Roughing it, weekend #2

On Saturday the second floor began to take shape. With a crew of 11, we installed the second floor deck and the gable end pictured below. The garage also began to take shape with the back wall going up. Roger built the steps into the basement, too.
Here is the front of the house on Saturday. Joe spent the entire day building the arched eyebrow window. It's the piece that Sean and I loved in the inspiration house that our architect used, and it was super exciting to see it come to life after months of anticipation.
This is the view from the creek. The window in the middle will be Peter's room, and we couldn't wait to get upstairs to see the great second floor view all of the roughers talked about. But it would have to wait until Sunday because there were no stairs yet.
The garage wall is on the far right with some Hardi Plank siding already up.
An interior shot from Saturday to show the 10 foot ceilings on the first floor. This is the dining room and living room with a view of the creek to the immediate left of the ladder on the floor.
Sunday was another hot, muggy day for the crew of nine. The roughers raised the second upstairs gable and all second floor exterior walls along with building the partitions dividing the second floor rooms. The second floor contains the master suite, two rooms with a Jack-and-Jill bathroom, laundry room, and open play room under the arched window.

Sean and Mickey stand in the front door at the end of the long day.
Roger finished the stairs to the second floor on Sunday, so Peter and I were able to go up and check out the rooms.
This is the open play room at the top of the stairs. The window is so cool that we didn't want to put it behind a door in a bedroom, so it will be a nice place for hanging out on the second floor.
Peter's room has the best view on the second floor. The canopy of trees is lush and full.
Now that the partitions are up, the second floor is a maze of 2 by 4s. Marks on the floor tell a more complete story; the layout of the rooms, closets, and halls is complete, plus it's much more efficient than the original plan. It's great to be so close to the project that we can make these small improvements as we go.
With the front garage wall up, the appearance of the house from the street really begins to take shape. The garage is enormous, with 14 foot tall ceilings. The funny thing is that the garage height is an accident of necessity; with the creek behind the house, we had to guarantee our basement would remain nice and dry by raising the main house over 4 feet off the ground. But there's no easy way to raise a garage off the ground, so it grew and grew instead.
Another view of the house. This one's from the driveway entrance.
The side of the house with cedar shingles and Hardi Plank siding that will all be painted later. Some of the scaffolding for the back porch is pictured on the right.
Sean standing on the framing for the front porch. Next weekend the front porch will really take shape, along with the roof line.