The Liberalarium and other news

Now that the midterm elections are over with, we dread the creeping conservatism that is bound to take over the country.  Thus we are renaming our conservatory to now be called the liberalarium!  This name is more befitting for a household of bleeding heart, tree-hugging, animal whispering, left wingers.  So it's not a greenhouse, an orangerie or a conservatory; it's a liberalarium!

On to other news.  The interior is shaping up nicely, but we are holding off posting pictures since the work is proceeding on several fronts and no one room is completely finished.  Stay tuned.

The conservatory liberalarium! is now wired for electricity (as are the garden walls) and it has the southern skylights installed.

The skylights being installed on the liberalarium.

Trim and tile work are proceeding well and there is a lot of both.  Here's a picture of Isabel enjoying a dog toy on the tile being used for the shower floors:

Isabel on the shower floor tiles.  They must be pretty comfortable.

We also had three celebrations over the last few weeks.  Jason had a birthday, Scott had his birthday and of course we had a Christmas surprise one morning.  Here are the pictures (sadly there isn't one from Scott's party, but he's young enough to have many more):

Happy birthday for Jason (sorry he's blurry)

The Stylecraft crew the morning after a visit from Santa Claus.  

Back row:  Bruce, Sergey, Scott

Seated in front:  Jason

Jason's blurry again (hmmmmm, makes him seem kind of shady!)

Onward and upward,
Mark, Mark & Isabel

Planet Mark and Project Updates

Jason, the builder, now calls our project "Planet Mark" in reference to the complex of structures associated with the main house.  Here's a view illustrating what he's talking about:

The main house, garden walls, conservatory, pond, rain garden and garage of Planet Mark.

Here are some pictures to update you on the project's progress:

The conservatory walls.

The conservatory with its roof.  Yes, that's the darkest conservatory you may have seen, but the glass skylights 

still need to be put in.  Wait and see.

The pond and rain garden area.  The wooden structures are the supports for the plank walkways.  The pond hasn't been filled in this picture.

Another view of Planet Mark.

Onward and Upward,
Mark, Mark & Isabel

The Great Wall of Dolman

A couple of years ago we visited China and walked up a long section of the Great Wall.  Here's what it was like:

The Great Wall of China.  You get a Hero card if you make it to the top of this section.

And here's the kind of thing you see along the way:

A formal garden near the Great Wall of China.

Well we don't have the enforced labor of thousands of Chinese nor do we have several hundred years, but we are building two walled gardens as part of our project.  The idea is that they will form two courtyards off the south side of the house.  One comes off of the living room and the other comes off of the library.

Here's the first picture, I will chronicle the building of these walls as they progress:

View from front of the garden wall forms before concrete is poured.  The chalk lines 

are 3 shuttered windows that will be put in after the concrete is poured.

View from the roof next door showing the two walled garden rooms that will be created 

when the concrete is poured.  The one toward the street will be the English cottage garden 

and the other one will be the more structured eating area.

And yes, we know they can only be 6 feet high according to the historic code.  Give us some time to finish them and finish grading the land.  I think the results will be quite pleasing.  The courtyard room off the library is going to be an informal English garden and the one off of the living room will be a more structured area for outdoor eating.

Onward and upward,

Mark, Mark & Isabel

Colonel Mustard in the Conservatory with the Candlestick

Get a clue!  We realized we were re-creating the popular board game by building a library and now a conservatory in this wildly complicated project.  We're considering the conservatory to be our project's crown jewel.

I will chronicle its construction in much the same way I showed different pictures of the main house as it went up.  Here's the first picture:

This is a view of the conservatory foundation wall.  The conservatory is attached to the back of the main house.  The doors shown above will lead into the conservatory from the house.  There will be a set of french doors in the middle of the wall in this picture that lead out to the rest of the yard.

Dear Mark,

Isn't a conservatory a bit snooty?  Wouldn't it be less haughty to just call it a greenhouse?

Sincerely,
A member of the unwashed masses




Dear Unwashed,

You need to pick up a book once in a while.  I believe a greenhouse is a structure devoted to the raising of plants, very often veggies or annuals.  Such a structure is designed to provide the best environment for plants.  An orangerie (that's o-ron-gery) is an example of a greenhouse built at the turn of the century (that's the 19th century) that allowed folks to grow citrus fruits in cold climates.  A solarium is the kind of structure people build that provides an environment mostly conducive to humans.  But a conservatory is the best of both worlds in that it is designed to accommodate plants and humans (and dogs).

Sincerely,
Mark, the not-so-high and mighty



Our conservatory is designed after the Linnean house at the Missouri Botanical Garden.  This is the structure immediately to the left after you first enter the garden from the main building.  Currently it's under construction, but is ordinarily where they house the camelias.  Our idea is to be able to have a garden all year long and enjoy the fragrance and sight of plants even in winter.

In my mind our conservatory will be the perfect place for breakfast cooked by the maid and served by the butler.  Whooops, looks like we are getting a wee bit uppity.


Onward and upward,
Mark, Mark and Isabel