New Castle Homes, LLC

824 Heartland Court in Fairfax.....single family condo.....not a duplex....HOA mows the yards, plows the snow and takes care of everything outside.....lots accomplished this week.....all lvp installed, fireplace installed, built installed and 2 level wainscoting installed and primered, granite installed in kitchen and baths.....starter rows of subway tile in kitchen underway....fireplace stonework started.....in 7 days the inside will be almost 100%! Darline Essary Horton Jeremy Trenkamp
Marshall Horton

402 Plum Street in Solon is coming together and will be ready for the market by June 1st.....stone on the front along with the stained cedar makes such a statement.....hopefully the stone is only 3 days from completion.....all the appliances are in and granite in the kitchen, both bathroom vanities and wet bar looks wonderful......stay tuned for more!!

402 Plum Street in Solon is coming along nicely! Granite installed today and subway tile backslash going in next.....stay tuned!

Wonderful Wednesday in Solon.....402 Plum Street renovation got super serious today.....lower level getting new mechanical room and a very large and very nice b athroom.......one day at a time!!! Stay tuned!

What a fantastic way to spend a beautiful Monday.......starting on flanking bookcases....fireplace and stone next.....nice and cozy and I have Christmas music playing.... .yes I am a mushy type of old softie.....but it is Christmas time and no prettier music for a 3 week period......

607 Owen Street in Tiffin is coming along well......not a bad view to work around d on a beautiful fall morning....

3 hours to get the cabinet cut to accept the stainless apron sink.....fits like a glove now and ready for the granite countertop.....

Love how the Key West inspired backyard retreat turned out.....no messy feet....shade galore in the cabana and just enough pool to get wet, stay wet and converse with friends.....

Another chapter in my book....819 Heartland Ct in Fairfax becomes a home for the new owner.....lots of nice extras which make this duplex very special and cozy.....I love my job!

819 Heartland Court in Fairfax..... a solid 4 days work creating and staining the built ins flanking the linear fireplace with dry stack stone.....a few pieces of crown at the very top of the TV area and it will be a done done deal! What a different house from the first picture!!!!

Darline Essary Horton

Marshall Horton

Kristine Baldwin

What a couple of crazy days.....set trusses late yesterday with wind chill around 10.....almost 55 today and beyond belief windy.....too dangerous to continue installing roof sheathing....knocking off for today....back st it early tomorrow.....snow forecast tomorrow.....what a roller coaster!!!

819 Heartland in Fairfax.....granite installed yesterday and ceramic backsplash started.....this granite is my favorite of all time....beiges, rusty browns, whites, and creams.....works in credible with cabinets and mahogany red oak floors....will post more soon!!

A small addition to a kitchen... created a computer center at the end of a raised dishwasher cabinet group....very Italian kitchen and new tile backsplash was a challenging install to get everything perfectly centered left to right and up and down.... .I think it looks fantastic.....your thoughts????

Very proud to be the builder of this home...pretty without a snowfall but absolutely gorgeous covered in snow...

PSA ...please read!! Everybodies house is frozen right now....u are warm inside but everything beyond your walls is cold and potentially frozen.....weather is projected to rebound quickly into low to mid 40s by Saturday
.....this rapid warm up is going to cause problems from anything water related....such as frozen pipes u arent aware are frozen to ice dams on your roof that will trap melted snow water....if so.....hopefully the melted snow water will go over the ice dams and over your gutters out to the yard.....however if you have ice dams that are large and solid .... that water will back up and potentially go inside wherever the water can find an opening....Solution???? Best advice is to inspect your roof now and figure out a way to dislodge these snow built up areas once we get above freezing.....there is no simple solution and every situation is different.....just my opinion on what to expect Saturday through Monday........the damage from backing up water can be tremendous.. Marshall Horton Darline Essary Horton Scott Jones

Basement floor on December 26th....midwest work ethic cant be beat!.... Chris Tompkins Construction come on and let's get this framing going!

Here we grow again.....609 Owen Street in the heart of Tiffin........nice wooded lot with fantastic back yard.. ..

Fantastic idea.....not overly fond of the metal ceiling.....but the island bar is sweet!!! Will definitely copy the doggie caddy for the future

824 C Avenue is finished and hits the market in 2 days.....professional pictures and video will happen tomorrow.....I am posting a few photos I shot with my phone this morning....a special thank you to Kristine Baldwin for staging the house as part of her realtor package .....staging is cozy and wonderfully done......

