Photographs of FirstDay Cottages
A number of FirstDays have been built all over the country. Here are some pictures to help get a good feel for FirstDay.
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Quick Links: Completed – Interior – Building – Details – Personal Touches – People
Completed Houses
Every finished FirstDay is a little different. Here are some pictures of completed homes to give you an idea of the variety of possibilities with a FirstDay Cottage.
An Original FirstDay with a detached garage in Wisconsin.
A Saltbox with a covered porch on a radiant slab in Wyoming.
A FirstDay Cape on a full basement built on Martha's Vineyard island.
A 16' x 33'4" Original FirstDay in Virginia with a walkout basement tucked into a slight hill.
A 16' x 40' FirstDay in Alstead, NH with a small front porch.
A Saltbox with a small entranceway, brick chimney and cedar shingles in Massachusetts.
A basic 16' x 30' house with some nice details.
Another view of the Wyoming Saltbox.
Two FirstDay Cottages connected with a breezeway built in the hills of Vermont.
One of the first Saltboxes. This house was built in Colorado on a radiantly heated slab.
A 16' x 33'4" in Idaho. An "upside down house", it has the living area on the second floor.
A 16' x 30' turned into a guest house addition.
This Saltbox was built as an employee dormitory on Nantucket in Massachusetts.
A 20' wide single story addition built on a crawl space.
An Original FirstDay Cottage with a single story addition and dark staining in Ohio.
T-shaped house on a floating slab in Vermont.
Another shot. Note the big bay window. Hard to build, but worth it.
Interiors
FirstDay Cottage interiors are often finished with a lot of customized details done by the owner builders. Take a look at these pictures to get an idea of the different looks that are possible with a FirstDay Cottage.
A kitchen tucked into a Saltbox wing with special cabinets.
A carpeted downstairs bedroom with window treatments and a white ceiling.
A second floor master bedroom in a 16' Original in Alstead, NH.
An upstairs room with a continuous sill built with extra sheathing boards.
An upstairs bedroom with clever built in shelving.
A nicely detailed bathroom with a slate tile floor.
A second floor vaulted ceiling living area with a ridgeline skylight.
A FirstDay heated with radiant heat and finished off with hard wood floors.
The second floor of a FirstDay Cape with some sheetrock on the interior.
A second floor nursery with a closed off ceiling to create a useful storage loft.
A typical, simple FirstDay kitchen with our standard cabinets.
A dining area with wrap around corner windows in a spacious Cape.
Kitchen/dining area with a counter/island.
A "pickled" interior with simple trim details in a standard Saltbox.
An office space and loft in a Saltbox with a patterned stain on the standard flooring.
Looking from the kitchen into a living room addition.
Looking from the kitchen into a living room addition.
Bay window and concrete counter done by owner.
A nice master bedroom.
A bay window brings in a lot of light. It's difficult to build, but can be worth it.
Typical kid's bedroom (Baby born during construction).
Another view of the master bedroom.
Nifty built in storage.
FirstDays are very energy-efficient. This is all the wood stove you'll need.
Looking up to the upstairs bedroom from a country kitchen addition.
Some bright colors create a Caribbean room in NH.
a sink detail in a single-story addition.
Another shot of a kitchen in a single-story addition with a bay window.
Another shot of the concrete countertop and radiant slab.
A handy utility space upstairs, between bedrooms.
A nice custom detail below the windows.
Custom details by owner. Stairs NOT by FirstDay.
White painted wood in a bathroom. Note the custom shelving under the stairs.
With the house on a slab, you can create storage space under the stairs.
A nice living room with a vaulted ceiling.
A country kitchen in a 14' T-Shape house.
Interior partitions before sheathing.
A nice finished all wood interior before moving in.
A finished kitchen with our standard cabinets.
Building
Here you will find pictures of various FirstDay Cottages under construction. Each step of the construction is covered in depth in the FirstDay instruction book. The book is filled with directions, special details and helpful tips.
Special thanks to the FirstDay builders who sent in their pictures!
On a poured foundation the sills are secured to the concrete walls, then the beams are put in place.
Sill installation for a house on a slab; the sills are held in place by anchor bolts embedded in the concrete.
After the beams are all in place, the 2x6 decking is put down as shown on this standard Cape.
Next the posts and second floor beams are tilted up in a series of bents which we call the "goal posts".
With all the goal posts raised it's time to tie them together by decking the second floor.
With the first and second floor decks complete, the structure starts to take the shape of a house.
The rafters are constructed on the second floor and raised in pairs to join with the tops of the posts.
With the rafters in place you now have the finished framework for a FirstDay Cottage.
After the frame is complete, the horizontal sheathing goes on which becomes your interior finish.
The foam insulation and horizontal strapping is then installed on top of the sheathing.
Now it's time to install the windows, doors and roofing to finish sealing and waterproofing the house.
With the house watertight it's time to call in the subs!
Interior work now begins including partitioning, plumbing, wiring and the optional radiant floor tubes.
Once the electrical wiring is done the vertical shiplap siding is put on to finish the exterior.
With all the trim and finishes applied you're done! Now add a porch, build a garage or go on vacation!
Another FirstDay about to be shipped to North Carolina.
