Designing a 1000 sf house - what would you do?

[bayviewps]

Two Story Plan - 768 Sq Ft Total Living - Part I
  - 3/4 Bath Downstairs
  - Full Bath Up
  - 2 Side Porchs
  - Outside Storage
  - Hot Water Heater Under Stairs
  - Room on Porch for Hot Tub

[bayviewps]

Two Story Plan - 768 Sq Ft Total Living - Part I
  - Front Elevations

[mark_chenail]

Here is a plan that is just a bit under 1000sqft all under one roof but less than 1000 if you dont count the huge open  porch as enclosed space.  Its pretty lavish space for one or a couple.  The large glazed windows that form the living space around the hearth could be made as removable panels which would make the place more open air.  I show a variation where the main spaces are treated as a compound, the  3 seperate buildings linked by decks and arbors.  This was done on Plan 3d.    

ANYONE KNOW HOW TO MAKE THIS PLAN BIGGER?  I CANT RESIZE IT SO ITS
READABLE?

[mark_chenail]

Here's a little dog trot design I did ages ago. They were done on Paint.

[jraabe]

Nice concept Bayview! Those twin porches add a lot of indoor/outdoor space to 768 sf of enclosed area. Simple to build too. Are you using 3D Home Architect for that?

Mark: Not sure why the images are so small. They are around 200 pixels or less wide. I see they were posted via Photobucket. I wonder if you could try hosting the image with resizing turned off. That would give you the original image size. (This shows how to do it in ImageShack)

[glenn-k]

Photobucket can resize down only.  To get full size with it you have to reload the image from your computer.

[bayviewps]

John:
  Yes, I am using 3D Architect Deluxe Version 2.1.  Owned since 1997.

  I am following this thread with great interest.  

  We had purchased 1 acre of property in April 2004.  Since then we have cleared the
property of brush and built a 2 car garage.  We will be using the garage as a "staging" area
for prefabing our home.

  The property is gently sloping to the rear with a lot of oaks, and cedars.

  Our property is in a restricted area.  The minimum home size must be at least 1000 sq.ft. of quality construction.  We have a few one story plans that I had drawn using 3D Architect.  

  The home will be for retirement.  So many things must be considered.  Certainly a one
story in case we wont be able to climb stairs.  Large enough bath that is close to bedrooms.
Covered porch for evenings.  Etc., Etc.  We want living - bedrooms at rear of home.

  We have searched the Internet for interesting house plans.  Most are pretty standard.
We want an unique home.  Maybe something contemporary - modern.

  We are looking for input on floor plans and unique construction methods.

  Maybe your members can help!

[Amanda_931]

Check out floor plans rather than "houses."  Roof-lines, external surfaces materials, etc. can to a large extent be changed without a whole lot of trouble, especially in a one-story house.  Which can't be said for the only entrance to only bathroom in a house being through the bedroom (worse than that a place I actually lived in--a little studio cottage in which you got to walk through the bathroom to go from bed/living room to the kitchen).

Might take a look at Dwell magazine.  

[jraabe]

Mark:

I like that dogtrot design and it got me thinking. I wonder if you couldn't turn the large center hall of a dogtrot into a semi-open area with sliding glass and/or screen barn doors at either end. It would extend the climate zone of the design and make the space into a four season great room.

[mark_chenail]

John:  The dogtrot was often enclosed when the family got more prosperous and wanted  more space for living and entertaining. or just wanted to look a bit more elegant. Its original use of course was for open air work and living space under cover.  Dogtrots were usually built in fairly mild southern climates where long cold snowy winters werent an issue. I agree it wouldnt be difficult to fit the opening with permanent doors or screens but it rather takes away from the original open air aspect.  Maybe pop in screens for the warm weather that snapped into batten tracks on the floor or folded to the side like accordian doors or multi track soshi doors on japanese houses.  Glazed doors or windows like old style storm windows could be snapped into the tracks for cold weather use. I suppose you could even use a glazed garage door as long as it would clear the stairwell.

[Amanda_931]

Occasionally one sees Nana wall's folding French door advertisement above.  They have lovely--and expensive--folding French doors made for just that kind of purpose.

Other people have experimented with roll-down garage doors for opening up a dog-trot.  But that would mean lights on in the daytime (even garage doors with windows don't have enough windows in them)

[mark_chenail]

Ive seen some roll down garage doors where all the panels had glass.  I suppose you could  buy a bunch of upper panels and hook them together and solve the light problem.  I know I have seen these. Anyone know a source?

