OH it turned out wonderful I am so filled with envy. I know you will have your lovely plants growing in all around it in no time.

How hard does it look like it is going to be to put the spiral stairway together? Did it come in a box or??

oh that's beautiful! lucky you. i'd love to have a big work space like that! can't wait to see the stucco on - and the inside.

If I can do so, I will video the application of the stucco, which is a spray-on direct to the cement block. When they did it to the house, they first installed the Duroc cement board, a brand name like Hardie Board for the same stuff, I'm told. So the Teahouse exterior will match the house, both will be white.

That little window which is real glass, will have a pair of working shutters installed to the wooden framework, with a small shamrock cut into them. Then we can close off that one vulnerable opening to secure the Teahouse from tropical storms. I'm thinking a small window box as well, with pots of nice red or pink geraniums in them. Since that faces west, it is best to rotate plants in/out to give them some relief. I can see this image in my head, viewable from the kitchen window, or from the sun porch, and I know it will be a reminder of such peace and quiet we found in Ireland. My DH is proud of his Irish heritage, both his parents emigrated from there around 1905-10.

That is well on it's way to neat. I love the name.

I like the doors - like barn doors. I would love to see Ireland. So far I've only seen travel videos. Around here we always have to consider the cold, where you live its the storms. The window box sounds very picturesque.

Katrina, yes, we do have to consider the storms, but we manage to luck out some years.

The stucco crew showed up this morning to prepare the surface of the exterior for the layers of stucco. They will even put a "lip" over the two garage doors to keep water from running down inside. This is the same crew who covered the house bumpout with stucco and matched it so nicely. I am getting VERY excited now.

And oh yes, indeed, I want the window box mounted under that window. Perfect Irish touch. Then a pair of shutter to close with the small shamrock cutout as a design. That glass window is the most vulnerable feature of the Teahouse, yet I think we needed it to be there.

Once the stucco job is complete, the spiral stair will be put together. It came as a kit, you specify the way you want the spiral to go, where you want the landing, any addons, etc. It came in a box bigger than a stove/range, but I did not see it in the box. The contractor had it shipped to himself, and delivered it to the backyard where they uncrated it and put the pieces inside the Teahouse next to their installation spot. I have not touched it at all, because I want no parts to disappear.

Oh boy, it won't be long now. Then I can begin restoring the garden plants. My garden helper/friend came over this morning and dug the big hole required to transplant the large lace-leafed Japanese maple from our river lots. I finally figured that it should be located where I can see this beauty from the dining room and the sun porch. We will move it (takes 3 people at least to load it) on Thursday.
A Japanese maple planted on St. Pats Day in front of an Irish Teahouse. Good timing, methinks.

Yes, this morning the guy showed up to install the spiral stairs. How confused I get with what the final look will be, which way they spiral. And of course, the stairs are going to go UP as well as DOWN, come to think of it. Soon I will be able to walk up to the loft. Not MUCH headroom, but enough for me. Glad I'm not a tall person. Maybe tonight I can upload the complete stair. The railing will come later. Made out of wood, and it will be a bench if I can get away with it. No kids going up there, adult only zone. I do not think this has to be approved by code but we will soon find out.

Todays progress:
Spiral stairs assembled, ready for railing.

2. People door (plus window and double "garage" doors) have eyebrow added and are trimmed out. Other picture had deep shadow and did not show up very well.

3. Exterior surfaces have cracks mortared, Duroc cement board (plus insulation beneath it) added to both end gables
Note that the cement blocks are not so visible any more.

WOW ML coming along nicely. Stairs are neat. Can you go up them with out railing? I would be terrified but then I am so afraid of heights.

ML- Your teahouse is amazing! I can't believe how quickly it's all come together. In no time, you'll be hanging that window box and planting the geraniums. Have you decided on pink or red...or are you going to rotate the color? What about the shutters? Green, with shamrock cut outs? I'm looking forward to seeing your next pictures...it's going to be beautiful! :)

I didn't know they could do stucco like that. Nice stairs, looks like they'll be maintenance free. You and your DH have done so much!

Shades, I'm looking forward to hiding out in my loft The mfgr has yet to ship one of the railings for the top landing of the stairs, so it will be open until they pop that into place. I also decided to leave off any security railing for the loft itself, so I could have full access to loading awkward shaped items off to the side. If need be later on, I can always build a sort of low bench across the open space.
The finishing carpenter adjusted the doors to swing properly, hung me two very long 2x4 boards I can use to suspend my hanging flower baskets. I won't use hooks, I will instead put circular loops of rope over the boards, then put the pot hanger through both ends of the loops. No nails, no screws, nothing to weaken the wood.

