Melvin and Catherine Jones' New Home

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2005-03-15T13:36:00.000-08:00

Click here to visit TheJonesNewHome.com.

And then there was light...

2005-02-26T04:18:00.000-08:00

Darling Hubby and I went to Lighting By Design in Exton, PA today to finalize our lighting options. I was glad that John (we think that he's the owner) was able to see us on such short notice because it gave me a reason to drag Darling Hubby all the way to Chester Springs so we could check on our baby :o) All in all, I think that it was a productive day at Lighting By Design.

Here are some photos taken today:

This is the exterior of Lighting By Design. What a darling little store! Aside from lighting, they also carry other accessories for the home ie. mirrors, chests, and assorted trinkets. A must-visit!

This is the light fixture Darling Hubby and I picked out for our foyer. It weighs 90 lbs.!

More of the same foyer light.

This is the mirror that we are most likely going to put in our powder room.

A really beautiful crystal chandelier for our Dining Room. Our hearts say, "Go for it!"

But our minds say, "Hoooold up.. wait a minute..."

Vanity light fixture for the Master Bathroom. Darling Hubby and I picked this style to match the tiles we'd chosen.

Lighting we've chosen for our Breakfast Area.

The rest of the lighting we had chosen were from catalogs. We took photos of them as well, but they did not turn out good at all so I guess you guys will just have to wait for when the house is finished to see!

After our appointment at Lighting By Design, of course we headed on to see our baby. Folks, we are progressing!

A really hard-working worker bee working on our garage floor. Try to say that. FAST!

The garage doesn't look quite as small now that the cement is laid down.

I am sooo jealous that the Columbia next door has its frame up!

I know it's just cement, but it's OUR cement :o) I guess that's why we took so many photos of it.

Worker bee surveying his work.

Our house is really starting to take shape, huh?

This is the Columbia being built next to us. The only regret I have with the design of our home is how we have 3 garages that are separate as opposed to having a 3-car garage with two that are joined. It would've been perfect for a really big truck, like let's say a Yukon! (Hint, hint, Hubby.)

Finalized our options

2005-02-20T10:19:00.000-08:00

So, we finalized our options today. Here's a list:

EXTERIOR FRONT
*We went with Champagne, the darkest shade of tan available, for the exterior. For the roof, we chose a dark shade of brown with rust highlights. For the door, I really wanted a beveled-glass one, but Darling Hubby was against it, and I really wasn't married to it, so we went with a standard door in Burgundy.

EXTERIOR BACK
*We got a deck :o)

FIRST FLOOR
*Flooring - Hubby and I decided on diagonally-installed dark hard wood floors (cherry oak) throughout the first floor, with the exception of the Family Room where we chose light carpeting. I'd wanted something more in the beige family but since we'd picked out light carpeting for the entire second floor (which of course extended down to the rear stairs), we wanted something that would match. Guess we just can't serve red wine then, huh?
*Living Room and Dining Room - These come standard with crown moulding, base boards and chair railing (in the Dining Room) so we just ordered recessed lighting for both rooms and a junction box for sconces in the Dining Room. The Dining Room comes standard with an ugly light fixture that Hubby and I are planning to replace with a much nicer chandelier after we decide on a Dining Room Set.
*Study - Hubby went with a cherry full-wall built-in bookcase. I thought that might be too much dark wood (remember the floors are cherry oak), but Hubby quickly reminded me that this was HIS space. Well, ok then.
*Laundry Room - Hubby and I went all-standard in this room. We'll spruce it up later with some stainless steel washer and dryer combo. Maybe. With a capital M.
*Kitchen - Well, the math says this is where we spent the most. We went with the Gourmet Kitchen floorplan in which the cooktop is on the island. For our cabinets, we went with second-upgrade in cherry-oak. For our countertop, we went with golden-colored granite to offset the dark cabinets and floors. We also chose the Elegance Package which includes a whole bunch of recessed and under-cabinet lighting and higher kitchen cabinets with glass inserts. Finally, we went with stainless-steel appliances.
*Family Room - Hubby and I really, really, really wanted to get the exposed beams on the ceiling, but Greg vehemently opposed this idea since he advised us that prospective buyers are never willing to pay for a $13k option when that $13k can easily go for something more practical ie. towards finishing the basement or an additional bath. In other words, it's unlikely we'll get this money back once we're ready to sell this house so why waste? By the way, Greg is the Sales Rep/Realtor for Toll Brothers. So the only thing we got in here was a junction box for a ceiling fan and more recessed lighting.

