We
arrived and were led up the temporary steps to the house and then ushered
inside the blue sheeting that covers the frame. It then struck us that we were,
for the first time, standing inside our house! With the frame fully up and
standing on the wooden flooring beams, we could finally experience the scale of
the place we plan to be living for the next 20-25 years. We were finally able
to appreciate the layout, the flow from area to area and, perhaps most
importantly, the size of the rooms.
We
actually began our tour of the house standing on the outside wood deck. We have
talked in previous entries about how we like the Japanese idea of the inside
blending with the outside and it was immediately clear that they builders had
achieved this. There is a kind of roofing in Japan called noki (軒), often found on temples, where the roof extends over the
outside walkway and is supported by vertical beams. This allows for good
weather protection and the ability to transition from inside to outside without
having to put on shoes or use an umbrella. There’s a good page with more
information (Japanese) about noki
here.
Downstairs,
we were particularly pleased with the size of the study and the laundry room,
both of which seemed bigger than on the printed plans. The corridor that runs
from north to south is a little narrower than expected but as long as I can lay
off the Costco hot dogs a bit, I should still be able to squeeze down it.
Relatively speaking, corridors are kind of wasted space anyway, especially in a
small house, so it’s not something we are too bothered by.
Having
walked around the downstairs and chosen the height at which to put lights and
where to put the plug sockets and light switches, we were surprised to be told
that our next stop was the second floor. Obviously there is no staircase yet so
we had to make do with a long (and pretty wobbly) ladder. Being the brave one,
I went first to show Yuko how it’s done. Since I weigh about twice as much as
her, I can’t imagine the bending and contorting of the ladder as I tramped up
it made her especially comfortable but, by that point, I was too busy taking in
the second floor!
I
presume Yuko got up the ladder ok since she soon joined me upstairs. We both
looked around the main living space in silence. It was surreal – somehow, it
was both exactly as we expected and yet, at the same time, a complete surprise.
Standing in the middle of the living room and seeing where the balcony is
(covered by a sheet so we couldn’t see the view this time), the pantry, the
Japanese room, the height of the ceiling, the wooden beams etc. was such an
awesome experience. Even though it’s just a frame and a sheet (did I mention no
walls?!), for the first time we could imagine actually living in the house. Seriously cool stuff!
We
ran through a few more decisions about lighting and plug sockets and took a few
pictures and, before we knew it, we were in the car and on our way home (via
conveyor belt sushi and the golf range), no doubt smiling from ear to ear. It’s
been a tough journey to get to this stage but we’re finally getting to the point
where we can start to look forward to living in the house rather than just
building it!
That’s
it for this entry. More photos to follow next time I hope. In the meantime,
enjoy the very much blue-sheet influenced photos below.
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| The downstairs |
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| Upstairs. You can see the high sloping ceiling with exposed beams and the loft area above the tatami room |
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| View from the front door down the genkan |
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| Wooden floor beams. This is the master bedroom |
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| The wooden beams in the bedroom. Will be left exposed like this |
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