The house is complete, our builder gave us the keys and we can finally move in today...

Finally, the limestone masonry work is finished on the outside of the house. Here's a picture of the front of the house - we're super happy with the final result!

And here's a picture of the finished fireplace on the back patio. We'll be adding a cedar mantle and outdoor TV above that.

The tile work inside is still a work in progress, but our master bath is completed. Our big new tub will go between the 2 vanities on the left. We had to special order the 600lb cast iron tub ourselves, and it is supposed to be delivered on July 30. The trick is going to be persuading Ferguson's to deliver it right into the master bath where it belongs...

Here's a shot of the floor tile and kitchen cabinets, taken from the middle of our new living room. All we need now the appliances and electrical fixtures (and oh yeah, plumbing fixtures)..

And this is what the tile flooring looks like throughout most of the house. 3 of the bedrooms and the guest retreat will be carpeted, but the rest is tile. Can't wait to move in -- the builder now says no later than September 13!

This week the tile flooring and countertops are being installed. The color of the granite on the kitchen countertops is called "Typhoon Bourdeaux". Since the kitchen island is 14 feet across, the countertop had to be cut from 3 different slabs. But they've done a great job matching up the patterns along the seams.

Our septic system has been installed. Although not as exciting as the masonry work, it's really important to include that in our plans...

And they've started working on our fireplace on the back patio. Karen bought a cedar log mantle piece at Trading Days a couple of weeks ago, Later, that will be mounted on the 2 pipes sticking out above the fireplace. We can already see ourselves sipping on a glass of wine in front of a fire later this fall.

They've finished the other side of the house, and started working on the back patio. It's really coming along. The limestone brickwork is beautiful, the pictures really don't do it justice.