Way back in 2009 when Mary and I came to visit Ecuador we visited San Clemente for three days. Two of the mornings that we were here we went out to the beach and I helped the fishermen pull in their long nets laden with hundreds of fish. On that visit we met a fisherman named Ramon who gave us some fish to take back to the hotel as thanks for our help.
More than two years later in December of 2011 we were walking down the road of our new home when Ramon pulled over in his pickup truck. Remarkably he remembered us and welcomed us as new residents. About a week later I met Ramon again and he told me he had a home for rental if we wanted to see it.
I went to see the home (a sprawling four bedroom, five bathroom, huge home) and explained that we had downsized and we thought that home was too large for our needs. When our old home was damaged after the recent earthquake I went back to Ramon to see if perhaps we could stay – at least temporarily – in his home.
Ramon and his son-in-law were working to add new electrical outlets in the home and it resembled a constuction site. But, Ramon told me he would work to get at least one bedroom ready for us that evening. We began moving in that night and have been busy settling in for almost five weeks now.
In the next several days we will be posting pictures of our new home, but today we wanted to post some pictures of our huge kitchen!
The kitchen came complete with a large refrigerator, a five burner stove, and lots of cupboard space.
We had plenty of room for our freezer and our panty shelf. We also got two large shelving units to hold all of the small appliances we have accumulated.
But, even with the shelves and a new small refridgerator for drinks and extra storage, we still had lots of room in the middle of the kitchen. We also lacked any drawers for silverware and had no large open area for rolling out pie dough, etc.
So, a few weeks ago we contacted our friend Norgio. Norgio’s brother Daniel is a master cabinet/furniture maker and he agreed to come by the house to give us an estimate on a large kitchen island. We told him we wanted a formica top as opposed to ceramic tile usually used in counter tops here and showed him some pictures of kitchen islands similar to what we wanted.
Daniel and Norgio took lots of measurement and mades some drafts of what the island would look like. Daniel than gave us what we thought was a very fair estimate of $250.00 and said that it would take about three weeks to prepare.
Ealier today Norgio called to ask if we would be home tonight so that he and Daniel could deliver the island. We were excited when the pickup pulled into our yard this evening.
We had some anxious moments when we realized that the island might just be too large to fit into our home!
But, after removing the front door and manipulating the unit around several walls, Norgio and Daniel finally got the huge island into the kitchen!
The workmanship on this island is amazing! The inlaid formica laminate top provides us with about twice as much counter top space as we had previously and there are shelves for pots and pans and a large drawer for silverware.
The counter top is 90 by 120 centimeters or about 3 by 4 feet. There is still plenty of room to move around all sides of the island. Daniel painted the entire surface in high gloss white paint and the island is the same height as the ceramic tile counter tops.
The island is more than we hoped for, was delivered a few days earlier than promised, and came in at the quoted price!
To those of you who live in the area we highly recommend Daniel and Norgio for any custom furniture or cabinets you may need. But you will have to wait a couple of weeks because we have already contracted with Daniel to make us two new computer desks and a bookcase.
Life is good in Ecuador!
The kitchen is spacious and the cabinets are nice. I love the butcher block that was made for you as it’s gorgeous. Loving people and great hospitality. Who could ask for more?
Enjoy your new home.
JoAnn, everything about this home is spacious. It is built like an old Spanish Hacienda with lots of open rooms, high ceilings, and solid brick and concrete construction. The kitchen island area will make the kitchen a much more effective work place with room for baking projects, etc. We are very happy with it.
Oh, it is wonderful to see pictures of your new home. And the island is fantastic. He certainly is a master craftsman. Now, I am wondering if you are going to fill those five bedrooms. Lol
You know how it is. When we moved to Ecuador we had two suitcases each and far more carry on items than two people should try to move. That was it. But over four and a half years we have gradually accumulated more and more things. There are four bedrooms. One we use as a bedroom (go figure). Another room has my BowFlex machine set up in it complete with the leg attachement. That room has a built-in king sized bed and we will use that as my exercise room and guest room. The room closest to the front door will be Mary’s art room and Nura will have her physical therapy/massage table set up there for her customers. The last and smallest bedroom is being used currently to store all of the beds that were in the other rooms!
We are definitely filling the place up and hope to have a place where friends and relatives can come to visit. JandM
What a beautiful kitchen and the island matches perfectly in that space!
Yes, we are thrilled to have it. Mary has been working all morning getting her kitchen things reorganized. It will be so much easier to work in the kitchen now. Life is good.
That looks amazing! Your kitchen and new home look beautiful as well.
We really think he did a great job on the island. We are having Daniel make two desks and a bookshelf to match for the office area (actually part of the front room.) We will be sending more pictures of the new home soon. It is huge and there is plenty of room for your whole family to come visit! Give our love to all.