Updates from the Mid-Atlantic

These photos of the quickly progressing Christian Mackay house were taken last week, days after the exterior trim package was delivered.  

Mill-built dormer gables, awaiting installation

 The owners have chosen a beautiful herringbone pattern brick floor for the walk-out lower level to suit an outdoor lifestyle, much like the floor of Dolly Madison's kitchen!

A hillside in lovely Albemarle county provides the new home for this modified Loudoun County Barn. These pictures were taken just three and a half days after the package was delivered. Enjoy!

Surrounded by blooming dogwood and grazing cattle, the photographers from When The Moments Count Photography captured the beauty of Russell Versaci's Currier House earlier this spring, just a week after the homeowners moved in.

The wide porches afford glorious views of Bundoran Farm and ample room for seating and entertaining. The floor of the porch is an extremely durable plantation mahogany that is used in all of our homes.

This custom cherry kitchen was designed by Connor Homes' talented interior design team and built in our cabinet shops in Vermont. The style was carried over into the homeowner's nearby laundry and utility room. The end panels surrounding the refrigerator are standard in our cabinet packages.

The open floor plan of this house flows beautifully from living room to dining.

Built-ins throughout the upstairs take advantage of every nook-and-cranny.

Although this project ran into a few on-site delays in the first month, it is now progressing nicely and a home is taking shape!

The front of this Greek Revival faces the road and is one of the first houses visible as you enter the neighborhood.

The rear of the house is designed to take advantage of a steeply sloping lot, and the spectacular views available for 270°.

The many windows across the back of this house offer a great view from nearly every room.

For more information on this house, including elevations and floorplans, see our earlier post HERE.

We're often asked how our houses get their names. Almost all of them are family names, taken from the trees of Mike and Linda (Bull) Connor, and are often the first and last names of two different people. For each house, we have tried to choose a namesake that would have lived at a time consistent with its style. Here are a few of our favorites:

The Luella Gregory House was named after Luella May Blackaby and Ruth Gregory. Luella May, Linda's great grandmother, lived from 1863 to 1944 and was the daughter of pioneers who settled in Illinois in 1854 and ran a saw-mill. Not very much is known about Ruth Gregory, Linda's great-great-great-grandmother, who lived from 1798 to 1893 in Ohio and Kentucky.

The Hannah Grady House is named after Hannah Lothrop and Daniel Grady. Daniel Grady, Mike's great-grandfather, was an Irish immigrant to this country in 1867 who settled in Providence, RI and founded Citizens Concrete company. Hannah Lothrop is another of Linda's great-great-great grandmothers, who was born in 1745 and was married to a Revolutionary War soldier, Nymphas Price. Their son Matthew was a sea captain from Edgartown, MA.

Daniel F. Grady

The Caleb Nickerson House is actually named after four generations of Caleb Nickersons in Mike's family tree. The most well known of these was born in Chatham, MA in 1736 and his original home, a cape built in 1772, still stands there as a museum. Caleb Nickerson's great-great grandfather William founded Chatham in 1656 when he purchased a tract of land from the Monomoyicks.

Want to know how your favorite house got its name? Just ask and we'll be happy to look it up!

This beautiful Mid-Atlantic farmhouse was designed by Russell Versaci, as part of his Simple Farmhouse collection. It is the result of a collaboration between Russell Versaci architecture, Connor Homes, Maple Ridge Group, and the New Old House company. Connor Homes used the architect's plans to create construction drawings and build the exterior and interior packages. Maple Ridge Group of Charlottesville, VA erected the house and oversaw construction through completion.

The Currier House, March 2009

Connor Homes sent the first framing package to the homeowners' hilltop site at Bundoran Farm late last June. By October, the home was well under way. Our pre-fabrication process allowed Maple Ridge to have this house weather-tight quickly and gave them the ability to complete interior work during the winter months.

The Currier House, October 2008

Under the supervision of project manager Brian Jones, construction proceeded smoothly and the result is an exquisitely built home that will be ready for move-in next week.

The custom designed cherry kitchen is shown here in our shops and installed in the home.

This paneled living room wall was sent in four pieces and assembled on site.

That paneling is echoed in the dining room wainscot which can be glimpsed from the living room.

This staircase was pre-built in our shops and shipped as an assembled unit. The stair treads were custom-built in Vermont out of the same material as the locally milled hardwood floors.

We'd like to thank the excellent crew at Maple Ridge and particularly Brian Jones for all their hard work, customer service and exquisite craftsmanship.

Don't miss our new ad in Virginia Living magazine:

Featured are the Hesther Burr and Brian Grant Brady houses.

April 18-25, 2009 

Each year, the Garden Club of Virginia arranges garden tours at some of Virginia's most historic and beautiful homes and properties. These tours provide a rare opportunity to view architecture that is otherwise inaccessible to the public.

The Lightfoot House, one of the many historic properties open for viewing during the Williamsburg tour.

"For those interested in horticulture, there will be formal gardens, walled gardens, cottage gardens, cutting gardens, annual and perennial gardens, herb gardens, water gardens, and even secret gardens. Visitors interested in architecture and interior decorating will see beautifully renovated historic properties as well as stunning contemporary residences, exceptional artwork, and some of the country's best collections of glass, china, and American, European and Asian antiques. Many houses have interesting family histories intertwined with the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and the Victorian era. Historic Garden Week is the oldest and largest statewide house and garden tour event in the nation."  

For more information, visit the Historic Garden Week website.

Last week, the shell of the Hancock Bish house was delivered to Lexington, VA, narrowly missing a late-winter snowstorm that blanketed the area over the weekend. Despite the weather, construction is proceeding quickly.

This house was designed by a returning Connor Homes customer, Dr. Kirk Luder, who built the Lousia Frey House years ago in Vermont, with his wife Theresa. Dr. Luder is an historic architecture enthusiast and student in his spare time, who designed his current home in Lexington as well. Last summer, he approached us with several of his own designs and worked with our architects to finalize his plans and begin construction.

As some of our experienced customers do, Dr. Luder has chosen to operate as his own General Contractor, working with Perry and Vicki Owen to erect the house and provide finish work.

We'll keep you updated on the progress of this handsome house!

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