open house. part 1.

Because who doesn't like snooping around other people's houses? Admiring, cringing, and stealing ideas. Judging by the number of home remodeling and interior decorating blogs out there, I don't think I'm the only one.

So here is a free open house of our little rock house in the Ozarks. With "craftsman" architecture. Complete with before and after photos.

Meet our house. One month after we moved in.


And again, a little over a year later. What you can't see in these photos is the lovely large stone flower design on the wall of our front porch.


Here is the side of the house that is first seen as you drive up our little dirt road.


The other side.
And the back.
And then construction began. I left to go grocery shopping one morning, leaving four guys climbing around on our roof.


And came home to find this:


It changes things a bit, don't you think?


All framed in and ready for siding.



And just so you don't have to scroll up, here are the before & after photos back to back.



See that little tree, protected by all that fencing? That is going to be a giant stately oak someday. Just in time for our great grandchildren to play in its shade.

The side facing the in-laws:



It looks a bit large and flat on this side. But just wait until you see the inside, and you will understand why we put such a big shed-style dormer on our house.



The side facing the road:


For this picture you need to imagine that I have finished sanding and painting the window trim on all those little windows on the mud room.



The front:



This picture makes me start singing John Denver. Hey it's good to be back home again. Sometimes this old farm feels like a long lost friend...