I've loved this tree for 7 years now, and on St. Patricks Day we yanked it out of the ground and planted it. Took 3 people, a truck, and a comealong. I'm not sure of the variety, but it will have very lacy leaves, just now beginning to come out. I was hoping for a few more cool days to give it a rest, but today was in the 80s. It really adds a lot to the courtyard area in front of the Teahouse. Here is a shot of it in its new location.

Oops, I thought this was it, too, but it is the very short and very round Japanese maple that is closer to the Teahouse, also in the courtyard.

....and another foggy morning in Mobile.

How fun to be able to garden. I can say now I am looking froward to it. Too soon here. I did go out and clean up dogs yard and add a few more lines to my clothesline. Until I ran out. Going to have to buy another spool. Adore your foggy pictures and it will make it nice for your transplanted tree. So the Tea house is all stucco now? Looks like it in pictures. What a wonderful transformation.

Going to be sloothing through yours and flowerladies yard pictures for yard ideas for here. Even though we can not grow the same plants I am sure I will gather lots of fun design ideas.

I am sorry for going off topic but you gotta see this one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Doxie Fashion

ML, I love these pictures of your progression, and I adore those stairs. You're going to put the rail back on after you get everything up there, right?

I'm doing an experiment here. Off topic but ADORABLE.

Marti, you are the one afraid of heights? Or is it Shades?
Anyway, I probably will put a low wide bench like a rail around a deck, and the black metal rail which came with the stair kit will go up when it arrives.

I found some bright red geraniums with deep green leaves at WalMart today, also 2 satsuma trees in bloom for DH, and 1 blooming pink Japanese magnolia. Then 8 Wintergreen dwarf boxwood, and one flat of bright red dianthus. I'm also looking for a real Irish flag to hang flat on the wall inside the Teahouse. I cleared the plants out of the sun porch, and now DH is thinking he can set up his computer out there. Not on your life! That is going in the front bedroom which will become the study. I also bought some copper pipe 3/4" and 1" to make the double 84" wide curtain or drapery rods for the master bedroom. Espresso dupioni silk lined, don't think they will be heavy weight, and then the back rod will have cream colored sheers. DH also hung the closet doors and the bathroom door, which I must paint. But, for now I have to eat and help move the gazebo to our neighbor's yard. I think I just posted this to the wrong thread, but I might just copy and paste it to the Master Suite thread. Sigh. One project at a time is ENOUGH.

And here is the finished stucco job, done by Bill Copeland here in Mobile AL. I've uploaded a few videos of them doing the spray work, to my Youtube MoccasinLanding account. And here are three of the latest. As the stucco dries, it will become whiter. I sat my geraniums in front of it to see what it looked like, decided I need a LOT of geraniums to make an impression.

Bill Copeland said he wanted to see the end result, when we paint some trim green and put a couple of shamrocks on it, and set up the windowbox. He said he did his best to make it "pretty," which I dearly appreciate, since it started out looking like a pig's ear if you remember way back then.
No roof, falling down, tree trying to move it, etc.
But....TAAA DAAAAA....

This was the last wall to be sprayed, so its color is still creamier looking.

First one sprayed.

And now for the finishing touches inside. Which will take a little while, but it will be fairly easy, mostly decorating after the general contractor moves his scaffolding out of the way. Not a bad day's work.

Oh yes. He said he used about 500 pounds of sand and who knows how much mortar in this final spray coat.

WOW This turned out WONDERFUL!! You really dazzled that pigs ear to pretty Irish cottage. Do you find yourself going to the window to look at it over and over?? I would be doing that!!!

Can't wait to see how you do up the inside.

It looks great! Not EVEN the same building. How is the inside coming?

At this point, I am resting a little. The contractor has to pull out his equipment inside the Teahouse, and now we work on the condition of the soil around the building. We only have a few weeks before it gets hot, and any new plantings will require more watering, so I want to get the structure of the garden in place before then. We have an air conditioner for the interior, so it will not be sweltering when the season grows hotter. An air conditioned greenhouse sounds like an anomaly, but it won't be really COLD, just knocking the heat back a bit for both man and greenery. I am getting a "feel" for the volume of the space, and it is GREAT having a high ceiling, raising the eye upward, and then a lower sheltered part beneath the loft. The plan is a new opportunity for me to try different things, and I love the ideas I'm seeing. The word INGLENOOK might be appropriate for beneath the loft? Just not a seating area, but my cutting/work table, the bird cages, some decent neat storage. Then upstairs to the loft. I am still mentally moving furnishings around up there. But first a RUG on that floor. 8 x 20. Think I should use a pad beneath it?

