My husband Bob and I have acquired land on the Caribbean island of Anguilla where we are building a home, a software lab and a guest villa, of our own design. These pages record our plans, resources, ideas, problems, and progress, and give you the opportunity to get involved.

Previous report: August 1st.

Hints: Click on any small picture below to see it larger and visit the Site Map for previous and future progress reports, house plans, bookstore and references.

The Gazebo is Up and It's a Boy!

Arne Harrigan the carpenter had to run off to Orlando where his wife was having a baby. On the day she went into the hospital, Arne heard in a very circuitous route. An aunt in St Martin called Florida and discovered the situation. She called Arne's wife's mother, who happens to be our maid, who called and we got the message to Arne.

Arne rushed home to get ready. Griffin made plane reservations out of St. Martin as they have a late flight to Miami with an illegal connection to Orland and drove Arne to the ferry, only to discover they just missed it. But clever Griffin chartered the Link ferry when it arrived. They left Anguilla at 6:20 and made the 7:00 flight! Whew.

Arne is now the proud father of a baby boy, Voss Teron Arne Harrigan. The gazebo completion is slightly delayed.

And you're memory is not playing tricks on you -- this is the second baby on the project in the last month!

The Fence

Design problem: need to keep the goats out of the yard or nothing can grow. Already had a rock wall along the waterfront, which we liked and extended. How to build it up higher? The rock wall curves and undulates and changes, so putting a straight fence structure on top of it would be awkward.

Our solution a was non-traditional, traditional picket fence. The top is cut in curves, sort of like waves. The pickets cover the concrete posts.

Mary Ann did the design and Daniel, the rock man pictured below, executed it.

The "Last" Wood Windows in Puerto Rico

We ordered the wood windows from Puerto Rico for our guest villa. They weren't exactly the sizes we had originally wanted, but since the villa wasn't built yet we just changed our plans to accomodate what was available. These appear to be the last imbiau louvered windows in Puerto Rico, until supplies reappear.

The windows arrived safely from Puerto Rico. An act of faith. We ordered by fax using a credit card. The lumber yard dropped them at the Panamerican docks. One of the local small freight boats delivered them. We turned the paperwork over to Pat's Trucking to clear customs and deliver to us.

We hired Vicente and his helper to clean, sand, and oil the windows, with the preferred local mixture of half boiled linseed oil and half mineral spirits. We had been watching Vicente and his crew painting our rental house, so we knew they were careful and hard working. That's Vicente on the left. If you need any painting, call 497-4718.

Site Map: Links, Plans and Other Info

Latest News from our Construction Site

Past and Future Progress Reports

Plans of the Main House

Plans of the Software Center

Plans of the Guest Villa

Tropical Construction Bookstore

Links to Related Sites

Building Material Sources

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