The Ford Plantaion;

Eighteen miles from the city of Savannah is the town of Richmond Hill, which wasnamed in honor of the historicestate purchased by automobile magnate Henry Ford in the 1930s. The 1,800–acre estate is now The Ford Plantation, a private residential and sporting community on the Ogeechee River, where 400 families will live companionablywith the evidence of our heritage: lawn parties and wine tastings at the historic Main House; Low Country oyster roasts at the Oyster House in the woods; antebellum rice fields now teeming with migrating birds and nativewildlife; colonnades of live oaks that were already ancient in 1853, when the landscape architect and designer of New York City’s Central Park, Frederick Law Olmstead, wrote, “I have hardly in all my life seen anything so impressively grand and beautiful.”

What this is here is a testing of the compaction of the piling. Three Piling are driven and a steel beam is place and strapped to the two outermost piling. Once that is done a hydraulic jack is placed between the center piling and the steel beam. After the jack is in place it will be pumped up to a predetermined PSI set by the engineer and a measurement is taken to the thousandths of an inch to make sure there is no settling of the piling.

This test passed with flying colors!

That call came in around the first of March 2012 and was followed by a site review on March 6. As with all new potential projects, especially remodels or additions, the overall scope determines a number of things – such as timeline, architect involvement, architectural review board considerations to name a few. This particular project was to consist of some additional space for a couple of more cars that were on line to be acquired and if we could squeeze in, a wine storage room and cigar pub – and oh, some storage.

It became immediately apparent that we had two directions to go in, up or out. Up was a little out of the question as we might need four stories to accomplish our goals. Out was possible but required the purchase of the adjacent second row ocean lot, which happened to be available.

The stage was set, albeit a short sighted view of it at the time. Nonetheless, the adjacent lot was purchased in short order, setting about the legal wrangling necessary to consolidate the lots so that we could build across the original property lines. Now with an entire lot to play with, the gloves came off. We had the room we needed now, but to insure the proper use of the land we felt that serious architectural help was an absolute requirement; Group3 Design was put under contract within days. With the tremendous potential of the new lot, placement of the structure and sports courts, plus the relocation of the drive approach, a professional land planner was in order; Wood+Partners contract followed soon thereafter.

With the design team in place, conceptual plans were developed, approved by the owner and submitted for approval by the Architectural Review Board. We got the green light to complete design and submit for final approval for a June 19 board review.

Final approval was granted and we broke ground on June 22.

Over the next several posts we will take you on the five month journey to completion. The final scope of work continued to be developed almost to the completion date. At the June 22 ground breaking, we knew:

~ Four car garage addition
~ 16 x 14 sunken wine cellar
~ Second floor bunk room (8 bunks)
~ 2 new full baths
~ 1 new half bath
~ Remodel existing apartment (bedroom,bath,kitchen & living-room)
~ 10,000sf of driveway and walkways
~ Half-court basketball court with shuffle-board
~ Regulation Bocce-ball court
~ Outside sports viewing area with seating around a fire-pit
~ Swing trellis
~ Covered pavilion for viewing basketball and Shuffle-board

Eventual target deadline . . . November 22 – day before Thanksgiving 2012

Energy on the job was high following the long Thanksgiving weekend. Doors were delivered, millwork carpenters made some headway, roofers worked at mud-packing hips & ridges, stucco finish coat started where possible, exterior carpenters worked on corbels and service decks, concrete was poured at the rear decks and pool walls and the pool contractor made progress on the new shell formwork.

Now to just keep the fire stoked !!!

A sophisticated home with sophisticated systems and finishes demands methodical attention to all of those details that get buried behind the walls.

Water supply, waste water management, electrical, lighting, lighting controls, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, fresh air exchange, audio / video, security; blocking for millwork, cabinetry, accessories; then thermal controls to seal unwanted air transfers leading ultimately to insulation and soundproofing are just a sampling of the items to be coordinated to insure that a home functions like a living organism.

With that behind us, millwork is set to begin. Cabinets, doors, millwork, tile, stone and wood flooring are on order. Exciting times ahead !

The last month-plus has seen us top out the masonry, frame and dry in the roof, begin the installation of the windows, prep for the coming stucco and complete the rough carpentry that will allow mechanicals and electrical rough ins to start.

On to the details !