Tag Archives: architecture

Autumn 2018 Trip Postcards: Union Station

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When I lived in New Jersey and did a lot of travel for business, I’d always take the train when I had a trip down to Washington DC. Back in those days, my company would pay for the train ticket and I’d upgrade it to the Club Car, which had swivel chairs with waiter service, free food, and free drinks. Very posh.

So on this trip, when I decided I wanted to go to DC for a few days, I booked a seat on Amtrak’s Acela in Business Class. Not as nice as the Club Car in the 1990s, but no complaints, especially since the train reaches speeds of up to 125 miles per hour and we got to Washington in about 3 hours.

Waiting on the other end was Washington’s historic Union Station, an amazing old train station from the heydays of train travel that was completely refurbished years ago. I snapped this photo when I returned to the station on Tuesday to visit the Verizon store; its the first photo I took with my new iPhone Xs.

The main concourse of Washington DC’s Union Station.

Golden Hour at the Aerie

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Two shots showcasing my home.

Even amateur photographers — or at least serious amateur photographers like me — know that the best time for landscape photography is during the so-called “Golden Hour.” This is the time of day roughly one hour after sunrise and roughly one hour before sunset when the sun’s light is soft and often golden in color. Long shadows provide depth which adds texture and highlights contours in land forms. Colors are skewed reddish, which can make everything look just better.

Construction on my home has been mostly done — I still have a few things to do inside like finishing trim and building a set of stairs to the loft — for a few months now. I got my official certificate of occupancy about two months ago. I recently did some outside work to clean up “the yard” and make it look presentable. I have ten acres but I really only maintain about an acre of it — the rest is natural vegetation: bunch grass, sagebrush, and wildflowers. It gets really green here in spring but starts to brown up by late May. This year, we’ve had just enough rainfall to really turn on the wildflowers and keep the grass green and gold. Really pretty.

Perfect for capturing some shots of my home to share with friends and family.

I got the first shot the other day. I happened to be down at my Lookout Point bench late in the afternoon when I looked back up at my home. The light was just right to illuminate the multitude of wildflowers that had grown between the bench and my building. Unfortunately, I’d left my Jeep and truck in front of their garage doors and that made the place look less than perfect. By the time I moved them and came back, the light would be gone. I decided to do it another day.

Afternoon Home
I like this shot the best, mostly because you can also see the nearly full moon in the sky above the cliffs.

That day came a few days later. I was inside, resting up from some minor surgery I’d had earlier in the day when I realized that the light was perfect. I grabbed my phone and ran down the stairs with Penny at my heels. We hurried down the path to Lookout Point and I turned around. Perfect!

I shot about 10 photos from different angles. This is the one I like the best.

I very seldom share this view of my home. The reason: it only photographs well in the afternoon in late spring, summer or early autumn. Other times, the cliffs to the south are in shadows.

This shot really shows off the beauty of the cliffs behind my home. They rise about 1,000 feet above my road and consist of basalt columns of rock laid down during Washington’s prehistoric volcanic past and carved away by ice age floods. My home sits on a shelf of tightly packed silt; the land drops away again toward the river to the north.

The vegetation up there, by the way, is ponderosa pine with the occasional aspen grove. I’ll be planting some of those on my property in the years to come. The irrigation lines to get them started are already laid.

This morning, the light and clouds were perfect again for a golden hour shot of the front of my home, which faces east. I didn’t mind the truck being parked on the concrete apron by the big RV garage door — although the truck does manage to make the 14 feet tall by 20 feet wide door look small. I grabbed my phone again and hiked up my driveway and partially up the road behind my home. I took just three shots from different angles. This was the middle one and I like it best.

Morning at Home
This shot, taken this morning, shows off the front and north side of my home, as well as the view beyond. The view, privacy, and quiet is what sold me on this building site when I first saw it back in 2012.

Every time I look at my home, I realize that none of it would have been possible if I’d stayed married to the sad sack old man who was living in a rut in Arizona. I’m sad for him — he would have really liked it here, maybe as much as I do — but I’m thrilled to have had the freedom to build the home I wanted and to live the lifestyle I’ve come to cherish.

Life is what you make it. If you want something badly enough, you need to make it happen. There’s nothing that says that more to me than my home here at the Aerie.

New Home Questions Answered

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Your questions, answered in one place.

Since I began blogging day-by-day construction progress of my new home on May 20, 2014, I’ve gotten a lot of questions and comments from blog readers, Twitter followers, and Facebook friends and followers. I thought I’d respond to a few of the most common ones here.

“Not much in the way of foundations. Small wonder whole towns disappear when tornadoes hit.”

Hoisting with a Crane
The long posts were hoisted with a crane.

This comment appeared on the blog post for Day 2, which showed the posts supporting the building in place. News flash: there is no traditional “foundation” and there won’t be.

I’ve repeatedly linked to a Wikipedia article about pole buildings in an attempt to educate readers about this type of construction. Unfortunately, the ability to consume web content beyond looking at pictures and video remains above the skill level of many blog visitors.

