New Adirondack Lifestyle Headquarters Coming Soon

One of the great room windows.

As regular readers to this blog know, my family and I are building a new home from scratch. You can read more about the process in the blog archives, but suffice it to say, the new digs have been a long time coming!
The process started in 2002 when the resident biologist turned lumberjack fell huge white and red pine trees. These big boys were eventually turned into much of the wood for the house. The trees had been blocking the view of the owner of Indian Pass Ranch, a local turn of the century estate here in Lake Placid. It was a barter deal executed on a handshake; Ed and his lumberjack friend re-opened the view and they received the lovely trees in exchange for their hard work. A portable band saw mill turned the trees into posts and beams and the other various sizes and shapes of wood necessary to build a home. Not wishing to be left out of the process, Mother Nature also cooperated and dropped a few trees back at the old homestead which have also been integrated into the design.

The new place is extremely vertically oriented and feels a little bit like a big tree house. I may have had something to do with that design aspect. An affliction left over from childhood, I love being up high, away from earthly concerns. I elaborated on why we are building our own home back in September.

Kitchen corner.

As anyone who makes their living building homes from scratch knows, the process frequently takes longer than one expects. Mother Nature also had her say in the building schedule in the form of torrential rain the week the roof was supposed to be completed, for example. But as with all good things, patience is essential so one has to get used to the wait. I didn't say patience is easy, but it is an important attribute when working on perfection in paradise. We are almost there!

Tree house powder room.

Photographs courtesy of Joann Sandone Reed.