Building
plans are in
October 4 - After many hours and a few more rum &
cokes with Nicolas, the architect and general contractor - and
fellow Frenchman!, we have finally agreed on home plans and have
submitted them to the local authorities for approval. They have
already been reviewed by the College of Architecture and Engineeing,
a requirement here in Costa Rica.
We
will be building a 'basic' house - relative to US standards, but
of good quality relative to Costa Rican standards. It will be
2 floors.
The
ground floor will cover approximately 1100 square feet and will
include an air conditioned office, to protect the computers, books
and electronics from the humidity. There will be a large open
kitchen with a pantry behind it. Washing machines, storage freezers,
and stored food supplies will be kept in the pantry. There is
a guest bathroom next to the pantry and kitchen. Between the kitchen
and office will be a fairly large open space which will eventually
become the living and dining areas. With the exception of the
office and pantry, the entire ground floor will be completly open
without any doors or windows. The living area will face the ocean
and gardens on one side and the woods (primary rainforest) on
the other side.
The
second floor will be our private living quarters. It will be about
600-700 hundred square feet and include our bedroom, Maya's bedroom,
bathroom and a nice terrace to enjoy the spectacular views from
above. Each room will have individual balconies allowing access
to the outdoors from the rooms. This is also true for the bathroom,
where we will have a woods view. Our bedroom will be completely
open to the outdoors with wooden louvered windows that can close
at night. There is no glass on any of the windows...just screen.
The weather here is so nice that noone has glass on any homes.
We will actually be an exception with the office. The two bedrooms
will be connected by the terrrace and also a 'walk-in' closet.
I hope these descriptions help to understand the photos to the
right.
The
materials used will be primarly cement / block / tile / Convitex
(a styrofoam sound, temperature and earthquake proof materail)
for the ground floor and exoctic hardwoods for the top floor.
We will bypass the tin roof option for the roof and go with a
unique shingle type material which will blend-in nicely with the
setting. The roof will be much taller than the one seen in the
pictures to the right.
The
house has been designed to be temperature efficient and to catch
the breezes that climb up the mountain. The second floor will
be 13 feet above the first and the roof will be somewhat higher
than that. Very high ceilings!!!! All rooms (except the air conditioned
office) are open to thet others, thus allowing air to move freely
through the entire house.
We
have begun to assimilate our building materials. The posts for
the structure are being cut out of a Nisporo tree - one of the
world's hardest hardwoods (see pics above). The wood for the floors
has been ordered. They have found the right tree in norther Costa
Rica and are presently cutting 8 inch wide boards out. It is an
Almendro tree, another hardwood with beautiful qualities. The
walls, windows, and most of the other wood will be a local cedar,
with impressive colorations within it.
OK,
so now, you're all thinking: Where's the guest room? Answer: you'll
find out when you come down!!!
Snake
in the Yard
Not
long ago, we were having lunch at home, when all the sudden a
loud whoosh came into a heliconia bush just next to the house.
It was Laughing Falcon (big yellow and black bird) that had sighted
a Green Parrot Snake and came down to prey on it. It snapped it's
head in half and began to eat the snake until it saw us and took
off. Take a look at this snake...which was just a few yards away
from us. It is NOT a dangerous snake!
OUI
OUI Update
He
is still alive and at this point, odds are that he WILL make it.
Maya and OUI OUI are learning to live in harmony and both care
for each other more and more.
Welcome
Christian
We
welcome Emmanuelle's father to Costa Rica. He arrived at the end
of September and most likely will move here with us. Christian
was a chef in Frane and has been blessing us with wonderful meals
every night.
New
Wheels
Yep!
We gave in to a new (used) 4-wheel quad motorbike! There is nothing
better for getting around here and it uses a lot less gas than
the Jeep. Maya and Emmanuelle are especially pleased!
Manuel
in Miami
Manuel
is in Miami from the 4th through the 16th of October. He can be
reached at 305-573-9000.
