The Library is Complete

[Paul Greathouse]

Great job John,

What type of wood did you build the bookcases with?

[Dave Ray]

Looks great, John. Now I know why you haven't posted for a while, just busy. I did miss your posts. What you have done in this time is truly remarkable.

[Randal Stevenson]

If the outside looks half as good as the inside, love to see it as well. Good job.

[Dave MacArthur]

Great work John, and interesting read. I love wood-walled rooms, bookcases, libraries... your place looks super. Now you have me thinking about sitting in a window and looking out over my woods and pond...none of which I have, but WANT! Sounds like a beautiful place.

[Steve Kohn]

OK I'm a glutton for punishment.

How long has it taken you to get this far? Have you had any help or been doing all this yourself?

[Jay Maiers]

Nice work John!
My wife and I just moved into a new house. We've got a ton of books and need a bunch of shelving. You're giving me a bit of inspiration here

FWIW, if you've got an extensive collection of books (we've got around 2K), look at a bit of software called Book Collector. It's a library / catalog / database package that will help you keep track of your books and provide a complete list of items for insurance purposes... We bought a cheap-ish bar code scanner for faster data entry (the software looks up modern titles that have bar codes). Manual entry for the older / antique titles is also possible, along with thumbnail cover photos, on and on.

Again, excellent work! Thanks for sharing it!

[John Hart]

Great job John,

What type of wood did you build the bookcases with?

Thanks Paul.
Well...the bookcases are a framed construction. I ripped 2X4's in half and built the outer frames...then covered all the vertical surfaces with oak plywood. Then built the shelf frames....mounted them...then covered the tops and bottoms of each shelf with the oak plywood. Then finished the corners and fronts with moulding.
On the shorter 4 foot bookcases, I took cherry slabs and framed them with walnut for the bookcase tops.

Everything is stained with a special mixture of stains that I created a couple years ago.....then finished off with clear laquer

[John Hart]

Looks great, John. Now I know why you haven't posted for a while, just busy. I did miss your posts. What you have done in this time is truly remarkable.

Thanks Dave....."busy" just doesn't adequately describe it though!!! Sometimes, I feel on the verge of collapse, then realize that I don't have such a luxury....then put my head down and drive on. Sheesh.

[John Hart]

OK I'm a glutton for punishment.

How long has it taken you to get this far? Have you had any help or been doing all this yourself?

Well Steve...if you're talking about the library....Yes...did it all myself. I have two teen daughters who are not quite sure what "work" means.

But no matter. I do enjoy accomplishing things like this. And the family really likes it. It's worth it.

But anyway...the library took 3 months....working every day (after work and weekends).....with eating, sleeping, snowblowing and lawnmowing as the only real interruptions.

As far as the whole property...Yes...I've done everything myself...and it's been three and a half years so far.....with no end in sight. I will die while working on this place, I'm sure. (which means I'll die happy )

[John Hart]

For those of you who need a push over the edge....I went out this morning and took a bunch of pictures...to show you the place a little more.

I really do love this place. (This is going to take about 6 posts for me to get all the pics in....so be patient with me)

These are all pictures taken this morning.

While strolling around, the northend, outside the library...there are always deer. My neighbor raises them to be shot at those ritzy hunting clubs. Right now, there are fawns all over the place.
deer1.jpg deer2.jpg

And here's duncan lounging in the morning sun on the southend of the house
Duncan_lounging_in_morning_sun.jpg

[John Hart]

From the front of the library....viewing northwest towards the neighbors
from_east_view_northwest.jpg

From the north end of the property...viewing south
from_north_view_south.jpg

From the north end of the property...viewing southeast
from_north_view_southeast.jpg

From the southwest...viewing northeast
fromsouthwest_view_northeast.jpg

This is the front of the main house
front_of_house.jpg

[John Hart]

Here's a shot from the southwest viewing the front of the house with the library to the rear
front_of_house_library_to_rear.jpg

Lousy shot of the library and atrium from the west driveway(shooting into the morning sun)
library_and_atrium.jpg


This is the view you have while seated at the windowseat in the library.
library_windowseat_view.jpg

This is the view from the north end of the library....which is a breezeway, leading to the buggy garage.
northeast1.jpg

Outside of the library
outside_of_library.jpg

[John Hart]

Just a shot of the south end of the house..view from the woodshop
south_end_of_house.jpg

Standing in front of the house viewing out over the back acres.
standing_in_front_view_eastsoutheast.jpg

This view shows where the pond will go. That large clump back there is elderberries. (It's about 8 feet tall and 10 feet diameter). The pond will sortof wrap around the elderberries and fill that little valley.
view_eastsoutheast_future_pond.jpg

Back to the library...This is the view from my office...looking northeast
view_from_office_northeast.jpg

And a view from my office...viewing southeast (that little building you see is an outhouse...I plan to restore it one of these days)
view_from_office_southeast.jpg

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Now if Trigger, Champ, Buttermilk and Silver were grazing there.....John you'd be in Heaven!






Pretty scenery John!

[John Hart]

Here's the view from the west end of the woodshop
view_from_woodshop.jpg

Standing in the back acres....looking at the back of the house. I'm about to launch the next project here. A Walnut, Maple, and Cherry deck. (No laughing now!! )
view_of_back_of_house.jpg

Here's a view of the barn from the front yard. I'm converting the barn into an autoshop since I WILL NOT have horses!!
view_of_barn_from_front_yard.jpg

Another shot of the neighbors to the north, from the library front yard.
view_of_neighbors_from_library_yard.jpg

Same shot of neighbors...but shot from the front of the woodshop.
view_of_neighbors_north_from_south_end_of_house.jpg