The retreat is taking on a new look! Cedar siding has been going up and I love it. 

 Very "Up North" looking don’t you think?

Here is another angle.

You can see the last two windows are in also. We had been waiting for some nailing flanges for those.

This is how the Greatroom currently looks. Drywall will start going up later this week. That whole process takes about 3 weeks from start to finish. Then we can look forward to the finish carpentry work. (the fun stuff!!)

This last picture is of the craft room. Still lots of work to be done, but it’s nice to see how everything is laid out now.

Behind the scenes we have been ordering many of the furnishings and tools for the craft room. A little more exciting than working on the electrical stuff!

If you have any questions about us please feel free to send me an email! info@talloaksretreat.com

So have you  noticed the additions to the site?

We now have an Availability Calendar to help you in making your reservations!

Yes!! I did say reservations!!  Whoo Hoo!  I’m so glad to be able to say that already!

There is also a more detailed description of what the retreat will have in our Accomodations page and the Rates/Policies information has been expanded.

To begin making a reservation, you just need to fill out a quick online form found in our Reservations tab. The information will be emailed to us and we will contact you to get everything set up! It’s that simple!

We are still scheduled to finish the retreat in May, but just to be sure everything we want is complete and ready for you, we will take reservations starting with June and any time after that.

I have begun buying the tools and supplies for the craft room and as soon as they are here I will add that information to the Accomodations page as well.

The work has been continuing, and I’ll have more pictures for you after Easter. All the interior rough in is done and the insulation work will be finished this week, with drywall starting next week. Also, the siding is going up, I can’t wait to see what it looks like!

Last week while Dale was there working on the electrical stuff, he saw 6 deer walk right by the Frech doors on the lower level! How cool!!

Finally, did you know that you can leave me comment here on the blog? Yep!! You just have to register, it’s fast and painless. We have that extra step to keep spam out. I hope to hear from you soon!!

We have a well now!! LOL They have also put in the septic system and the electrical work is almost done!! You can see that we also got those shingles up! The siding will be delivered soon. It is cedar and has been at the stainers . Two coats of stain went on all four sides of it, I’m very happy to say we didn’t decide to do that ourselves! Here is the back, all enclosed now. I love that green French door! It will be so nice to sit out there this summer on the patio. Lots of interior rough in work going on right now. The HVAC and plumbers will be there next week.

Then after the inspection the insulation can go in. This is when it seems like everything slows way down. There are so many different contractors to coordinate and then the timing of inspections to plan for. I just want to be on to the finish work so I can show you the beautiful hickory cabinets and granite counters we have picked out! All in good time I guess!

Well… it’s a little further along! The roof is covered but no shingles yet.

The next time I’ll have pictures with the lower level all enclosed!!

Here come the rafters!!

These guys worked so fast, they only needed the crane on site for one day. The pictures I have been sharing were all taken on the same day. I have been spreading them over several posts so when the process slows down later I will still have something to share with you! In real time the retreat is much farther along. (thank goodness!!)

The carpenters looked like acrobats! They would balance on the top of the walls while lowering the trusses into place.

All of them are up now.

It’s so hard to picture what it will look like when all of the drywall is up. I can’t wait to see all of the details we have planned come together!

We are still planning on opening in early May. I hope we can meet all of the deadlines and don’t run into any problems that set us back at all. The weather is mainly what we have to watch. Not so much the cold now, but once it warms up we have to deal with road limits.

Hope you all had a great weekend and I’ll post again this week with more pictures.

So here we are again with some more photos of the progress at the retreat. I hope you enjoy watching the process as much as we do!! We are still battling cold temps here in northern Wisconsin. I have to hand it to the workers though, there’s no way I’d be out there working in Feb!

The walls are going up!

Above is what the lower level looks like. Once they enclose everything they will heat this area and then pour the concrete floor. That far end will be the craft room. We have three large windows and a French door so there will be lots of natural lighting! You will also be able to walk right out onto the patio area to take a break and enjoy the great northwoods views and wildlife. Unloading and loading all of your stuff will be easy too! Just back right up to the patio area and wheel your things into the craft room! You won’t have to haul everything up and down any stairs if you don’t want to!

View of the back of the retreat. This will be where the patio is. The craft room is on the far right of this picture.

This end will have a beautiful cedar deck added in spring. It will be right off of the greatroom. You will be able to come out and eat meals outside or just take a few minutes for yourself and relax. This will be the perfect place to watch some of the wildlife in the area and take a few pictures too! We have seen plenty of deer tracks all winter long and saw a doe earlier this winter. I just hope we can keep them from eating the landscaping!!

I’ve got many more pictures to share with you!

So check back later!

Here are some more pictures of the progress.

This shows where they cut in the driveway to the retreat.

They are clearing some of the trees where the retreat will be built. They did have to take out a lot of trees, but thankfully there are still plenty of trees on the lot.

This shows what it looked like when they had the forms all set and the concrete was poured. We did have to wait a few days for the temps to rise above 10 degrees before they could pour. That nasty cold stretch of below zero days was not fun!!

This is how the form work looked from the backyard. If you look close you will see lots of deer tracks! I couldn’t believe how many! We will be able to watch them from the deck this fall I hope.

This is the lot in early January. Lots of snow!!

The picture shows where the driveway will be cut in.

We finally got our address too!

We are 1840 Walck Road, Arbor Vitae WI.

I have lots more pictures to share as soon as I have time to post. I hope to have them up tomorrow for you.

You won’t believe the progress already!

Welcome to our website!

Here is a fall photo of our Tall Oaks Retreat location prior to the start of construction. This photo was taken in October when we were searching for a lot to build on. There is a great mix of trees there making the fall colors spectacular! This was one of the last lots we looked at and fell in love with it. We are in a great location… just 5 miles north of Minocqua!!