It was a beautiful day, and so I stopped by 52 and 54 Huntington Street on my way back to the office to take some photos of their front yard gardens.  These make a great addition to the street and complement the garden up at 102 Huntington.

Our latest new construction now belongs to new homeowners!  A young couple will now move into the house, and we are very pleased to welcome them to their new home and to the neighborhood.

The open house is tomorrow.  The mums are a nice touch.

The house was ready for its close-up, so here it is, all done and on the market.

A few words on the sunflower plaque:

It was created and executed by local artist Jackie McKinney, who is a longtime Asylum Hill resident.

It’s based on the plaque next door at 181 Collins Street, further uniting the two houses in common design elements.

Intrepid Mike McGarry came out and decorated the front yard of 54 Huntington Street for Hartford Blooms. 

So, while you were distracted by the ribbon cutting over at 207 Garden Street, we painted 54 Huntington Street.

Yes, that was deliberate.  And yes, we abandoned that first color scheme.

Literally.  They're in the house.

The new woodwork is now in place in the side gable, and as you can see we’re starting to look at different paint colors for the house.  Also, there’s a view of 181 Collins Street and 54 Huntington Street that we haven’t shown before, looking from the corner of Collins and Huntington rather than back up the street from 54.

Matt and Jeff have wrapped up work on the woodwork in the front gable.

Matt Pearce and Jeff Giddings at work on the decorative woodwork for the front gable.

Siding going up on the bay window.

We're down to the porch rail and the exterior paint at this point.  Also, we like the view of The Hartford in the background -- The Hartford has supported this house with funds and volunteers, and it shows that they are quite literally our neighbor on this project.

It's gloomy in Asylum Hill, but 54 Huntington Street is helping to brighten up.  First, new copper flashing was put into place on the roof, and even in the low light it really stands out.  And then our paint swatch grew, so now we have a really good sense of what these colors will look like.

We're thinking, um, no, not so much.

Best way to choose paint colors:  paint a swatch!

The painters have started and the porch posts are in the basement, waiting to be installed.

Our partner on our project at 54 Huntington Street, the Asylum Hill Congregational Church, held a ceremony following its Sunday morning service to consecrate the new house here.  Approximately 100 parishioners and neighbors came up for the ceremony and explored the interior of the house.

Our partners on this project, Asylum Hill Congregational Church, plans to hold a consecration ceremony for 54 Huntington Street on Sunday.  We put out some fall flowers today to add a splash of "home" to the house, and as you can see around the house, we've also graded the land as we prepare to install the landscaping and pavement.

The front porch is shaping up nicely.  A few glimpses inside as well, and a look at the back porch, too.

It's good to have friends with high places!  These shots are from the 24th floor of The Hartford's office tower, and they offer a fun perspective on our work at 54 Huntington Street as well as how it fits into the neighborhood.  Also included is a terrific view looking west, taking in the whole of the campus of Saint Francis Hospital.

The new staircase at 54 Huntington, looking fabulous!

Progress at 54 Huntington:  an exterior shot showing the beginnings of the front porch; a look into the kitchen; a look up the staircase (not for the fainthearted!); the front bedroom, with light fixtures ready to be installed; the rear bedroom; and the third floor bonus space.

Progress at 54 Huntington.

A walk around the interior, now that the floor plan has fully emerged.

A group of volunteers from The Hartford came down today to help out with hanging drywall at 54 Huntington Street.  They were members of Andy Daly's team, and Andy is a member of the NINA Board of Directors.

A view of 54 Huntington Street ready for the exterior finish to go on, top to bottom.

A beautiful autumn day in Asylum Hill.  Perfect day to take some artsy shots of shadows cast by trusses!

Onward and upward!

One week in, and we're humming along.

Today we held a "wall raising" event to honor our partners and to kick off construction of the house.  The wall raisers included, from left to right in the photos:

Matt Laney, Senior Minister, Asylum Hill Congregational Church

Donna Manocchio, Associate Minister, Asylum Hill Congregational Church

Bill Russell, Asylum Hill Congregational Church

The bilco doors are in, which means the foundation is now complete.  From here, we can start work on the house to come!  Further signs that we're getting ready:  there's an actual power meter in place now (and again, probably not that exciting, but how often do you see a meter set to 0?) and our storage container is on site, too.

Okay, so maybe a photo of where a temporary power meter will go isn't all that exciting, but this occasion marks the official unveiling of our street number:  54!  The views from the basement won't exist for much longer because, of course, we're about to put a cap on the foundation.

Jeff Giddings and Matt Pearce began work this morning by having a look at the newly set foundation, and then this afternoon they were installing the first beam that will support the house above.  Also included one artsy shot (because we must!) that is of the forms into which the concrete was poured, now prepped for transport to their next job.

At least on the basement!  Views are from the future front and rear of the house.  The two beams sticking up from the rear wall mark where the bilco doors into the basement will go.

We started pouring the foundation today -- views include the crew at work as well as shots overlooking today's completed work from the southwest corner (future front of the house), the east (future rear of the house), and west (future front of the house).

We now have a proper hole at 54 Huntington Street.  Next step will be to pour the foundation.

It's not much, but it's a start!  The earth-moving equipment is on site, and the first shovelfulls of earth have been removed.  We're looking forward to getting started on our second new construction project, our first since completing 33 Sargeant Street back in 2011.