July: A Month of Ups & Downs

July threw us a curveball at the Mermaid House, and we are back on the market. Our buyer was unfortunately unable to perform and close.  We strategically froze our days on market while under contract, just in case of a situation like this.  It is to our advantage to not accumulate more days on the market just sitting there while in contract.  Our agent is holding the home open several times a week and even though it’s been hot, hot, hot with this summer heat, we have had decent traffic. Several broker showings, with some repeat appointments leave us hopeful a great offer is coming soon!  Another new build just one street over has gone on market and we are priced $200k less, and have received feedback our home is preferred overall when surveyed and compared.   This leaves us confident that we will have a great family in this house soon!


July’s Arizona heat didn’t keep us from making BIG progress on The Estate House!  We hit so many milestones inside and out…from stucco and pool shotcrete outside, to beams, limestone and a gorgeous herringbone pattern floor in the formal dining room…you’ve got to see it to believe it!

Outside…

The exterior stucco was completed, which meant TEN DAYS of watering it down in order to create a chemical reaction helping it to harden and cure.  This is a all-hands-on-deck part of the project, and I recruit any help I can get…which made it the perfect time to BRING IN THE KIDS! We made watering down the stucco a family affair, and the extra hands greatly lessened the workload, even though we were down one girl! Ten consecutive days on the jobsite created a great opportunity for the girls to see all of the important steps involved in bringing this Big Beauty to life!  With so much work to do, we didn’t think we had any time for messing around, but we all know that Girls Just Want To Have Fun! Check out some of the antics my crazy girls got into in the project photo gallery!

Speaking of fun…we always enjoy when the big cranes come in, and we got a great shot of the AC unit being placed on the roof! We also captured an impressive aerial perspective that really shows us how far this project has come along! It’s always handy to know someone with a drone (aka – hubby).

The month review wouldn’t be complete without one of our FAVORITE milestones… shotcrete for the pool!  It’s a messy job, but somebody’s got to do it…and I leave this one to the pros! Once the shotcrete for the pool had time to cure, we gott to watch the pool really come to life with the installation of the gorgeous tile!

Out front, we LOVED watching the garage doors going in, especially knowing that they offer the house more security. We ended our exterior work in July with final grading. It was quite a job, requiring moving LOTS OF DIRT, but it sure did turn out nicely!

Watch the video of shotcrete here to see what I mean!
Inside…

On the interior…Beams went up! We chose a deep, rich stain for the beams to match the cognac-colored island in the kitchen. Gerardo does an amazing job of stain-matching! Flooring was another area of progress in July.  Not only did our beautiful limestone finally arrive for the kitchen and nook, but we also prepped and leveled the floors for hardwood to go in! In the formal dining room received from work that really defines the space and makes it feel extra special.  We are over the moon with how the herringbone pattern for this area turned out!   And we finished out the month with Christmas in July 🎄🎄🎄 aka… the arrival of Cabinets!  Looks like a mess, but there is a method to this madness… in just a few short days cabinets will be installed and it will really start to look like a home!


We kicked off July at Cheery Lynn Road with an always satisfying milestone – DEMOLITION! The work for this phase was successfully wrapped up on July 5th and we couldn’t be happier to see this project moving forward. July (12th, to be exact!) also marked the completion of grading. We’re eagerly anticipating the opportunity to transform this blank canvas into a truly magnificent new home!

Stay tuned for lots of exciting work to come!