Saints Mary and Martha Orthodox Monastery, SC

Building
of Our
Monastery

Thanks be to God, on April 24, 2013, the surveyors arrived with their equipment and set the four corners of the building while the masons offloaded their backhoe, squared off the first third of the proposed building, and started digging out the space for the footers. Below are four architectural drawings and pictures of the progress from the beginning to the present.

Also, if you go to http://www.facebook.com/mastconstructionco88, you will find other pictures posted by our contractor, Dale Mast. You do not have to have a Facebook account to do this.

Any financial help in achieving our goal of building this monastery is greatly appreciated.

Donations should be sent to:
Saints Mary and Martha Orthodox Monastery
65 Spinner Lane

First Floor Plan

Second Floor Plan

Digging Footers

Laying Block

Block is to the top of 2^nd Floor.

Roof framing is started.

The rest of the roof trusses are installed.

Bringing in the altar

Pouring Footers

Finished Laying Block for the
Crawl Space & 1st Floor.

Sub-floor is buillt for 1st floor.

Center wall is built.

Windows and roof with base for cupola installed.

Platform for the altar area is built, and the altar
is temporarily set in place.

Getting started - Digging down to footers & laying the first course of bricks on the South side.

At the top of the east wall

South side is finished. Upstairs will be bedrooms & bathrooms, Downstairs sacristy, work area guest bathrooms.
Bump out is the sunroom.

French doors are installed in the sun room.

All in a morning’s work.

East side is finished. The two pillars are to attach the outside stairway.

Southeast corner of building showing brick stairs to sunroom and iron stairs to second floor.

North side has window letting light into the chapel.
East side has stairs leading to second floor.

West side fire wall is waiting till we have the funds to add the second third ($500,000 to build shell). The three double door openings on the left lead to the chapel. The single door with steps goes into the sacristy/work area. The double door opening on the second floor will connect the hallways between the 1st and 2nd thirds. The single door under the roof goes to the mechanical room for this third. The bump out is the sunroom.

1st ﬂoor room which will have a
sacristy, work area, guests
bathrooms, and storage space
for Liturgical items.

Two interior views of sunroom

Upstairs area which will have bedrooms and bathrooms

Upstairs framed in

Interior of chapel facing east
Framework of barrel ceiling with vault over the altar area
Wooden crossbar is part of chandelier support system.
(altar under wooden box)

Interior of chapel facing west
Framework of barrel ceiling
29 feet from floor to center top

A ramp is added to the north side to
access the chapel from the center.

Landing is added to the bottom
of the steps at the sun room.

A double landing is add to the
bottom of the stairs that lead
to the second ﬂoor.

A matching three car carriage house is built in memory of Olga Chernecky McGuinness.

Boarding up the windows, covering the altar and moving items out of the chapel in preparation for the plasters

Plastering the arch above the altar — three layers of diﬀerent sizes of mess and ﬁve layers of course to smooth paster over massive walls

Plastering is ﬁnished, scaﬀolding and boards over the stained glass window coming down, and a chandelier is hung in the nave. (looking towards the back of the church)

Walls painted and chandelier hung over the altar.

Chandelier above the altar is from Saint Mary Orthodox Church in Ganiston, Pennsylvania which after 97 years had to close its doors due to the coal mines closing.

King Arthur Chandelier from Laura Lee Designs in Burbank, California, hangs in the nave.

Laying Italian porcelain tile that looks like white
marble over orange Schluder

Framing the base of the altar with bullnose tiles

Tiling is done and two rows of belt lights are installed behind the woodwork that belts the church — one shinning on the walls above and the other on the walls below the woodwork. Doors are temporary.

Preparing the chapel for Liturgy

BUILDING THE SHELL OF THE SECOND THIRD

Pouring the footers
(looking due west)
The ﬁrst third is
behind the
photographer.

The walls go up
(looking westward) building plans

Interior view of the ﬁrst ﬂoor
Narthex in front of three double doors
Trapeza space closest to camera
Kitchen area to the right

Front (north side) of building
Porches being built building plans

Porch ﬂoors poured.
Doors installed.
Temporary stairs added

Interior of ﬁrst ﬂoor
Rugs added to protect subﬂoor
Photographer standing in the
narthex area looking toward
trapeza and kitchen areas.
Butler’s pantry and office
back right

Upstairs is currently an open space the size of the downstairs in the second third.

IRON FRAMEWORK FOR ICONOSTASIS IS BUILT

INSTALLING THE FIRST FOUR ICONS ON THE ICONOSTASIS

Iconographer on left & Workman on right
installing icon of the Theotokos

First four icons installed.

From left to right
Saint Romanos the Melodist whose scroll reads, “Today the Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One and the earth oﬀers a cave to the Unapproachable One.”
The Theotokos (Mary Mother of Jesus)
Jesus the Christ whose open Gospel book reads, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no man cometh unto the Father except through Me.”
Saint Michael the Archangel whose scroll reads, “Let us stand aright, let us stand with fear, let us attend.”