A typical FirstDay loaded for shipment. The largest bundle is about 3,000lbs.
Another FirstDay being readied for shipment!
FirstDay platform for a 24' x 24' Saltbox. Notice the holes in the deck for for the goal posts.
The first floor beams in place.
Always build and test one bent first.
All the bents in place.
Another view of the bents in place.
The sheathing starts to go on.
Last pair of rafters being put in place. Note: the short roof is stabilized by the sheathing.
Most of the sheathing is on with Typar. Time to sheath the roof.
The walls are sheathed and have Typar. The roof has foam and strapping and is ready for the metal roof.
The roof is on and the walls have foam, strapping, and most of the windows.
Getting close! The roof is on and windows are in, with some siding.
House Details
Here are some close-ups to let you see some of the details that make up a FirstDay Cottage.
The laminated beams and first floor deck of a 16' Original with a 10' x 10' addition.
A concrete basement wall meeting the built up wall of a walkout basement.
A laminated beam in the basement carries the load for the 24' span of a Saltbox or Cape on a basement.
Radiant heat tubes installed for the basement slab.
One of our half-glass exterior doors with grills. The doors are metal with fiberglass insulation and double paned glass.
A closely cropped roof peak from the outside and a few windows waiting for the siding.
A good example of the wiring running on the exterior of the home in the air space between the siding and the foam.
Framed interior partitions and a radiantly heated subfloor.
An inside look at the peak, window frame and the final wood finish on the interior (pine sheathing).
Interior view of the windows with finished trim and sills.
Continuous corner windows let in a lot of light for a cheerful, sunny corner.
An interior partition wall with one of our standard solid six panel pine doors.
A nicely built staircase to the second floor.
The siding (pre stained by the builders) and windows go on for a standard FirstDay Cape design.
A FirstDay Cape with a built out and elegantly trimmed overhang.
Personal Touches
No two FirstDays are the same. Here are some of our favorite little details our customers have done to personalize their new homes.
The FirstDay instruction book shows you how to trim out your front door with this detail.
Who needs a door to your storage loft when you can show off your patriotism?
A simple faux tile pattern made with different color stains on our standard wood floor.
This ridgeline skylight is in the FirstDay instruction book. It lets in a soft and bright diffused light.
A skillful paintbrush and a little chicken wire turns our cabinets into a chicken coop.
A farmer's porch on a slab for this organic farm in Wyoming.
A clever stair railing made from a natural piece of wood.
This corner window seat is warmed by recycled air from the dryer vent below.
A really handy shelving system and closet in the upstairs knee wall of a FirstDay Cape.
A little sheetrock makes for a nice clean look to contrast the natural wood.
A little extra material and a lot of extra labor puts us all to shame in this FirstDay Cape.
Good use of the space over the Saltbox shed portion of a FirstDay.
1x8 sheathing cutoffs make a great wainscoting type finish with a continuous sill under the windows.
This creative countertop has a light underneath that glows through the glass beads set between the tiles.
Inspiration from a magazine and a tight doorway make for an interesting custom door.
A house or a barn? These custom panels act as storm shutters for this house on Shelter Island, NY.
A second floor deck and extra wood strips added for a "board and baton" look with the standard siding.
A field stone fireplace and another continuous sill made from the extra sheathing.
But where am I going to store all my Beanie Babies? We've got an answer for that one too!
A little glass between the posts gives you some great CD storage.
The ceiling beams give a great opportunity for more creative shelving for the kitchen.
People
FirstDay would be nothing without our customers who are willing to go out on a limb and build themselves a house. Here are some portraits and action shots of some of our customers with their FirstDay Cottages. Does this look like you?
Bob built himself a FirstDay at 72 with help from a younger hired hand on Martha's Vineyard (MA).
Nancy and Scott Niemi standing outside the new front door of their home in Fitzwilliam, NH.
Adam Starr (Winchester, NH) and his father set the bents for his home.
David sets the second floor rafters onto the posts for his FirstDay in Michigan.
Ryan Foxely (Afton, WY) plows the field on his family's organic farm with their Saltbox in the background.
Phil Dunne decking over the second floor of his 16' x 33' 4" FirstDay on Shelter Island in New York.
Willow Nilsen (Spofford, NH) finished her FirstDay with help from her father and friends.
Crispin Fletcher (Sutton, NH) poses by the brand new garage he's building as practice for the house.
Mercades Villamon is building her new Saltbox as part of Yogaville in Buckingham, VA.
The Winklers as they work away on their Cape in Wentworth, NH.
Rick Scharf (Duxbury, VT) builds the laminated beams for the second floor...
...while his wife Amy finishes up the first floor decking.
Barb Bodin (Vineyard Haven, MA) works away on her Saltbox on Martha's Vineyard.
Andy and Heather Collins (Alstead, NH) building the first real FirstDay, a 16' x 30', in 1995.
Fiona and David enjoying the kitchen of their FirstDay Saltbox in New Castle, CO.
Kim builds FirstDay during summer and did 90% of the work herself.
They got engaged before their home was finished and Dad approved of both.
95 degrees outside in Pennsylvania, but Dad still has shirt on.
A rare large FirstDay in Woodstock, NY with significant solar panels.