Ridge Road Redo

Our House, Feb 2013

Since Steve and I moved into our home 11 years ago, we have tried to think of ways to make it more "ours."  We loved the inside layout of the house, but never thought the house had a lot of curb appeal.

After living in it for several years, we bit the bullet and completely re-landscaped the front yard, adding a sprinkler system, lighting, a concrete parking pad and a variety of new bushes and trees.  They have matured nicely over the years, and we like the look more and more.  However, we were still not fond of the fact that when we open our front door, we were immediately in the elements.  Not to mention, the front of our house takes a beating from the sun since we face southeast.  We tried to think of ways to add a covered porch since Homewood is such a front yard community, but could never think of anything since our yard is so small (and I hate to give up grass).

March 2018

Architect's sketch

But after being told we had some rotten window sills, we knew this was our opportunity to repaint our house, and do any other changes to the front so it is all tied together.  Therefore this past spring, we hired an architect to give us some ideas for the front of our house.  We loved one of the ideas he presented, so we hired a local contractor and went with it this summer.

Mid July we got started with the framing.  They changed the dormers by putting in two windows, and changing the roof to have a sloped roof.  In addition,we raised the center gable, and roofed
it all (in a quick 6 days).  Since we had so much leftover brick, we decided to build a new mailbox structure (since our previous mailbox has been replaced 3 times), and it turned out great!

During the second week of construction, they started the new overhang, putting up new cedar posts and beams, along with a gorgeous cedar ceiling.  They finished the siding, and roofed it all.  Then the new copper lanterns were installed (our architect recommended two new ones in a different shape).  We also installed half gutters off the front, and finally removed the railing on the right side, so our stairs "spilled" into our yard better.  The final decision was BY FAR the hardest one...paint color!

New construction is so popular in Homewood, and it seems that every new house is being painted a creamy white.  In fact, our street has three new white houses!  Since our house is so tall, I was afraid that it would not only look huge, but also look like every other new house, which I did not want.  My first choice was dark gray, with the idea that the cedar might turn light grey.  But after speaking to several people, I realized that is not how large cedar posts and beams react to Alabama weather.  Instead they dull in a variety of ways, turning lighter brown and mildewing and darkening if exposed to elements.  Since we wanted to keep the wood a consistent color, we decided to stain it.  But again, what color?

After meeting with our decorator and a decorator at the paint store, we decided on Gauntlet Gray for the house, Simply White for the trim and staining the cedar a water-based Cliffside Gray stain (only one coat so it wouldn't be too dark and we could see the wood grain).

But before we could even paint, we had to replace all of the rotten wood that got this process started in the beginning.  Sadly, we also had to replace three windows that were irreparable.  That process took a little longer than we thought it would, but it was done properly and it looks great now.  Our only decision left to make is whether or not to have custom shutters built for the dining room window (the one on the far right of house).  But for now, we are just going to enjoy the transformation of our home.

October 2018