SECOND FLOOR
*Master Bedroom - We ordered recessed lighting throughout and a junction box for a ceiling fan.
*Master Bathroom - Just like the kitchen, we also went with a lot of upgrades in here. First, we decided on the Ultra Shower which is a stall that's bigger than the standard and comes with dual showerheads. Secondly, we ordered a seamless glass shower door. We fell in love with it in the model home and it was just something we just had to have. Finally, we got upgraded tile throughout.
*Prince/Princess Suite aka Primary Guest Bedroom - We got a junction box for a light fixture. In the bathroom, we went with all-standard which wasn't all that bad.
*Jack and Jill Suite - We went with an additional bathroom here. Also, we got a junction box for a light fixture.

BASEMENT
The basement is roughly 2,000 square feet and it will be unfinished at the time of delivery since Toll Brothers does not offer this service. We did order a plumbing rough-in for when we finish the basement a later time.

Well, here are some photos from when we went to finalize our options on February 20, 2005:

Look, the foundation of our house is up!!!!

This is supposed to be the garage. Doesn't it look small? I'm sure the final garage will be bigger because the garages we've seen in the community are huge!

More of the garage. Next to us is a Columbia being built.

Even more photos of the garage. The spaces in between look really teeny!

Darling Hubby's feetsies in the mud! This is proof that he went through all this mess (literally) just so he could take photos for our archives.

This is the Retention Basin behind Lot #71, the original lot we had purchased. Don't know much about them --- just know from looking at it that it's probably good that we're now on Lot #72.

More foundation.

And more foundation.

Darling Hubby walking back to our car, barefeet after taking photos.

"Ewwww, I got mud between my toes!!!!"

"This is truly nasty!"

"Arrrghhh, mud on my favorite jeans, too!"

"It's not funny. Stop laughing!"

To The Light Store

2005-02-05T09:13:00.000-08:00

This house-building business is really tiresome! Fun but tiresome all at the same time. Every week it seems like there's something that needs to be done. Like today, we went to pick out our lighting options. I don't know what hubby thought, but I know I didn't think this process would take more than 2 hours. Well, it did.

In the end of our appointment, we were able to finalize the lighting for our foyer and the ceiling fans for the Family Room and Master Bedroom. Still needing sale completion are lighting for Master Bath, Prince/Princess Suite Bath, Jack and Jill Suite Bath and Powder Room. The Dining Room chandelier will have to wait until Darling Hubby decide on a Dining Room set. Who would've thought so many options existed for lighting?

Boy, I'm exhausted!

Picked out preliminary options

2005-01-28T10:04:00.000-08:00

Me in front of our new lot, Lot #72.

Me again in front of our new lot. Don't let the sunshine fool y'all --- it was cold as heck that day!

Darling Hubby in front of our lot.

More Darling Hubby profiling in front of our lot.

And even more Darling Hubby in front of our same ol' lot.

Me right on Benson Lane, our future street :o)

Just some of the homes in our future community.

We took this photo because we really liked the color of the house.

This is the corner of Benson Lane and Prescott Drive. Unfortunately, that ugly green box is a permanent fixture and even more unfortunate is that it'll be situated on our driveway :o(

The area surrounding our lot.

The same area surrounding our lot.

The area which will be our backyard. We were told that the trees will not be cut down --- we sure are praying this promise is kept because we just love them.

Darling Hubby's footsteps in the snow :o)

Better Land for Same Price

2005-01-10T08:57:00.000-08:00

Today, Greg Schmidt, the Sales Rep/Realtor for Toll Brothers, called to offer us Lot #72 ($40k) for the price that we had paid for Lot #71 ($30k). The reason? Well, it sure wasn't because he was feeling extra generous. It was because after the architects assessed the lot, they'd discovered that the model we've chosen, The Elkins, was too big to fit on Lot #71. In terms of square footage, Lot #71 is actually larger than Lot #72, but since there is a Retention Basin located behind Lot #71, it could only accomodate a Columbia or smaller. I wasn't too thrilled about all this because I'm suspicious by nature and I'm thinking that Toll Brothers is just trying to pull a fast one on us, but Darling Hubby was just too ecstatic! To him, he saw this as Toll Brothers essentially giving us a $10k gift.

After I thought about it, the offer is actually a great one. Lot #72 is the most expensive on that street, and for a very good reason. Behind the lot are a lot of trees which offer privacy, privacy and even more privacy. Also, from Lot #72, you can't see the rear of the homes on Prescott Drive, the street that intersects with Benson Lane.

