Share This Story
The other day, we posted a blog of Frankie exploring part of the house. Because we received lots of requests for a home tour of the new Chez Herd (we moved from one side of Cataloochee Ranch to the other back in the fall), we thought we would do a small tour. And, of course, what better tour guide is there than Frankie?
Come on up and see the loft – my favorite hang out.
The interesting back story to the loft is that we did not have it in the original plans. When we decided to build the great room from timber frame (i.e., giant timbers engineered to form the structure – without a single nail or screw), then we had to engineer a way to move from one part of the second floor to another. So, in essence, the loft is simply a hallway hung from the timber frame.
Come on up to my hang out.
Each “bay” in the timber frame is 10 feet deep (front to back of house) and 23 feet wide. To hang the “hallway”, it had to be 10 feet wide to hang on the timber frame. Thus, it is the width of a room, so we had to figure out how to use the space (other than for Frankie to snoozervise from up high, of course).
We created this great reading area with a couple of chairs and a writing desk.
But let’s highlight the snoozervising abilities from here:
Frankie really likes the settee at the front window.
It allows for a good view of the front yard from a most comfy spot.
P.S. – Just for Zim of the A04 – Note that this is just like your sitzbank that no pup ever actually lays on and spies out the window. Right?
Want to see the better view?
Even better than the window though is looking off the other side of the loft. Sorry about the glare in the pictures, but the back of the house faces due East and we get the sunshine blaring though the windows. Great for heating the house up early in the morning, but not so great for picture taking.
Woo – you can keep track of everyone from here.
Everything happens down there in the great room – and I miss nothing.
On either side of the loft are the guest bedrooms, but we will save those for another tour. Time for a good nap anyway.
Off to find a napping spot.
23 Comments
Leave a Comment
A Kibble Jar
Call it a tip. Or the euphemestic "Buy me a coffee." Or, in our case, "Buy us some kibble." Hu-Dad prefers patronage. Generous patrons have supported artists throughout history. Whatever you want to call it, if you enjoyed this post, consider making a donation to help offset the costs of this website. Your support will help keep our stories ad free.
Read Another Story
← Back One Story ◊ OR ◊ Forward One Story →
Hu-Dad's Latest Musing
Our Hu-Dad shares the latest updates on his writing projects, the books he's reading, and other details in random musings posted on his website. You can check out his novels there as well.
Wings of Doom
December 12, 2024
A simple nightly routine with my dogs led me to face the wings of doom, a hideous creature that lurks in the shadows of my yard.
Hu-Dad's Novels
His books pay for our food!
We are like all the others & just love your new home! It makes Sitka sad that he has to live in such an ordinary home!!!
I would love that window seat! And Wilbur would love being able to lay in the loft and watch all of us but not actually be part of all of us.
Steve
It’s amazing. I’m ready to sign up for one like it! 🙂
You know, Frankie, I was thinking, before you even said anything, that your settee reminded me of the sitzbank that I never get on.
Thanks for the house tour – it is almost as fabulous as the Herd!
Play bows,
Zim
Such a gorgeous house. Frankie is a great tour guide.
Now questions times:
1) I read your comment about having central vac, now with all the husky shedding, does it cause any issues with clogging up the central vac? Like the roller at the bottom from of a regular vacuum gets clogged up.
2) What kind of floor material did you use? Real wood? Does it get scratches?
3) What happened to the rest of the herd? Didn’t see them in any of the photos.
1 – Thus far, no. But we are not using a beater bar except on the rugs (mostly hardwood floors), so not a lot of moving parts. The central vac has an amazing amount of power.
2 – Floor is stranded bamboo. We have radiant heat, so we needed a material that could handle that and we needed something very durable to put up with claw marks. Though who knows who would possibly create claw marks?
3 – Everyone was hanging out outside while Frankie did his tour. Something about concentrating on the task at hand.
Thanks for the reply. I didn’t realize stranded bamboo is that sturdy. I’ll keep that in mind in the future when we replace ours.
Frankie is awesome, such a good brother to young Ty and everyone else.
We love your new house. We had a very open, airy house growing up (windows facing east too). I kind of miss it.
Sam
What a gorgeous house you have! I am completely jealous! My entire cottage would fit in your great room! 🙂 thanks for sharing!
Your home is heaven. What a beautiful life. Thanks for sharing, Frankie! Love your favorite spot!
Where is the sacred tree in relation to the house – can you see it from any window?
The tree sits behind the house directly behind the dining room. Thus, you can see the tree from most any of the windows along the back of the house.
Note that the fenced in dog area (a/k/a, Sibe Quentin) goes around the Tree of Life, so The Herd regularly plays in the shade of the tree.
As LW used to say, ” loverly, loverly”,
Spectacular! Please tell us how you deal with all the shedding. We have a Husky, 2 Goldens and a white Lab/Shepherd/Pit Bull. Our ceiling heights, windows, etc. are similar to yours, and the fur is everywhere, no matter how much I vacuum. Your house looks so immaculate! Help!
Chuckling – it always helps to keep the camera slightly out of focus.
Seriously, fur happens and we are ok with it. We do have a central vacuum system which helps, but it still just takes a lot of vacuuming to keep up with it. And even then, an occasional Siberian Tumbleweed will go past.
Stunning. Absolutley stunning!
I kept thinking that the house looked different, but I kept seeing the favorite tree, so I never thought you’d moved! lol The house is gorgeous! I would be lost in the reading nook and might never leave.
Ah – that is because we moved TO our favorite tree. Our old house was on the other side of the ranch, but we always wanted to build a house in this field with the tree. So, we finally did it.
We LOVE it! My grampa used to build post-and-beam homes and your great room reminds us of the one in grampa & grandma’s old house – mom used to say it was the most beautiful room in the world. We love post-and-beam construction, all the beautiful exposed beams. Our house isn’t post-and-beam, but I have a loft too, and it’s one of my favorite places to hang out because I can keep an eye on the humans. Sometimes they don’t know where I am, then they’ll look up in the loft and see a paw hanging over. Enjoy your new house! (I’m sure you are, and I bet the HERD loves it!)
Garth
How beautiful! How lucky the humans and the Herd are to have this wonderful home.
And how lucky Frankie is to have a comfy seat at the observation window.
And of course we want to see the rest of Chez Herd too!!
We are still SO envious of your beautiful new home! You are all such lucky pups!
Holly & Khady
Ohhhhhhh….. I am in awe at the magnificence of your house….. and how lucky your dogs are to be allowed to share it with you.
All the wood… incredibly beautiful. I’m speechless… well… almost (I do see that I managed to type SOME words anyway! *ha-ha*)
Thank you for sharing!!
–Andrea
XOXOXO
Your new digs are purely beautiful, beautiful wood, decor, just wonderful! I can just imagine how much you all love it.
Let us see the rest if you will, too!
Jo, Stella and Zkhat