North elevation

Unless you are the oil delivery guy or our maintenance-phobic neighbors, this is the least important view of the house (click on image to enlarge). We just use this side to access the only remaining working outdoor faucet, as the cold winter burst the ones on the deck and in the back. (Captain Stupid* says: “Insulating exterior waterpipes is over-rated.”)

Here is a quick rundown of what this image represents:

1. The terraced garden, which we’ve now filled with bamboo and a few other plants. We’d tried making this a vegetable garden; it ended up being a salad bar for deer. Not the best use of our money or time. (It only took us seven years to learn this lesson.)

2. An overhang will protect us while we enter the front door.

3. This new dormer provides some curb appeal and sunlight for the upstairs bathroom (click image, also #3).

4. Existing guest bedroom; used as my husband’s dressing room.

5. New downstairs bathroom (click image, also #5), which retains an existing window.

6. New guest bedroom.

7. Slope of the hill from lower level to upper level.

8. Main deck.

9. Master deck, with much-needed visual protection from the neighbors. (They probably feel the same way about us.)

10. Chimney. The house remains at its original height.

* Captain Stupid is our nick-name for the previous owner of this house, a do-it-yourself wronger.