Siding the Turret

This is one of those parts about building a house that didn’t go according to plan.  It wasn’t as “Oops” moment, but we went through a lot of different ideas, and I’m still not certain about how it will end up.  It started with the turret covered in black tar paper because we planned to put stone siding on it.

I originally wanted stone, but not a faux stone like the products that are lightweight and easy to apply.  They don’t look or feel real enough.  I hauled my Dad around France for a couple of weeks last spring pointing out all the beautiful stone buildings until he agreed to help figure out how to stone the turret.  But stone seemed too difficult in the end.  I didn’t want him up on a ladder that high with heavy rocks, and there are a lot of regulations for putting stone that far up a wall, and with the virus shutdown we couldn’t get inspections for a while, so we ending up nixing it.  I considered metal siding (maybe copper for kind of a steampunk look).  Then I thought about shingles, but in a different pattern and color to the rest of the house.  I would have loved stucco so I could add some half timbering, but we don’t really have the best weather for it.  In the end, I went with vertical cedar siding, similar to the chimney, but in a tongue and groove style with more knotholes.

It was pretty easy to put up for the main part, but Marcus (my brother in law and general house hero) had to squeeze in some pretty tight spots to get the rounded sections around the roof.  He did the ladder work, while my Dad cut the pieces to the correct angles, and I just helped out whenever I could.

While Marc was on the roof, I enjoyed the view looking out my front door.  I have a pair of oak trees in my yard that are simply stunning this time of year.

The birds are loving them right now.  There were violet green swallows everywhere, and they kept swooping in to an old broken branch.  Maybe they have a nest there?

The deer are also active right now.  We see them in the field below the vineyard daily.

The siding went up very quickly.  We left the pieces above the door long and will trim them when my dad puts the brick frame around the doorway.

I really like the way that the vertical siding makes the turret feel more round.  It was tricky fitting it around the window with the bricks already in place, but we made it happen.  Once again, the long pieces will get trimmed to fit later.

One more tight spot for Marc and the turret siding is done. 

I don’t know yet if I will give it a clear stain and leave it natural looking, or if I will paint it.  I’m not sure exactly what I want it to look like in the end.  If I can find the right kind of flexible molding I might get a half timbered look after all.  Stay tuned it see!

Best,

Fiona