ML I would say NO pad. I am afraid anything you might trip on would be dangerous. A flat rug would be great. We got one for the master bath on the cheep at 20 dollars. Mostly to attract the mud that comes in with the dogs. Plan was to use it, clean it as needed and toss it when it gets too yucky. But there is not much chance of me falling over the edge of some thing in the bath. LOL

Another thing. My DH built me a gate on the loft at our last house. I could open it to get larger things up there but there was still safety for me. At this house loft he built railings.All around. I HAD to have them. I am terrified of heights. Even 8 foot freaks me out.

I know you want to keep it as open as possible but please consider your safety.There might be building code about this.Can you tell I am worried?

Shades, I hear you there. No pad for the rug, and we will make a railing for the loft. Not sure when exactly, but it will be there. Please do not worry, I have a protective streak for my own safety also.
:)

I'm so happy for you, been following the progress of your teahouse. Can't wait to see it when the trim and all the plantings around it are in place. Envious.

I like Inglenook for it. And I hear you on the garden work. Everything stops around here when spring planting starts because they have to get established before the horrible heat makes life miserable for both humans and plantings.

Schoolhouse, glad to have you aboard on the Teahouse project.
It is a labor of love. Not really a RENOVATION because we never saw a picture of the garage with its flat shed roof that was the original construction. It was in such bad shape, even the contractor was doubtful it could be saved. Purists might raise an eyebrow over what we've done, but it works for us. My DH is a "bomb shelter" kind of guy, and I am prone to flights of fancy so I can try out new stuff. (Hence the spiral stairs, been itching to have a set.)

We toured through Bellingrath Gardens and the home yesterday with our family guests, result being total exhaustion today. It is overcast but no wind, by noon if it is not raining I may feel up to some yard work. Lovely day really, with a chorus of bird songs coming from every tree.
Have a great spring day, everyone.

I like Inglenook too.

We kind of name the rooms in our house too. My arts working room is the Studio and that is tongue in cheek kind of studio. The master bath is the dog house.The dinning room is The Sitting Room.the rest of the rooms are what they really are.

Haven't checked this thread in a while and now am so glad I did. What an incredibly wonderful makeover!!! Once dilapidated, now gorgeous. And I thought you were just going for a rustic facelift!!! I'm so jealous you have a loft. That was an afterthought for my glasshouse and SO says it's not structurally feasible, so I'm bummed :( I'm still trying to scheme how to get it done. LOL
Waiting for warmer weather so I can get out and finish my little retreat. Sister and family coming from Australia for a month's visit so I will have more helpers. The building permit expires near the end of May, so we must get hopping.

The stucco looks great. I always wanted a stucco house for some reason. Not in a cold climate though. If it were me I would furnish it to make it as easy maintenance as possible. A place to really relax in and not worry about always cleaning. You are making good progress, I am looking forward to doing some landscaping myself when things finally warm up around here.

Rafor, I think it was a Balinese house that I saw MANY years ago, which was of bamboo, with big timbers coming to a four-sided pyramid at the top. It was on stilts, raised up for air circulation beneath. There were the wide overhangs, and the sides also rolled up and then at the peak of the roof pyramid, a vent opened to allow air flow to exhaust the hot air. What was so neat about it, in the center of the structure was a raised platform, which stood there on posts, with a lower sheltered space beneath it, and then sitting upon it was the sleeping space surrounnded by netting, what we'd call mosquito netting a la tropical rain forest. It was this design which I suggested to a friend who felt sleeping within a pyramid would be healthy for him....maybe he should have tried it, because he died at 59 about 2 years ago this month.

I saw the original house depicted on the end papers of a WWII book, called THREE CAME HOME, which was made into a movie starring Claudette Colbert as an American POW in a Japanese camp in the jungles of SE Asia.

I think this idea is an old one, sort of post and beam style, and it gives a sense of enclosure within a high ceilinged space. A free-standing "inglenook" perhaps?

I barely squeezed a loft into my Teahouse, but it really gives a great sense of height to the un-lofted part of the space. And we could still bring a car inside if necessary...which I hope might not be any larger than a Fiat Punto or a really tiny thing that takes nothing away from the Teahouse style. I'm more into LESS IS MORE these days, and am exploring the WABI SABI concept of Japanese culture.

Good to see you back among us, Raf....
And Kat, I'm with you on the NO CLEANING. :)

ML Some inspiration for you and your loft.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gorgeous loft

Shades, I visited that site, and it's taken me two hours to get back here. I agree, that is some inspirational loft!
Did you see that slab of a coffee table? Oh boy.

