As we’ve been having fun creating our dream houses around the world, one theme I wanted to try was to create a Victorian firehouse. I’ve seen examples of several Victorian firehouses that were converted to living spaces, and being a … Continue reading →
After completing our Egyptian house, Lori suggested another exotic destination to continue our building spree: Inda. I must admit, I knew little about Indian architecture so a lot of research had to be done. Mostly what I found was that … Continue reading →
In many of our previous houses, there has been one room done in an Egyptian style. One of my first projects had an Egyptian parlor, the next project had an Egyptian bedroom, and another had an Egyptian styled home theater. … Continue reading →
After working on Santa’s Vacation Retreat I was in the mood to try another more modern house than what we usually design. Inspired in part by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water, I wanted to design a hillside house that would … Continue reading →
This is a house we started working on last year, and while we were working on it, Live Home 3D was updated. Part of the update was nice, as it added a library of Christmas models which fit in perfectly … Continue reading →
This Japanese House is one of the smallest Live Home 3D projects Lori and I have created, but for both of us, it is the favorite model we’ve worked on. It took a fair amount of research and even quite … Continue reading →
After we built our castle in England, our next project was to travel to Africa and build a tree house. This was Lori’s idea, and I wasn’t sure if it was going to be technically possible, as the program didn’t … Continue reading →
Welcome to Knowles Castle, our most complex building project to date. This 55 room castle got so complex that we had to split it into three files to be able to finish it within the memory constraints of the Live … Continue reading →
It’s been a while since I’ve posted any new 3D models. Not that we haven’t been busy creating new ones, it’s just that in December an update to the Live Home 3D program introduced a bug along with the welcome … Continue reading →
Pemberley is of course the fictional estate in Pride and Prejudice which happens to be one of Lori’s favorite reads. Our own modest estate had picked up the moniker Pemberley Rose, and so when I convinced Lori the characters in … Continue reading →
This model is the second location I designed for the series of books I’m writing. This house is the main location in the stories. It is based on an actual house and lot in Beverly Hills. When I started the … Continue reading →
Last week I finally thought that we had our house back to a two loo status. We’ve been without our main bathroom for three years as the tile problem and Covid-19 impeded my renovation of the room. The tub and … Continue reading →
This Live Home 3D model was the first structure we built to help Lori with her novel. Her story centers around a couple who inherit property in Scotland and decide to open a school for students interested in creating operas. … Continue reading →
This is the first house I designed with Live Home 3D. It was designed to help with continuity for a series of books I’ve been writing during the Covid-19 pandemic. This house belongs to the lead character who just so … Continue reading →
I had originally intended to do posts on each Live Home 3D project we created in the chronological order that we created them, but I was talking about this project to a client today and so I thought I’d go … Continue reading →
Ever since Lori and I have been homeowners, I’ve been searching for a easy to use program to do home design with. Whether it was visualizing how a room would look with Bradbury & Bradbury wallpaper, or whether the furniture … Continue reading →
Short Review: It doesn’t work and I had to go back to my hated cable company. Read on for the long review. After hearing that AT&T bribed paid Michael Cohen (Trump’s former attorney and fixer who has since been disbarred) … Continue reading →
It’s the end of a long love affair. Today I watched as my favorite motorcycle of all time left my yard on the back of a Humboldt Towing flatbed. Even though I was getting close to saying goodbye, this isn’t … Continue reading →
The short story, don’t do business with either C-Thru Sunrooms, or their local contractor, John Mielke DBA The Building Company. For the long story, sit down, this is going to take awhile. This is an honest account of the construction … Continue reading →
Our main bathroom has been a work in progress for over a year now, as it was gutted completely including no ceiling and no floor. I’ve been spending the last couple of months doing the tile, first the walls and … Continue reading →
Unlike most Hollywood sequels, the sequel to our first greenhouse is far superior to the first one, which would have rated 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. First a quick review of version 1 of our greenhouse. In the summer of 2006, … Continue reading →
In 1994, Ferndale was the main location for filming the movie Outbreak, a story about a virus that takes over a small town. 25 years later, we’re experiencing a real outbreak, although with less catastrophic results than the movie virus. … Continue reading →
If you’re standing on a street corner, and a neon green brain, a psychedelic hippopotamus, and a fire breathing rainbow zebra striped unicorn pass by, it can only mean one thing; You’re in Arcata for the start of the 50th … Continue reading →
A couple of weeks ago Rick Phillis invited me to participate on a team going to San Jose to participate in a 12 hour slot car race. I hadn’t traveled before for a slot car race, but since it was … Continue reading →
One of my springtime rituals is riding up to Route 1 in the South Fort Mountains to see my favorite wildflower patch. I usually start trying Memorial Day weekend to see if the road is even open. But this year … Continue reading →
Apparently the saying is true, “build it and they will come”. No sooner did we put plants in the pond, the frogs moved in and started laying their eggs. But even earlier some unwanted guests moved in, mosquitoes. Since I … Continue reading →
I forgot to mention in the garden tour one special plant that is blooming right now. This plant involves my entire family with the exception of my brother Derek. It has a long history and it doesn’t look like much … Continue reading →
The winters in Ferndale can be long and wet, so wet that it makes getting any gardening done nearly impossible at times. Even mowing the lawn becomes a challenge, and unlike what I was used to in San Jose, the … Continue reading →
When we were planning the guest bathroom redo, I though it would be nice to add a stained glass window like we did in our 1914 Bungalow in San Jose. I kind of handed that project over to Lori, letting … Continue reading →
One of the true eyesores of our yard was our driveway. Our yard to the south is bordered by our neighbor’s cow pasture, and it had a fence that was practical for keeping the cows in their yard most of … Continue reading →
I’m mostly putting these notes here in case I need them again, but maybe they’ll help someone else out. About 8 years ago I bought an AT&T corded/cordless phone system for my home office and house. It is was a … Continue reading →
