The Hazelnut Inn will have many, many great spots to take spectacular photos when we are finished construction. It was carefully designed that way from the time we first put pencil to paper more than six years ago. We double-checked every angle and view when we built the scale model shortly thereafter. And now, as we carefully put all of the pieces together we can finally see them for real.

One of our favourite photo spots is peering through the garden gate of the Under Hill, up towards the Copper Crown which towers overhead. The garden is still very much under construction but the view is already pretty special. It’s not too hard to imagine this angle with a cobblestone deck and finished landscaping in place. Every day brings us a little closer to the finished view!

The Element Spray Foam crew is making great progress. Their last suite, the Copper Crown, is quickly being insulated and will be finished soon.

The insulation crew from Element Spray Foam is making great progress.

The Under Hill Suite looks like a confusing jumble of foam, wires, pipes, and welded pencil rod, but it all makes perfect sense if you know how it will all come together in the end.

The bulk of the building is now fully insulated and it won’t be long until our final suite, the Copper Crown, is finished as well.

We are temporarily steering clear of the Hazelnut Inn while the Elemental Spray Foam crew insulates the interior of the Copper Crown & Under Hill suites. While we wait the North Star suite sits ready for the theme work with materials, tools and scaffolding jamming all of the working space, save for some narrow walkways. It will be next week before the crew returns to this space to begin readying the space for the final painting.

The interior spaces of the Copper Crown suite are clean and prepared for the arrival of our friends at Element Spray Foam first thing tomorrow. The space is cavernous and lofty, befitting a castle and difficult to photograph without a wide-angle lens. As a point of reference, the scaffold is about seventeen feet tall. The beginnings of the arched ceilings and beams are already blocked in. These ceilings and beams will be filled out fully once as the insulation is in place. It will be great to spend the winter working in a climate-controlled space!

The North Star Suite of the Hazelnut Inn is now almost ready for the final sculpting of the remaining theme work. There’s been a flurry of activity this week as the crew did the last welding, application of the plywood backing, and stapling on the diamond lath. That meant it was time to bring in our friends from Wishlow Cranes to lift the needed concrete materials up to the upper garden. It is a whole lot easier and faster to do it this way rather than packing up the four pallets of heavy materials by hand. Next week we’ll fire up the mixer and get to work.