Miranda had explained that I needed to verify that the plans for our house were, in fact, the actual plans before they would make another copy.

Handling the original plans and making copies physically wears the documents so we needed to verify that the plans were what we needed before she would authorize any copies to be made.

OK, another trip to Wurster Hall.

We have an MS-134R!

Reviewing the plans showed that yes, they were accurate but the garage was on the left side whereas our garage is on the right side. We have an MS-134R.

This is an MS-134; we have the mirror image of this house, with the garage on the right side (MS-134R)

The

Miranda ordered copies of the sheets and said the copies would be ready in two days.

Finally.

Wally responded to our e-mail stating, ‘To tell you the truth, I don’t remember HOW I figured out your floorplan. I would often get on the horn to Marty, he’d point me to a couple that would be SIMILAR to a given floor plan, and we’d try to cobble together the answer.’

With Marty Arbunich as the source, I called Marty and described what we were looking for. Marty asked for the plans and specific differences, which sent to him in a PDF.

Marty responded to our e-mail in 17 minutes, with ‘Based on the differences that you point out, it’s MS-134, also by Claude Oakland.’

Satisfaction!

Not having the model number for our Eichler was becoming frustrating.

We went back to the article that was written on Via Sereno (Back to the Winchester Mystery Houses), to verify why we thought we had an MS-344.  The article mentioned a house across the street from us, which was described as an MS-144.

Another e-mail to Wally Fields asking the source of the model numbers.

We sent an e-mail to Wally Fields looking for his advice on how to identify the model number for our Eichler home.

Wally responded and asked several clarifying questions on our design.

Let’s hope he can identify the model number.

Since Scott and Sue missed their flight this afternoon, we took advantage of the opportunity to conduct another intense design session.

Scott has extensive experience designing unique and interesting spaces. He has an amazing eye for design and detail, and his architectural preferences are consistent with ours. Scott designed and renovated several lofts in Toronto, a complete renovation of a two-story house in Toronto, and a rural campus with several buildings in a multi-phase development.

It was important to set the appropriate ‘stage’ for our design meeting. A few glasses of fine red wine, including a 2003 Pavot d’Or from the Santa Cruz Mountains, helped establish a great atmosphere.

Scott and Bryan discuss design objectives and alternatives.

Dinner followed.

Table set and ready for dinner.

I drove to the University of California at Berkeley today and picked up a copy of the original blueprints for an MS-334.

Returning home, my first stop was San Jose Blue on Winchester where I had the seven sheets copied and scanned to PDF.

Upon closer inspection, we were disappointed to learn that, although the footprint of the MS-334 was identical to our house, the roof was not the same.  We had the plans for the house across the street.

The question is, what model house do we have?