The posts supporting my building are 6×8 or 8×8 (depending on length and position). Each pole is sunk 3 feet into a hole 4 feet deep and 3 feet across. The holes and post placement were inspected by the county literally minutes before the concrete trucks arrived to fill each hole with concrete.

As far as tornadoes go, the chances of a tornado barreling down a path along the base of the cliffs in Malaga, WA are pretty slim. So slim, in fact, that you stand a better chance of winning a lottery jackpot, being struck by lightning, and being attacked by a shark — all in the same day.

But just in case it does get windy, the building is designed to withstand gale force winds. I don’t recall the exact number, but I do remember it being over 100 miles per hour.

And if you’re worried about seismic activity when Mount Rainier turns Seattle into an ash-covered scene from a futuristic disaster film, it’s also built to withstand earthquakes — not that we’ve had any serious ones here in a very, very long time.

Where’s the foundation?

See above.

When are they going to pour the foundation?

See above.

Please tell me they’re going to pour a concrete slab.

They’re going to pour a concrete slab.

Really. They are.

For some reason, they do this after the building has been constructed. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s so they can drive equipment around inside without worries about damaging new concrete. Does it really matter? The building is not attached to a foundation or a slab so it doesn’t really matter when they pour it. For some pole buildings, they don’t pour a concrete slab at all. In fact, I could save a bunch of money now by putting off the pouring of my slab until I’ve got some more cash. And believe me, I’ve been thinking about that for the garage side, which really doesn’t need concrete right away.

My building will also have a floor drain in the RV garage. That’ll make it possible to do something silly — like wash my car or helicopter inside. (Imagine that!) Or for the building to someday be used as a wine-making facility. (That’s thinking ahead.) The concrete in the RV garage/shop side will be gently sloped to that drain; the concrete in the car garage side will be gently sloped toward the garage doors.

I’ve got it covered, folks.

Who designed the building? Did you work with an architect?

I designed the building. I did not work with an architect.

This probably saved me about $10K in design fees.

It’s also one of the reasons I went with a pole building. Not only is it simple construction, but the folks who specialize in pole buildings can make whatever you dream up a reality without getting costly third parties involved. I brought my sketches to Western Ranch Buildings and Tanya patiently worked with me to fine-tune them for cost effectiveness without sacrificing my must-have features — such as the windows and huge RV garage door. Tanya, working with an in-house engineer for some components, drew up plans that would satisfy the county and give the workers something to work with. If you saw how simple my building plans are, you’d be shocked.

As for the design itself, I thought about what I needed in the building — space for all of my possessions and a modest living area. Then I thought about what I wanted in the building — a shop area, windows to let in light and air and show off the views from inside, decks to take in the views from outside. I knew I wanted that living space on the second floor and I knew it had to face the views. Since the RV garage side needed to be tall to accommodate my RV and helicopter, the living space had to be over the regular garage. I went with a four-car garage because that’s what fit in the 24 x 48 foot space I limited the living space above to.

(County ordinances allow me to have two homes on my 10 acres, as long as one of them is under 1,200 square feet. Since I can’t afford to build a garage and a home, I’m building the 1,200 square foot living space first and leaving the prime building location available for the construction of a real home, likely by the property’s next owner. When I had the septic system installed, I ran lines for both building sites, so the next owner will be all set to build that dream house.)

In a way, the design emerged on its own. Sketches evolved. The original design was a huge square building with a standard peaked roof. But when my neighbor put in a split roof, I realized that it would not only look better but also give me another interior wall for windows into my living space. I changed my sketches accordingly and the final design took shape.

Everything I did was well thought out — hell, I had enough time to think about it — with plenty of consideration for future needs — even a future beyond my ownership.

Why aren’t the builders doing the interior of your living space, too?

Two reasons.

One is that these folks specialize in pole buildings. Although they can do interiors, it’s not what they usually do. Not only that, but they’re very busy and I really can’t delay this project any more than it has been delayed. (I’m sick of living in a trailer and want a solid roof over my head, preferably one that doesn’t sway when the wind blows.)

Floorplan
Here’s the living space floor plan as submitted to the county. It’s not 100% right, but it’s close enough for permitting purposes and to get bids on HVAC, framing, insulation, and drywall.

The other more important reason is money. I’m not quite sure what I can afford to get done. I know I can pay for the shell of the building; I’ve been saving for well over a year, living on the cheap in my RV to put aside every penny I can. The income I get from this season’s cherry drying work and the promise of a loan from a family member if I need it assures the shell will be done.

I’m not sure, however, how far I can stretch my money beyond that. I know I can save money by doing things myself; I have every intention of doing all the plumbing and electrical work, for example, and will likely do the floors and all the painting. But I also know that I need to hire professionals to do difficult things such as HVAC ductwork, framing, and drywall. By breaking down the living space project into sub-projects, I can do them one at a time, knocking them off as time and money allows.

With luck, heavy rain over the next few months, and a lot of hard work, I’ll be cooking up Thanksgiving dinner for friends in my new kitchen.

Can you share a conceptual drawing of what it will look like when done?

This question from a Facebook friend made me giggle. You see, they’re working so very quickly.

My response: If you wait two weeks, I’ll have a photograph.