Almost finished with 824 C Avenue in NW Cedar Rapids.....hits the market by September 10th ......turned out very very nice...everything new inside and out.... and under $100,000.... stay tuned

Hard to express in words how beautiful a house is during just the framing phase....

Here we grow again....824 C Avenue BE in Cedar Rapids.......850 square foot one 2 bedroom 1 bath.....built 1924.....super solid bones with almost brand new mechanicals......she has been neglected for a few years but will be a doll house soon.....just getting demo started but the revised kitchen/dining combo will make this house feel brand new....

Darline Essary Horton has it all planned out in her mind and I am excited to get going....she really has the vision.....

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Been a couple of weeks since I have posted any updates.....but time to show off fireplace, bookcases, mantle and stone work....not completely finished yet but super close......hardwoods are 50 % done along with interior trimwork......702 Cedar Bend Drive in Solon is getting prettier everyday! Marshall Horton Darline Essary Horton Andrea Hicks....

702 Cedar Bend Drive is well under way!! Stone veneer finished today in the 70 degree warmth......garage doors,get handles this week and inside work gets started in earnest.....gonna be stunning inside and outside when finished! Marshall Horton Darline Essary Horton

Stone work on the front of 702 Cedar Bend Drive is well under way.....hopefully finish all the stone installation tomorrow....grout the rock joints on Friday.....shutters to follow!

A little progress last week.....will finish bookcases which includes cabinetry for whole house stereo/video/security components......stay tuned!

I absolutely love Iowa on a crisp fall day especially making a trip up north a few niles to the Blue Bluegrass sod company and seeing the manicured fields and the nicest people.... and knock on wood the old red Ford keeps on plugging along and likes it out here about as much as I do

Day 1 of fireplace, fireplace stone veneer, mahogany mantle and bookcase building extravaganza.....will take a few days to build, install and stain....stay tuned for daily updates....lot 90 Windmill Estates in Solon...

1614 B Avenue house update....... 105 year old red oak floors and steps have been sanded and lightly stained and now getting the 3rd of 4 coats of poly...... these floors are absolutely beautiful and this house is turning out incredible......hardwood guys ran me out again and told me not to come back til Tuesday....... Darline Essary Horton is going to paint the step kickers versus staining to get the pop she wants.....stay tuned because the finish line is in sight!!!

1614 B Avenue Northwest in Cedar Rapids is coming together really well after only seven hard days of work ...... gutting of the interior is almost done and new paint and outside touches are starting to go up on the front....this is the first of many more to come Darline Essary Horton "home makeovers" and the finished product will be a beauty and priced in the $90's and will have a new furnace, a.c., water heater, kitchen cabinets, powder room on the main level, refinished 100 year old hardwoods and more and more......this will be a doll house when complete!!

I am on my soapbox this morning preaching and quite upset over one new rule and regulation that one particular little city requires that nobody else does ......and people wonder why houses keep getting more and more expensive..... in the picture you will see eight little pieces of quarter inch metal washers and a one box of deck tension fasteners that is designed (in theory) to keep tension from the deck joist onto the house ......now keep in mind we've already bolted the deck to the house with bolts every 12 inches on center in a staggered pattern and every joist has a joist hanger on each end of the joist nailed to the maximum but yet that's not safe enough and we have to now put these $28 attachment tension brackets on each end to make sure the deck cant pull away from the house......trust me....there is more metal used in a typical deck than in a Buick Skylark bumper...... in this picture you're looking at almost $80 worth of " I m from from government and I am here to help"!!!

A special shout out to everyone who has busted their fannies getting 702 Cedar Bend in Solon ready for drywall.....all inspections passed today without single a correction needed
.......in this day and age this is a mega rare accomplishment.....ty to Chris Tompkins and crew for another perfect framed house..... Scott Jones and Darline Essary Horton and the crew at A2Z HVAC and Plumbing for your workmanship ( yes Canon Speers you worked hard too...lol) and Mickey Harris with Cobra Electric for all the cool stuff.......i appreciate your integrity and never say die attitudes!!

702 Cedar Bend... Windmill Estates ......5' elelctric fireplace installed in vaulted family room.......will be rock from floor to ceiling with bookcase flankers.....very realistic flame and strong blower......i am impressed!