That is a neat place. What do you think this material is on this backsplash? Glass over something red, or something else?

Guessing it is glass over red paint or maybe just red glass.Leaning glass over paint as red glass is very expensive. They use gold in it to turn it red. Not sure how that all works.

ML I also spent time at that blog after posting the link I saw the blog. That table is a real beauty.

There were several things about that loft that was similar to your loft.

ML- It's amazing how much that little teahouse has changed! It's beautiful and makes the perfect 'away space' for you :)

Marti, that looks like something that IKEA sells, and they are super reasonable with pricing. Take a look at their kitchen setups online. Sigh. I love IKEA.

And I am totally exhausted today. The teahouse HAS changed, and I am so pleased with it. Today, I was out shovelling dirt piles away from the exterior, most of it the subsoil clay, until I got down to the really rich topsoil made from years of leaves stacking up. Tomorrow, I will try to plant my leriope (lilyturf) groundcover and lay some stepping stones along the south end of the building. If I can get my sore muscles out of bed in the morning!

Wouldn't you know that our streak of guests continues, and this time my college roommate (who was maid of honor at our wedding 5 years ago) will be coming to visit April 15, just in time to tour the Teahouse.....which was named for the student hangout at the college we attended back in the mid 1950s. All my girl friends from college came to our wedding, because they knew my DH back then too. What an outstanding group of women they became. Awesome ladies.

Moccasinlanding, Your Teahouse looks wonderful! I'm looking forward to seeing your progress on the inside. Enjoy your visit with your old friend, and have a wonderful Spring!

Oh wow, Mama, how wonderful to hear from you. And today of all days. I attended a memorial brunch today at the home of a long time old friend, with her three daughters, in my friend's garden. It was a very touching occasion. There was a lot of hugging going on.

Please drop in when you can, I will start another thread about dealing with the Teahouse interior. It might take a while though. I'm having to do my gardening before it gets too hot.

Yep, yesterday I planted it with stuff I moved out of the way of the NEXT building project, the kitchen remodel. Which won't be until next winter, but the plants can contribute now to the garden. I learned that major upheaval is NOT GOOD for the ground around a project.

But here is one of the views of the Teahouse, which looks nice IMHO. My DH is very pleased. He asked how many plants have I purchased and/or moved this year, and I estimate about 300. Most are small, you know. If I have to dig a hole, that counts as ONE even if it is a clump...like the iris clump is ONE. The ajuga plant (I had about 20 of those) totalled about 20....separate holes for each plant. And the new white-striped aspedistra/cast iron plants counted as one per hole. So saying 300 is a conservative estimate. One reason I am having leg cramps, pushing the shovel, bending over to set the soil around these plants. My hands are such a MESS, even with heavy duty gloves.
But here is one ....or maybe two....of the garden shots.

The door trim painted with Ace DRIED HYDRANGEA (yeah, I know...not GREEN so much)....

The north gabled end planted third. Everything in the ground will stay low. The big pots are the show.

The back or east side gets morning sun, evening shade. I will put hostas, aspedistra, elephant ears, iris, and leriope muscari here. Path is dry laid and mulch down, waiting on DH to complete drilling hole in wall for a/c vent and drain.

The morning light after I planted and watered the east side garden:

I just like this picture. The wall is wet from watering plants.

I planted this west side second. I laid the path and landing pad first, since we decided that no car would ever go in my Teahouse! Most of the birdbath bed was moved from elsewhere in the garden. The strawberry bed covered in pine straw is only six new healthy plants. Lovely berries.

See how barren it looked before I dug out the clay dumped around Teahouse perimeter during construction? Lots of rubble to sort out.

And this is the south side, planted first with ajuga and dianthus on one side of the patio stone path, and leriope muscari on the other. Neighboring trees make it fairly shady as you can tell. I plan to hang fern baskets on wrought iron arms mounted to the 4 fence posts going down the side.

And here is the latest view of the far end of the "back forty" where shade tends to protect the plants much of the day.

Yeah, R2D2 is what I'm calling our little portable heatpump which DH mounted on "lifters" so he would not be so short, and so his feet would stay out of any wetness when I water my plants. As you can tell, I have yet to do much inside...waiting until it is too hot to work in the garden, and will then work on the Teahouse proper.

Isn't it cute? Just like the StarWars robot?

