Our Snowy Snapdragon

We got a wee bit of snow the last few days here in Windsor. I honestly don’t know how much but it didn’t stop snowing for 48 hours straight. We will most definitely have a white Christmas on Thursday, especially as it is meant to start snowing again on Wednesday. The Inn looks lovely no matter what. Shout out to JD and Brig for all the plowing!

–Chris

Tending Chitmunks

The family that we purchased the house from has 5 kids. Their youngest, R (I think she was 7 at the time?), left this note with me before they moved, and asked me to give it to my niece A (who is 6). I couldn’t resist keeping it for our files:

to a_____
do not let any one ells read this to you other than m___s dad
from R______

dear a_______
I am giveing you a jobe. I want you to take carre of my chitmunks. I will give you rools and I beg you to obey them do not cetch them make share m___ does not get him he scarerrs the chitmunk

you can only feed him freshwatter with a little drop of milk. Oh and do not let a______ nere him ether all they will do is skarr him. you can not get rilly rilly close from the porch is fine.

Here is where they live (MAP)

We have not yet decided if “chitmunk” feeding will be an official activity at the Inn, but I’m sure R would appreciate us taking care of the little guy.

–McKay

The Tile Trials

… are almost done. We have floor tile. Shower floor tile. Shower wall tile. Wall tile. Shelves.

Now, I am off to Flat Rock Tile and Stone to pick out the marble for the shower thresholds, and to find a bullnose tile for the shower edging. Sooooo close…

I recently ripped this photo from a FLOR catalog. I thought it was a good representation of our bathrooms (minus the small black tiles…)

Who knew there were so many decisions when it comes to tile? My current Facebook status:

–McKay

Oh yeah, grout it up!

The bathroom showers have been tiled and grouted and they look fantastic! Things are really shaping up and we are on the verge (quite literally) of getting our design onto a whole new level.

I got a picture of some of the guys who have been working on this tiny little project. Thanks to Steve, Pepe, and Bob (pictured above) for all your work–looking good!

- Chris

To A/C or not to A/C

… that was the question.

This was a large debate as Vermont has weather that may only require AC units a few times a year, but then some summers are simply too humid for endless days. We researched a number of options from removable units, to part time systems, to nothing at all. In the end, the desire to provide our guests with a more customized environment and preserving the historic nature of the building proved to be the largest issues.

We decided to go with a internal full air conditioning system that also provides heating capabilities. The second part is important as it will allow us to shorten our fuel burning season by using the internal units for the shoulder periods – where just a bit of heat at night might be required. We also chose units that provide some nice
convenience features which are also more energy efficient. For example, we can keep the units off, and when we know there is a check-in or guest arrival coming, we can use a cooling burst feature that will run the unit for a very short period at maximum power to cool the room quickly before shutting itself down. We also chose to use a
number of smaller condenser units to effectively “zone” the house — meaning when one in-room unit comes on only the attached condensing unit comes on instead of one very large condenser unit needing to power-up to run all the in-room units. This provides additional energy savings and efficiency.

In addition, we were able to work with a great contractor — R.E. Hinkley Co., Inc out of New Hampshire — to devise a way to run all the required pipes to the basement and then out of the basement to the condensing units–in effect showing no plumbing or pipes on the exterior of the building–this was a huge plus for us.

Here’s a link to the indoor unit heads and outdoor condensers.

This system will provide total climate control for each room, offset our need for oil, and add to the total comfort we are seeking to provide each guest at the Snapdragon Inn.

–Nate