In the end, it was a no-brainer. Lot #72 is now our new lot :o)

Purchase Agreement Signing

2004-12-26T08:59:00.000-08:00

Today, we went to The Reserve to sign the Purchase Agreement contract. So, it's official --- Lot #71 is ours! Darling Hubby and I are going to be future residents at The Reserve at Eagle Village

Also, today we had to finalize the following options because they were considered "structural" options:

*Walk-out Basement
*Expanded Basement
*Sliding patio doors in the breakfast area
*Double French doors in the Study
*Oak main stairs
*Plumbing rough-in in the Basement
*Additional Bath in the Jack and Jill Suite
*Ultra Shower in the Master Bath
*Stone face for the fireplace in the Family Room

We had briefly considered adding a Conservatory but Greg informed us that wasn't an option for our lot anyway. Oh, well...

Here are some photos taken on December 26, 2004

Darling Hubby and I putting our plastic house on our lot.

Darling Hubby looking nervous as heck!

Don't I look just too happy? I actually just needed to pee really badly and was trying to rush the shoot so I gave Darling Hubby a big ol' smile so he wouldn't make me retake the photo.

Darling Hubby in front of our lot.

Darling Hubby, still in front of our lot.

Me in front of our lot.

Me beside our lot.

Me on Benson Lane, our future street. Of course there will be houses built on either side of the street so in about a year or so, it won't look this desolate.

Darling Hubby on our lot. He is loving the trees in what will be our backyard!

Darling Hubby still on our lot.

We've Decided!

2004-12-13T09:49:00.000-08:00

Hubby and I went to The Reserve at Eagle Village in Chester Springs, PA this afternoon to put a deposit down on Lot #71 (the premium on the lot is $30k). We game them $1k, with $29k due in 10 days if we decide on the lot.

The lot that we've chosen is really nice. It's close to a corner, but we don't anticipate that being a problem because afterall, the only traffic that goes through there are the residents who live at The Reserve. Behind our lot are trees that we were told could never be cut down to build more homes because it is part of a reserve. So, we're really happy about that. Because the model that we're purchasing, The Elkins, has a wall full of windows in the Family Room, privacy is really of the utmost importance.

This is the model that we've chosen, The Elkins Provincial.

This is the first floor of The Elkins. The model that's available for view at The Reserve at Eagle Village is actually a Columbia Lexington which in fact was the model that we originally were going to choose. But Greg and Tiffany talked us into getting an Elkins. The main difference between the two are:
*The Elkins comes standard with a Three-Car Garage - a huge selling point these days from what we've been advised.
*The Elkins has the two-story Family Room - an option that we were going to get anyways in the Columbia.
*The Elkins has a built-in desk in the Kitchen - just something that I've always wanted :o)
*The Elkins has the Wall of Windows - something Darling Hubby was really impressed with.
*The Elkins is about 500 square feet larger than the Columbia.

The floorplan that you see of the second floor is actually slightly different from what Darling Hubby and I are probably going to decide. In the Jack and Jill Suite, we're ordering an additional bath, which would bring our total bathrooms to 4 1/2. We're planning ahead for when a baby or babies join us, and for when my mom stays with us (we've already decided she'll be a live-in nanny for lil' Blair Daniel and/or lil' Alexis Nicole. The only thing left to do is to try to convince her of this *hee hee*)

This is what the two-story Family Room looks like, courtesy of Toll Brothers

This is what the foyer looks like, again courtesy of Toll Brothers

Tina Jones' Housewarming Party

2004-11-28T06:29:00.000-08:00

We went to Tina and Ed's Housewarming Party today. Their house was nice :o) I don't think they've been in their new house for very long, but they've done a great job decorating in the little time they've had to do it. Here are some photos:

Tina and Ed
Originally uploaded by teyriffic.

SICU-P Gang
Originally uploaded by teyriffic.

Jackie and Moi
Originally uploaded by teyriffic.

Karen and Roman
Originally uploaded by teyriffic.

Rochelle and Hubby
Originally uploaded by teyriffic.

Afterwards, we went over Roman and Karen's house. The first thing that I noticed was how wonderful their house smelled! Karen says she's addicted to those Glade Plug-Ins. So am I, but I don't think our house ever smelled as wonderfully as theirs! I think it's more that the Brooks' really keep a clean home.

When we got home is when Darling Hubby and I decided that we really needed to step up our game. Seeing Tina and her family and Roman and his family really had us thinking that it was about time that we started thinking about starting our own. Not just fantasizing about, but really planning for it. Tonight is when we decided we are truly ready to make that big step. But before the babies start coming, we must first get us into a bigger place. Thus our quest to build our dream home.... Thus the reason for this blog....