Chandlerville - Part 4
“Are you really building a house out of your garage?” people ask. Yup, that’s what I’m doing.
"Won’t it be too small?” they go on. Nope, indeed it will not.
And then, “Where will the car go?” is their next question. Outside where it belongs. I want to add ‘wouldn’t it be better if we put people inside and inanimate things outside.’ I stop short though. I’m already nuts in their eyes.
I can’t wait to make my life smaller, reduce my surroundings to something that makes more sense for me. And better, one that’s bespoke: this is going to reflect my taste, my needs, my life. It will be Chandlerville.
However, when you’re poised, as I am, to take flight in a new direction, it’s not entirely clear how Chandlerville should look. Yes, at my age, I have some clear ideas about decor. I know I prefer bold colour over muted; contrast over consistency; chaos over order (to a point). The harder part is knowing what I will need because indeed I am not clear what my life is going to look like.
While I am leaving my law practice in two weeks, I’m not retiring. I will continue to work, and in the new work-world, some of that work - if not most - will be done from home. So the place has to have space conducive to home-work: natural light, windows for gazing out and that open, a good Zoom background, space for many computer monitors (I currently have three) and all the other peripherals, room for some reference books and a filing cabinet (yes, I’m old), and so on.
But I also want space to be creative with my writing - the stuff I really want to find time for - and what does that look like? Most of my writing in the last two years has been from the table in my gazebo and, in more wintery weather, sitting at the dining room table. Are these the right environments for getting the juices flowing? Would I be better off in a comfy chair or on the sofa? Will I have the right spaces in my new digs? What about lighting? And do I need to keep all my collection of memoir, novels, how-to books on writing, and the rest of my 40 year collection of books to provide the inspiration both in content and as a visual prompt? Does space matter?
Then of course there’s the other stuff I like to do - cook, eat, entertain, nurture houseplants, look outside at my garden, watch TV in a cosy bed, listen to music, read a good book (or Hello magazine), chat on the phone, doomscroll, play Wordle, bask in a steam sauna, and the list goes on. In 550 square feet, I have to have spaces that serve multiple purposes to accommodate all these wide-ranging activities.
These are the things that dominate my thinking while I watch the contractors inch towards a completed laneway suite.
So what’s happened since I last wrote?* I wish I could show you something above ground that would really knock your holiday socks off. But no, my contractors are still focussed on the infrastructure — important yes, sexy no.
The trench, reported in part 3, exists no more; they closed it up early this week. Water, gas, hydro, and waste water lines are all nestled in the ground under layers of styrofoam, protected against freezing. It’s a major step forward and I’m pleased the mounds of dirt are now back where they should be, all before the ground freezes solid. This bodes well for my projected March move-in.
The other major below-the-ground undertaking was pouring columns to support the second storey. That happened a couple of weeks ago. I never felt so excited to see a cement truck - truth is, this really was my first ever cement-truck-related excitement. Life is strange.
As melodious as the sounds of a jack hammer are coming from the garage - reported in the last instalment - I was surprised at how pleased I was to also hear them from the basement of the house. Yes, my furnace room floor has been dug up to accommodate the connections to the services at the house end. Again, not exciting on its face, but definitely up there on the scale for me.
The service connections at the laneway suite end will all happen inside a room that will adjoin Chandlerville but be accessible only from the outside. The room wasn’t part of the original design but is necessary to accommodate the reservoir for the sprinkler system - all required because of the distance to a fire hydrant. These are the snags they don’t tell you about from the outset! Good thing too, because the sprinkler, its reservoir, and this extra room have inflated the price by about 30%, still much lower than buying a new house, but certainly could be a roadblock for many (and maybe should have been for me, but that’s another story). Much work has gone into preparing for the slab to be poured for the side building which should happen next week.
While I can’t share with you photos of anything finished yet on the inside, I’m very pleased to unveil the kitchen design from Lucvaa Custom Kitchens. The picture is below and their website here. I’ve also ordered all the appliances and planned which kitchen items I will take with me and which will stay in the house. The extent of my kitchen stuff is embarrassing but also fortunate in these circumstances!
Nothing will please me more than to get into such a beautiful environment - surely my pre-pandemic love for cooking and entertaining will return right quickly once I’m in there. I can hear you now - but where will the guests sit? Got that covered too - the space will accommodate a ‘transformer table’ and I promised myself I’d buy one once I’d moved in. But through the wonders of Facebook Marketplace, I scored one for half retail price and in perfect condition; it’s in my basement now ready to move to Chandlerville once the space allows.
So it’s all coming together. Things will slow down a little in the holidays. But I’ll be here documenting full-time in January, as my life slows down too. Can’t wait.
* Read more about Chandlerville - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6.
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