Thursday, September 17, 2009

Rich goes to the countryside

Some of our readers will know that we have been spending lots of time with some construction projects and have asked about them... in a nut shell, we have purchased 2 more properties here as possible rental opportunities.

One is new construction in the Edificio Frigata (right next door to the Ital-Deli, Mora y Solano).

This 'duplex' (meaning 2 level) is being split into 2, wheel-chair accessible units. We've been researching ADA/universal design options. No such thing here in Ecuador, but they are just beginning to learn about requirements...Ecuador's VP is in a wheelchair, so the project is getting lots of attention! The construction should be completed early next year.

We're at the kitchen-design, closet-design, bathroom-design stages. The builder and architect suggested we check out a young carpenter's cabinet work and design.......so Rich took a trip to the countryside to check it out.













They drove out to a small town, 10-12 miles up in the mountains, past Mayancela, about 45 minutes from Cuenca. Besides looking at the work, they passed several other interesting places...


A brick factory... all that wood is for the kiln (fired up about once a week).... the 2nd picture is the firebox under the deep kiln that the worker is stoking...
































An old, self-sustaining monestery and church, approximately 150 years old, now privately owned. ... and adorable children...



































A cow, all curled up sleeping, like a kitty!

Cabinet samples at the young man's uncle's lovely house...Yes, we hired him!


(Sample shows good craftsmanship... we'll do other styles.)











He'll be making the cabinets for the kitchen and closets, aiming to finish in the next couple months. We're sure he'll do a good job for us.

The other project is a remodel of an apartment in an old historic adobe building, at the river. More on that project later.

1 comment:

  1. Hi kids....
    Just thought I would let you know that I've been reading your blog. see you in June.

    Clarke (nad Brenda)

    ReplyDelete