December 2009 – January 2010 | Villa Andara

Well, I guess December was uneventful cause I don’t have any photos. The crew worked hard and got some well deserved time off for the holidays. Some stayed on STJ or STT; some took the opportunity to visit their families on nearby Caribbean islands. We were getting geared up for our annual family visit in January – we number 14 people, 8 adults and our 6 nieces and nephews.

January 7, 2010

So January rolls around and it is time for the annual STJ family vacation. 10 days in STJ, maybe we will get to go snorkeling! Family members have not seen the site since January 2009 when all we did was “visit the dirt”, boy are they in for a surprise!

This is what we first saw upon our arrival:

Alex took us out for a day trip on his boat to the only logical destination…I guess he knew we needed some down time!

This is the view that keeps reminding us why we are doing this…

The great room continues to evolve.

This is how the roof rafters get tied into the wall and the rafters get strapped to each other.

With all of these complicated roof lines, here is the one flat area of the roof where the solar panels for the hot water heater and solar powered circulating pump will have a home.

The columns have a central rebar cage then 2 halves of a fiberglass reinforced composite concrete column are placed around the core and strapped together. Concrete is then poured down the center making a pretty strong supporting structure. A column base and capital finish off the column. A wooden frame is then built around the column while it cures. Finished columns on the pool deck will eventually be covered with a trellis.