on either ends of the townhouse; the garden level and the new top floor. At the garden level excavation is complete (with the exception of the actual garden) and underpinning is underway. The ceiling joists at this floor (aka the floor joists of the parlor floor) are also going in as we speak. You can see just how open the two bottom floors are to each other and I have to say walking over the joists and looking down to the floor below is still a little creepy for me! Our contractor has also closed off the front areaway of the townhouse in prep for some excavation work there as well. We are putting in a new, more spacious stair that leads down to the garden level of the house.

walking on the parlor "floor" (if you can call it that in it's present state!) looking down to where the kitchen will be.



looking up from the garden floor towards the front of the house

looking up from the garden floor to the back of the house



parlor floor joists extending beyond where the back wall of the townhouse use to be



our new temporary wall around the areaway in prep for excavation

an impromptu conference table at the master bedroom floor- soon to house a site office complete with phone, fax, and computer

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At the other end of the house half of the existing roof has been removed to make way for new fourth floor joists. Workmen are busy building a temporary roof over this structure to keep out the downpours expected tomorrow. Our site foreman even designed a special gutter system which collects rain from the roof and shoots it out through the third floor.

new fourth floor joists where the roof use to be. you can see some of the temporary roof above



the temporary gutter shooting off the roof, through the house, and into the garden

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I've realized that with so many floors and different names for them things can get a little confusing so here's a run down of the floor names, their locations, and their programs just to make things more clear:

garden floor (halfway below the sidewalk level): this floor contains the kitchen, family room, mechanical room, and powder room. it also opens to the rear garden.

parlor floor (first floor where the main entry is): this floor contains a formal dining room, grand stair hall, study, and powder room)

second floor: we also call this the master bedroom floor. it contains a master bedroom suite and a nursery.

third floor: also referred to as the kids' floor. this floor has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a laundry room.

fourth floor: (completely new floor) this floor has a game room, a gym, storage, a bathroom, and an outdoor terrace that looks out over the back yard.

attic: we've designed the house to have a small attic, primarily for storage, which is accessible through the storage room on the fourth floor.