This is how the house looked when we bought it. We're facing south here, towards the north side of the main house.

This is a view from slightly to the left of the previous one. Note the widened driveway approach to make moving the Airstream easier, and the reprofiled wall to the right of the apron.

This was the picture of the front of the main house from our Christmas letter, taken before we'd actually closed. Note how the dark trim color causes the columns to sort of fade into the shadows

Here, you can see the final painted colors. We're still waiting for the installers to replace the old siding shingles with new cedar ones. Also, note how we really cut the vegetation away from the house; it was causing serious wall and trim damage.

Here's the old entry way. Note the light fixture. It was attractive enough, but the swallows that nest under the porch just in front perched on it, and their babies sometimes fell inside. The glass was also cracked.

Here are the new colors, and Carol and I replaced every screen in the porch as well. Note the new swallow-proof light fixture.

This shot of the south wall of the main house shows how the painted shingles merged visually with the white stucco below. Not a very Arts & Crafts look. The overhang above the french doors was added probably in the '80s. For some reason, there were only two support brackets, and you can see the edges have drooped. Also note the window a/c unit and the cap to the cistern tank.

Still waiting for the shingles to be installed (you can see them stacked on the rear deck). Two new brackets have been added to support the overhang, and we think they balance the look much better as well.

This is the west wall around the yard that provides privacy from Miranda street. Built in a style somewhere between Mission and New Mexico Territorial, it has a course of brick trim on top. We used the brick color as a source for some of our trim choices.

The west wall of the guest house, again, waiting for new siding shingles. The Arts & Crafts light fixture under the porch is new. The original door on the guest house was the inspiration for the custom door we had made for the main house (not yet finished).

This is the east wall of the guest house. In this picture, you can see the water damage exposed by the painters, and a less-than-fabulous light fixture.

The painters sprayed a textured surface on top of the beadboard, beneath the topcoat of elastomeric paint. We put a better light up, but still have to do something about the tangle of phone and cable tv wires.

This room is the northeast corner of the main house. The door in the background connects to a bathroom. Previous owners preferred somewhat contemporary, subdued shades.

This is the only interior room we've completely painted. On the line that divides the main wall and frieze colors, there will be new oak picture rail. I'm staining it right now. An original Arts & Crafts house would not have had much painted trim.

Now we're in the basement. This picture was taken before we closed. The monstrous old furnace to the right of Carol had to go. Notice how the access panel was left open, probably because the pilot refused to stay lit.

Here's the new furnace and a/c combo unit. Extremely quiet and comfortable air flow, but we don't know yet if it's a lot more efficient than the old furnace and swamp cooler setup (sure hope so).

This water softener was probably installed in the '80s, and the previous owners never hooked it up. Many of the plumbing fixtures in the sinks around the house are corroded, so we wanted to try softening.

This is the system we added. In addition to a softener for the whole house, there is a reverse osmosis water purification system that feeds the drinking and ice system in the fridge, and a new tap by the kitchen sink.