Howdy everyone! It’s us, the 3rd-years, for one final time. We’ve had such a great time this semester and couldn’t possibly express how much we’ve enjoyed our stay here at Rural Studio! However, that is exactly what we are going to try to do in this blog, at least since the last time we updated you. Anyway, before we begin, we hope you’ve enjoyed reading as much as we have enjoyed writing, it’s been a pleasure. Now on to the main event.

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

Since our last report, we have made some significant site-related decisions as well as major construction progress on Rosie’s Home. We finished sheathing the whole home, installed windows and doors, added window openings on the north and south ends, and installed our metal siding on the back and on the east roof, with the help of the leftovers. As you can see, we’ve been busy, and surprisingly, we enjoyed it. After all of the work we’ve done this semester, it was so nice to finally see some major visual changes, and we are so excited to see how the project progresses when next semester comes in the fall! 

Whose studio is it, anyways?   

Just to preface, this section might be a bit sparse, BUT, that doesn’t mean we haven’t been working hard! Since we’ve been so busy on site, a lot of our studio time has been spent out on the site making important decisions about the future of the project. To make these decisions, we took our work out to the project to get a better visual representation of what our design decisions will eventually become and how they could affect the project in a more tangible way. Some of these decisions include the front porch design, the west facade, and the landscaping, which no other semester can change! Just kidding. We are excited to see how future students push our early designs forward. 

Ok, I might have lied a little bit about this section being sparse. If you were a close reader of our past blogs, the site cats had kittens. SHHH! It’s a secret. They are very cute and made our final work days kinda distracting.

Wood = Good 

Last time we spoke, we were working on a mock-up of our cabinets system for Rosie’s Home. Well, we did that. It went well. Taking what we learned from our mock-ups, we immediately began building as fast and as much as we could of the final cabinet systems, which will be installed next semester. Safely, of course. We were able to construct and finish roughly 70% or so of the cabinets and have been working on preparing next semester’s students to be able to get right to building when they arrive.

Class is now dismissed 

For our final history class, we took a trip to Columbus, MS, where we visited the Temple Heights Mansion and the Waverly Mansion. The weather was perfect, and having a few more opportunities to sketch with Dick Hudgens was the perfect way to end our semester. 

The Ol’ Pig Roast 

As every student of Rural Studio does, we finished our time in Newbern by attending the famous Pig Roast festival. It was a weekend of food, fun, and presentations. We got the opportunity to present our work on Rosie’s Home and cabinets to everyone in attendance and got to watch our fellow 5th-year friends and “leftovers” (graduates staying to complete work), present all about their amazing projects. We ended the night with some pig, which we didn’t have to catch, and some great music. 

A Fond Farewell 

It was so amazing getting the opportunity to come and learn at Rural Studio this semester, and we will cherish our time here for the rest of our lives. It was a pleasure writing these blogs for all of you readers, and we can’t wait to come back for our 5th year! Thank you – The 3rd-Years