SO MUCH excitement!
Well, to repeat myself, it's progress. We are doing something a little new for the Low Country, concerning the slab. It's a more common practice up north due to the cold. We are spraying a closed cell foam insulation on top of the gravel, before the concrete slab is poured. This technique (being done by the guy in the space suit below), does 2 things: It creates a moisture barrier which is handy in a location like this where the ground can only absorb so much moisture, and this prevents it from coming up through the concrete. Second, the insulating properties are nice in the winter without needing a heated floor.
Concrete truck below pouring the slab.
Meanwhile, remember THE TUB? Well it was picked up by McCorquodale Transfer in Manhattan just yesterday and should be on it's way to Richmond Hill today to my storage unit. Also, I've been working on finalizing all the remaining plumbing and hardware selections. All these items will get ordered soon and shipped to the same storage unit in Richmond Hill so I'll have everything waiting on the contractor rather than the other way around.
Below is a little tidbit featured in our club news at Ford Plantation.
New Home Spotlight: The Samford FamilyJohn and Laura Lee Samford purchased property at The Ford Plantation in 2000 during a celebratory visit for their fifth wedding anniversary. When John first suggested they visit Ford, Laura Lee jumped at the chance. "I thought, that's the coast I went to as a child. We'd go to Jekyll Island, St. Simons, Tybee, so coming back here--I was introduced to it all over again and just completely fell in love," says Laura Lee. "At that point, it was a 'one day we'll do something here.'"
Thirteen years later, they have broken ground on their new home at Ford.
Pictured here are Laura Lee with the ceremonial shovel of dirt with her contractors, Brian and Scott Grant of Grant Homes.
Inspiration for their Ford home started with a collection of many architectural books Laura Lee has collected since her college days and especially the home she grew up in--a house built by her great, great Grandfather after his return from fighting in the Civil War. Laura Lee, "a died in the wool southerner from Georgia," is from Oconee County, about 60 miles east of Atlanta, and John is from Birmingham, Alabama, so both boast strong Southern roots and have a love of clean, simple Low Country architecture.
"I have renovated several homes both for my family and as a designer for clients, but I've never built a house from the ground up," says Laura Lee, who has a degree from Auburn University in Interior Design in the School of Architecture. With her background in residential and commercial design and love of architectural history, she knew she wanted "a relaxed, sort of rustic home."
Laura Lee says she's drawn many plans over the past 13 years, and the current design has been an evolution over time. "The house I would have built in 2000 is totally different from the one I'm building now. Time, wisdom, just really having a good understanding of what we love from every house we've ever lived in" has influenced the design.
In order to design their home, Laura Lee did a great deal of historical architectural research, including using a database maintained online by the Library of Congress, which has the houses and buildings that were documented by the Historic American Building Survey, a program started in the 1930s. "I did a lot of research on the French, Spanish, and English influence," she says.
"We wanted a house low to the ground, and our lot allows that because it's high enough. As we age, along with dogs and small grandchildren, we didn't want a lot of steps," says Laura Lee. The house she designed is "a casual, open plan with a big, huge fireplace in the living room, huge screened-in porch with a fireplace on the back. We love to entertain and have friends and family here a good bit, so this worked for us. There's a wood shingle roof and it's just a very simple Low Country home with a French colonial influence."
Laura Lee continues, "As we've spent more time here, we've made friends, we've fallen in love with it, and it will be our main residence. The more time you spend here, the more friends you make, and it's wonderful. You feel like you're a college freshman again, on a new campus, and you're all kind of thrown together to make new friends and it's really been wonderful. There are people from different parts of the country. So many people have had very interesting careers, so it's been enlightening to meet different people with different backgrounds. It's been very enriching."
The Samfords hope to be in their new home in time for Christmas this year.