Wow! I can't believe what you've done with a once-derelict building! You've got a great eye for the garden; I can't wait to see pictures after it fills and and gets established. Someday, I'll get to start my landscaping- lot's to do first, though! Is that a mini-split heat pump? I'm looking into those for various purposes around the homestead- basement, barn, etc.

Double WOW!!! Isn't it fun to start new beds? That's what I did earlier in the week before the rains came (then I went to the cape knowing everything would be well-watered). Started to put in a small perennial bed just off to one side of the glasshouse. Brought home lots of plants from a nice nursery I found down there. Haven't been really impressed by the nurseries up around Concord NH. Maybe I just haven't found the right one.

But enough about me, back to you!!! Great job there. Your garden and surroundings look great.

Thank you so much, Jay and Rafor. It is fun to create new beds for my plants. I had to restrain myself this last year before construction began, because any work around the Teahouse would have been wasted effort. But gosh, it was hard digging out that compacted clay and the chunks of spilt concrete, and old broken tile that someone had used years ago as fill where the old shed roof dripped

Jay, what we installed in a sort of permanent way is made by SPT-USA, model WA-1230H, and it is called a "portable air conditioner" on the owners manual. BUT, it is a dual cycle, heater or air conditioner, and a very economical heat pump. They are wonderful, let me tell you. My SIL had a unit about 5 years ago which heated/cooled their media room above the garage instead of running ductwork out there. It comes with the stuff to poke the 4" diameter exhaust duct out a window, and it draws less than a hair dryer in electricity. It has a 3-prong plug, it will usually evaporate the condensate unless it is a "high humidity" area, like south Alabama, so DH built ours with a drain line just below the air exhaust. Knowing it would put out water regularly, I planted my iris by that drain line. Since our walls in the Teahouse are 8" thick solid concrete, our installation is of a permanent nature instead of a movable or portable one. DH has an older unit up in MA that we will bring down here when that house sells. You can never have too many air conditioners that do not have to block a window! I plan to use that one in the kitchen when we redo it next winter. So this is our third go-round with the portable units.

I do not know where DH bought the latest unit, but I'm sure you can find it online. They shipped it to our door. It weighs about 70 pounds, and has casters. DH built little "elevators" for ours, I think it has a short guy complex, but it sure does look like R2D2. Oh yeah. It is quiet also.

Congrats on the finished project, been waiting to see new photos of this tea house. You did a good job, and what a lot of work in doing the landscaping; it turned out great.

moccasin, everything looks wonderful. I love your enthusiasm for the new plantings. I was hoping to see a GREEN door, but the gold looks good!

We have a similar portable AC in our new room upstairs. I've never liked it, since it's so big--now that you've named yours, maybe I should appreciate ours more!

ML- It's beautiful! Your gardens are so inviting...I especially like the last one, in the shade. The arbor, statue and plants are lovely :)

So much work, but it looks wonderful!

ML it really looks welcoming. Turned out so good. Great call to save the old garage.

I love R2D2. Is it quiet?

Mama Goose, I have plans for the DRIED HYDRANGEA by Valspar/Lowes to do the single entry door, but I found that what you are calling "gold" is the ACE DRIED HYDRANGEA, and
it is like a chameleon, changing from a faint gold to faint green, a cream, and sometimes even lavender. It is an amazing paint. I also have Martha Stewart's version of DRIED HYDRANGEA D-15, which is from Home Depot, and it is a really bright green, which I might have to tone down by half, and use it inside the teahouse, since it is much harsher than I want. I must admit, I went looking for every version of DRIED HYDRANGEA, because I love the NAME
ever since you used it in your home.

And actually, the hydrangea plant itself is a many-splendored thing, changing color according to the soil in which it is planted, and it has many many coats to wear.

Marti, R2D2 is quiet. We actually have TWO of them in the garage, plus a 20" box fan up in the loft to keep the air high-up from getting still and thus hot. All is quiet in the Teahouse. With that thick wall, not much sound gets in, and the metal roof is insulated with some sort of material, that lets me hear it raining nicely (whenever THAT happens again, who knows), but breaks the heat from penetrating fully. The rafters are open.

Shades, the contractor doubted it could be saved, but I knew it had to be if we were to put anything like that size in the backyard....there would only be room if it was close to the property line, and this garage was grandfathered in where it was IF we could restore it. I think DeMouy and his crew did a great job. No silk purse but it is a far cry above the sow's ear we started with! DH cannot believe how nicely it turned out, but what can I say.....I KNEW it would work out. :) Not many times in my life have I had the opportunity to dream a dream and it come to pass.

OH, ML, it looks wonderful! I am looking forward to your photos as you work on the interior!

In the meantime, happy gardening! :^)