I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it.

Annette

Thanks Annette. Have to admit it looks better than the crowning of dead branches I was going to give it. lol

How do you feel about a trellis tacked on to the back of the short side, on the right? I think if the top was anchored by it to the floor there would be better stability but to me I think it would also be distracting. Looks vs safety. hmmm.

I am so glad you posted the pictures! I have brought your wonderful folly to my DH's attention several times! Wistful comments have not led to one of my own, alas, but I am willing to live vicariously through you! I cannot wait to see progressive pictures through the seasons. Love it.

Hmmm, I think a trellis on one side would take away from the overall look, but that's just me. We had a similar problem with my lath house so DH put braces in which look OK but they would spoil the beauty of what you have.

OK guys, thinking caps on, what can we come up with to help with stability without ruining the look.

Tossing things around in my mind, a clear see through panel used on decks with of without a frame around it attached in the middle of the back? I'll keep thinking :).

Annette

That is just beyond gorgeous !! I love it . Oh what a beautiful dreaming space .
Is it impossible to locate 2 more of those posts and make it with a row of 3? I don't know how to describe it but put one in the middle of each side. Not in the actual middle if the whole thing. No matter what you do , gosh it's pretty ! Thank you for keeping us up to date .

Edit to remove double post

This post was edited by lilyfinch on Sat, Sep 13, 14 at 20:48

Oh yes, please come up with some suggestions! Thanks.

Thanks lily. Well, six columns might look alright if the structure was bigger perhaps, plus I'm not sure that would do much for bracing. Maybe I'm not envisioning what you mean. The first contractor told me the brace has to run "corner to corner".I still don't understand how that would help, unless he meant from the top to the floor, like a big X. again, not pretty.

cyn, I finally took a deep breath and mowed down the pink shrub rose that was growing at the side facing the camera (last photo). It has been growing so wild for so long that it became apparent I wasn't going to be able to keep the grass and weeds out of it, even tho early this Spring I tried. Knowing its habit the rose will probably grow right back next year tho. I did leave the clump of perennial sweet peas there to the left. I bought more daff bulbs but wherever I plant them I won't be able to mow for most of the summer so I really can't create a border around the folly with them.

Oh, WOW, WOW, WOW!!! That is outstanding!!! I absolutely love it!

Could he do something like lattice in a triangle in each of the four corners so that you would wind up with a " window" in the middle. Gosh, this is hard to explain. But, instead of doing an X from a top corner to the opposite bottom corner, would it brace it enough if you came from each corner with a triangle of lattice/beam to the middle of the same post as that corner and the top? That would form a window in the middle and keep it somewhat open. I can try to draw a picture of it and take a photo. Sorry! I have no idea how people take existing photos like yours above and do all sorts of fancy stuff to change them! Maybe DH can help me. Is it only one side he thinks needs to be done?

What a statement it makes. Well done!

Or if you need to do the entire back, instead of lattice (I think with the mass of the posts/structure, the smaller openings in the lattice is what is a bit unappealing), could you do something more like you would see in a windowpane fence with much larger openings? And Maybe even have a cutout for a fancier window? Maybe with some ironwork or something inserted so it looks like it was "planned" the entire time as part of the finished product?

Ok, one more! LOL! I just remembered this from Tower Hill Botanical Garden near me in MA. Another way to add structure, although maybe cost-prohibitive, but it gives an idea for what it could "look like" even if you used wood w/o the entire back closed in.

Good morning, couldn't wait to log on and see your ideas. Yes, thyme I knew exactly what you were thinking of in your first post - I thought of that myself but the photos you found really help me to see it. Thank you so much. But I never thought of going with a larger "pane" instead of the traditional lattice grid size. That is another excellent point.

Here's the original post.

T2D has a very elegant solution, and I notice that the finer mesh is on a diagonal, so if you did it with wood and wire mesh, I would think you would also want your mesh on a diagonal and well-fastened to provide best stability.

How tall is your structure? I am wondering if you have the headroom to do diagonals of a very stiff wire (like what they sell for use with chain link fencing perhaps) on at least three of the four sides from the top of one pillar to about two feet down the adjacent pillars. It would add considerable stability without interfering with the view at all when you were seated, and wouldn't be too visible from a distance, but you would need the headroom so that folks wouldn't run into it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Previous porch/pergola post

Schoolhouse, I love that look, it's so pretty! Is there any way you could have him brace the inside of the roof in each corner and maybe braces on the bottom of each post? This could be covered up with vining plants, and maybe additional large flowering plants around each post to hide everything.

Another thought I had was similar to Thyme's, some sort of grill work. Probably expensive but if you have recycle depots near by it might be worth a look.

Annette

nhbabs, thanks for finding the OP. The columns are almost 6' I think. Then with the added height the top creates, I'd say there is at least 6.5' head room? I should measure. That may have been what the first contractor was trying to explain when he said "run a cable...."(corner to corner on the inside). I thought he meant down and away from it into the ground like a tent anchor.

Yes, 1212dusti - he did build corner braces at the top of each column on the inside. I'll take a photo later.

I wonder how the lattice work with cut-out, painted a very dark almost black green (Tinseltown Green that I've always used outside) would look? Adding lattice anywhere isn't my ideal but so far the solution to consider. A metal grill work that would be allowed to rust naturally is intriguing, seeing how my intention is to let the structure weather to grey anyhow. At least that's my intention for now. lol