Slept 11 hours (rare) in a Golden Valley motel before meeting Caleb and Marc at the house for what proved to be another 3-hour standup meeting.  (The chairs and table Sean had provided are long gone.)   The framing appears mostly done, as can be seen in this view from the living room through the dining room,  through the family room and to the sunroom at the very back of the house.

In the entry hall, the framing for the pocket door to the basement has been installed in what will become a triangular wall.  Note the use of reddish orange “LSL” lumber to strengthen the wall where a series of three windows will march up the stairs.  LSL is composed of strands of wood glued together, and should never warp.

Given the advanced framing, we not surprisingly leap ahead and spend the entire time on ceiling moldings and other finish details.  As usual, we have to imagine what is not yet close to being visible.  I brought up my pet wish for alcoves built into the walls, and Marc took up the challenge—pulled out pencil and translucent paper, and sketched out a total of four niches—two on the north wall of the staircase in the entryway, and two flanking the dining room built-in.

Glorious idea!  We need somewhere to hang the “Komorebi” poem Elizabeth found (‘komorebi’ is Japanese for sunlight filtering through trees), and knickknacks from our travels.  The charm of this house will reside in the details.

The house is intended to be an educational resource as well.  Sean, the principal of Morrissey Builders, came by and we all resolved to pursue the installation of sensors to track heat and moisture flows—this is an engineering subspecialty at the U of Minnesota, and Sean has a contact there—Pat Huelman.  Then Caleb suggested Site Sage (?) for software to track electricity flows; we need very detailed monitoring for the Living Building Challenge.  Cost is uncertain, and I am leery of adding a monthly charge for monitoring, but we need to do it somehow.  Between the two kinds of monitoring, we should have a very clear idea of how our maximally insulated and renewably powered house functions.

Big serendipity after we adjourned the meeting at noon.  Marc put me on to Joe Knaeble, a genial salvage dealer on the point of retirement, who opened his garage of treasures.  We found enough locksets to accommodate all our new doors, and quite a few escutcheons needing to be stripped.   Then sped to Guilded Salvage, where I found, to a background of very laid-back crooning, enough hinges to fill all our needs, and yet more escutcheons.  Hooray!  We are well launched to having all “Japanned” (oxidized copper, in broad tiger striped) hardware.