Cedar point

Since beginning this home renovation journey, we wanted a water feature in which to submerge ourselves. Our original architect, Jimmy, fueled our ridiculous desire for a lap pool we couldn’t afford. We also investigated the feasibility of a stainless steel hot tub or conventional spa and even went so far as to visit the SwimEx facility in Massachusetts. (If you can buy a SwimEx, do it. We were able to try it out—was like swimming in a happy river. Wonderful!)

All these options had one problem in common: No way to get the water feature from the front of the house where it would be delivered to the back of the house where it would be needed.

Then my Google addiction bore fruit: I found SeaOtter WoodWorks natural handcrafted cedar hot tubs.

With the dumpster finally gone, on Sunday, Matt and I unpacked the crate that Chris packed for us in Haines, Alaska, on April 25. The contents were in pristine condition after all those weeks of sitting under a torn blue tarp in our driveway.

Early on in the planning process, we mapped out where the hot tub would be located; Steve’s crew reinforced that section of deck.

When I placed the order in February, Bill asked me about our plans for the tub and I told him about our lakefront view—and our wild birds.

We hand carried all the hot tub parts down and around our house to the new lower deck. When we got to the last four staves (of 45), the carvings stopped us in our tracks: A Swan! A Mallard! A Great Blue Heron! And a Kingfisher! Four of my favorite birds—on my hot tub!

Building the hot tub was a three-person job. Like a couple of amateur coopers, the two of us got as far as assembly. Putting the last stave in place was challenging and frustrating—a bit like a segment of America’s Funnies Home Videos—but we managed to git er dun. Next up is electrical and plumbing.

On Saturday, Matt and I had put together a key feature of the deck skirting: A barn door on a bullet track with carefully aligned cedar planks. Stepping back, we saw how nicely it all came together: The wide cedar planks anchoring the house, the narrow cedar planks providing privacy and the cedar staves of our gorgeous hot tub.