Stonework Begins on the Pool Site

After the Thanksgiving holiday, the first week of December came in with super cold temperatures and lot's of rain and snow.

The stonework at the pool site continued to progress as Andy brought in a nice load of stone from the Muddy Creek Mountain Quarry this week.

With the advent of more seasonally wet weather, Dawson Lake is starting to fill at a more rapid pace and it is nice to watch the water level rise on the level stakes on the dam.

- Richard Grist

November at Dawson Lake

Second Week of October

Here are a few pictures from the second week of October.

The siding is just about complete on the spec home and the insulation is going in.

Bob Chamberland is ready to begin excavating the pool and beach house site when the special excavator arrives on Monday.

The leaves are changing slowly this year at Dawson Lake and peak coloration should be around the 18th of October.  The ducklings that were born in late July are just about grown and are enjoying a pleasant Fall at Dawson Lake.

- Richard Grist

A Visit to Dawson

Mr. Lazes and Tom Murray flew in from Charlotte to review the new beach area plans architect Ole' Sondresen completed this week.  Tom is an experienced real estate marketer specializing in projects like Dawson Lake.

Bob Chamberland and his building construction crew were busy this week installing the West Virginia grown Eastern Hemlock siding on the spec home.  Eastern Hemlock has been used for construction of homes and barns in WV for over 200 hundred years and is resistant to decay and weathers to a pleasingly warm color.

- Richard Grist

The Shift of Seasons at Dawson

As summer winds down, the construction at Dawson Lake is still moving along.  The weather has been exceptional for Bob Chamberland and his construction crews to stay busy.

 With a few more days of fill work, the Hilltop road will be completed and ready for stone and hydroseeding.

The survey crew from Terradon continues to provide assistance when called upon.

Architect Ole' Sondresen met on site with Mr. Lazes, Bob Chamberland and Paul Grist to site the new spec home to be built on the lakefront.  This home is to be built with leading edge "Green" technology and will serve as a model for the possibilities future homeowners could include in the design of their homes at Dawson Lake.

If the Indian Summer continues this fall, construction of the pool and beach cabana will get underway and the amazing spec home on Memory Lane will be completed.

The cool nights create early morning mist on Dawson Lake and the leaves are just starting to turn and this should be a very colorful year.

- Richard Grist

Architecture Comes to Life at Dawson

Work on the spec home continues and it is exciting to see the Ole' Sondresen's architectural design come to life.  The outdoor living area adjacent to the kitchen is well underway with some very nice Elderman Spruce beams from White Pine Milling in Racine WV being installed for the rafters.

The new well has been drilled by Tuckwiller Well Drilling and the grade around the home has been raised to finish level.

The windows and doors are installed and the kitchen cabinets are ready to install soon.

- Richard Grist

Taking Time to Smell the Flowers

With the construction phase in full swing, it is sometimes nice to take a walk around the project and experience the progress from a little different perspective.

The din of the construction gives way to wildflowers, wood ducks, clouds, sunbeams, spider webs, bird songs and lake reflections.

- Richard Grist

Ducks on the Pond - July 2010

Bob Chamberland and his four crews had some time down this week as tremendous thunderstorms moved across the region and delayed some of the road work. However, the much needed rain continued filling of the lake, which by the way has several wood duck hens with their newly hatched chicks.

The Lakeview West road is just about completed with just the big fill in progress.  The crossing of the deep hollow on the southern terminus of the road will require thousands of yards of fill to bring it to final grade and this work will be ongoing for a few more days.

Terradon Engineering completed the grade staking and the grubbing and clearing of Tip Top Lane, the last road slated for this phase of the development,  was started this week.  It will require a substantial cut to get to final grade but will access some of the nicest views on the property. Road construction superintendent, Richard Persinger is using the ideal shale/rock material from this cut to fill in  the deep crossing on Lakeview West.

The conduit crew is making steady progress and started laying the underground conduit along Lakeview West this week and the chipping crew is getting along well, with most of the area on the eastern side of the lake completed.
 
- Richard Grist

Second Week of June : 2010

The second week of June found Dawson Lake a very busy place. Some heavy thunderstorms moved through the area during the week but little time was lost and much progress was made.

Construction began on Lakeview West, which is the newest section of road. This road will offer one of the most beautiful drives with long views of the surrounding mountains and lake views along its entire length.

Bob's road crew finished up the rough grading around the spec home and was bringing in the underground utilities in advance of the well and septic system coming soon. Lead carpenter Bob Shoupe and the crew building the spec home continued moving along at a very rapid pace. Wiring, plumbing and windows are just around the corner.

The dam was raised about 5 feet and a new overflow was installed. This change created a beautiful water feature. Little Lake already has some really nice bass and bluegill in place.

The seed that was sown for the wetlands below the dam are starting to germinate and are growing rapidly.

- Richard Grist

Dawson Lake Progress : May 24, 2010 : Last Week of May at Dawson

It was a very busy day at Dawson Lake and Bob Chamberland had everything humming right along. The grass seed has germinated around the lake and the conduit crew is installing the last of the utilities underground.

Ole' Sondresen, Project Architect, was in from New York to put the finishing touches on the Spec house design. The home construction crew made amazing progress in the last two weeks and the home will soon be under roof.

Ole' and Bob also met with Agsten Construction's Peter McKinney to look at the plans for the beach cabana, changing rooms and swimming pools.

InvenEnergy's Windmill project managers Chris and Jeff took a tour of the project with Ole' and real estate sales agent Paul Grist.

Work on Easy Street was underway with Road Construction foreman Richard Persinger and Bob checking in on the rock hammer working to widen the road above the pond. This is going to be a beautiful area of the property when completed.

- Richard Grist