First, the biggest ongoing project (Aug-Nov) was the construction of our new stamped concrete walkways. We formed and poured literally hundreds of feet of walkways that go to nearly every place at Riverbend that our guests and staff would walk. The walkways are 3-4 ft wide and are made up of dozens of separate pours that went on all Fall. Though we still have plans to add contrasting borders to the segments in the main courtyard, the walkways are essentially done.
They are comprised of very strong (4000 psi) concrete with fiber reinforcement. We stamped them with a stone pattern and then stained them with a very inexpensive and ecologically safe fertilizer, called Iron Sulfate. The fertilizer is mixed with water and sprayed on the concrete, creating a chemical reaction that stains the concrete to a range of rusty browns. Then we sealed them with low VOC, water based sealer with a matte finish to maintain traction for wet/bare feet.
The guests are all very happy to be able to walk from the springs to the rooms and restroom without shoes and without tracking in pebbles. Checkout the video walkthrough of some of the walkways, below.
We recently acquired some stunning pieces from Aryen Hart. His work consists of metal, treated with heat, grinding, and chemical reactions, then printed over with archival ink and sealed with a gloss coating. Photos don't do his work justice. His work comes alive with spot lighting and movement, like a hologram. We hung 3 of the 4 pieces that we have in front of our King Suites, which really classes up the courtyard. The pieces that we got seem to go perfectly with our Flowing Water motif.
Another well known artist, Georgia Stacy, custom made us a gorgeous entry gate last spring. She designed it for us to be used for our main entrance, but we felt that it fit better between our colorful mural and straw-bale wall. We finally installed it recently, and though it will likely be enhanced somehow on the sides, it already adds so much to the look of our front facade. The flowing water motif shows up here, loud and clear. Click her name above for just a few other examples of her master wood carving skills.
Well, there have been countless other little projects keeping us all busy around here and if you haven't been here in a while, a stroll around the property will reveal many of them. However, I want to save some of them for future posts.
I would like to give a shout out to Big John Murphy, who is here right now brightening up the place with updated and new paint jobs, Keith Pedersen, for his master carpentry and masonry skills on the porch and walkways, the Rios brothers for their work on the tree wells, and of course, Jeff Thomas for his ever dependable help on nearly every project that we have taken on in the past 3 years. Thanks guys! Riverbend has you written all over it.
