Side Fence

not as glamorous as the other projects but needed to be done. every step adds a little more consistency to the overall design.

Rock Garden

whew, tons of dirt (literally) and 7000 pounds of crushed gravel later. man, who would have known what a task this was going to be. i actually got a little "tennis elbow" from all the pick-axing but as always when you're done you forget how hard it was. a little green around the edges and it'll be very nice.

ROOTS!

unfortunately not the Alex Haley kind! i was looking forward to grading the "lawn" for the Japanese rock garden i'm putting in but had to replace the drainage pipe instead 'cause it had 40 years of root infiltration! put the sconces in as well, they look great!! they were particularly hard to find. you can still see them on period apartments in the area but more difficult to actually purchase.

Screen and House Numbers

this was the first ting i made but had to get all the other stuff ready before installing it. finally able to put it in this weekend!

Concrete!

was digging up the old bricks and prepping the ground for the new concrete pad when i came across the main waterline to the house. well, if i'm going to cover it with concrete i better replace it first. 40 year old galvanized is bound to fail soon. mixed and poured 2500 lbs. of concrete by hand. you'd think it'd make more of an impression wouldn't 'ya.

Inspiraration

before i started on this journey i came across this book at Cliff's Books in Pasadena. one of the few great used bookstores left in the world. it's a book of plans and ideas for houses ranging from 2000 square feet and down. quite modest by today's McMansion super size me world of overindulgence. most were 1100-1400 square feet and ranging anywhere from $8-15 dollars per square foot, yes, that is correct. pretty amazing when most houses sell for $500 per in the SoCal area. the house were designed by such imminent architects as Neutra and Craig Elwood. it's a great time capsule of design sensibilities when modern architecture was becoming more accepted and common place. the whole idea behind it was simplicity and smarter use of materials.

the Fence

the ground is always soft and rich and about as easy to cut as butter in the pictures you see in how-to books. the reality is...a little different. i came across this rock when digging the fence post that was bigger than my head. you can see the old fence and the new one going up. the new one was made from fiberglass panels. my dad made one similar on their old house and i thought it would look good here. ignore the gate, that will get changed out as well. with the fence done the elements that don't fit are really starting to stand out.