Here we go:  You often see these on commercial structures like jiffy lubes  or firestations.

[Amanda_931]

You're right Mark, and those would be nice.  

(the only problem is you would have trouble with ceiling lights--but I have lived in a house without ceiling lights in the living room--there was a switched outlet that took the place of it, though)

[jraabe]

Here is the link to the residential application arm of the company that makes the red roll up commercial doors shown in the link above: http://www.armrlite.com/products_residential_aluminum.htm

Wall lights can easily replace ceiling fixtures and usually give more interesting lighting. I often do this in upper floor ceilings so as not to compromise air sealing and R-value in an insulated ceiling.

[Amanda_931]

makes sense--that wall lights put fewer holes in the ceiling.

(the house in question was a rented duplex, built with on the cheap, so I'm pretty sure they didn't do it for that reason)

picture on the door site is gorgeous.

[mark_chenail]

OHhh NOOOO.  I got to have a chandelier.   When we made the first big addition to the shed in Missouri and finally got electricity, we put up a nice 8 light brass chandelier I got at Goodwill for 5 bucks.  We didnt have heat , insulation or any
interior surfaces, but we had our standards.  Cant live like heathens.  I do need to stop buying them though, no matter how nice or how big a bargain.  Last time I was in Missouri, I did an inventory and discovered I had 32 light fixtures stashed away in various places waiting to go up.  I may have to add on just to find homes for all those light fixtures.

[Amanda_931]

Yard art birds sounds like a less obtrusive obsession.

I don't have over 10--yet.  Haven't found a place for the plastic pink flamingoes, but they're here.

Some people think that the wind chimes are a bit much, though.

[CREATIVE1]

That dog-trot house is most facinating. I hadn't seen it done on a full two story house. (here is a link to a more typical dog trot log house.)

Looks to be up on piers as well. Guess that's been good enough for over a hundred years.

What would you guess, 16' wide?

Don't know, but we see it every year at the Florida State Fair (in February).  Could pace it off.
Here are some Cracker Country pictures, the first ones of the Doyle Carlton House (pretty inside, too).
http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/photos/cities/ccountry/crackc/crackc.htm

Didn't think about it, but there is a certain similarity to the Victoria Cottage I hope to build soon. Hmm.

[bayviewps]

Fine tuning the 1000 sq ft home.  
  - Moved bath and utility to front of home.  
  - Both bedrooms now share a common deck area.
  - Larger Kitchen.
  - Larger entry.
  - Breaker box centrally located in utility room.

[slow2run]

What would 1000 sf two bedroom dogtrot look like? :-?

[jraabe]

That's a good layout Bayviewps.

I like the bedrooms sharing an outdoor area. That could be a little garden or patio.

It would be nice if an additional 1/2 bath could be fit in.

A local builder who had a small house (probably more than 1000sf) with 2 bedrooms and one bath had a hard time selling the place. Almost everyone who looked at it wanted two baths. Buyers were often two single people wanting to share the house.

(PS - Mark is working up that 2 bedroom dogtrot)

[bayviewps]

John:
  Here is a Two Bedroom, Two Bath I had previously drawn on 3D Home Architect.

  996 Sq Ft

[bayviewps]

Here is the plan that we are working on currently.  

  We had purchased about 1 acre of property.  165 wide and 265 deep.  A driveway runs
the entire length on one side making the property actually 135 X 265.  We built a garage
about 1/2 way back.   Hoping to have a large backyard.  

  I had previously wanted a front entry.  Because of the extra expense of drive and
sidewalk we have decided a side entry may work better.  The garage would be located just
to the upper left of this current floor plan.   The rear of the home mostly deck.

  This will be a retirement home for us.  I know for resale that a two bath would be better.
But have opted for more closet - storage.  

  We hope to start the home next spring and finishing fall-winter of 2007.

  Our needs include:  One story home.   Approximately 1000 Sq ft.  Largest
footprint 28 X 48.

  Any help, critiquing this plan, or any advice would be appreciated.

[jraabe]

Frankly, I'm not liking these last two designs as much as your earlier effort. If I understand right guests walk up the driveway and come into the living room through the side porch entry.

Seems suburban and feels a bit like a spec house. The 1' pop-outs feel tacked on to the exterior. Maybe it could be softened with fencing, walkways and exterior spaces?

Is this old design tips thing of any help?

[bayviewps]

Your right John,

  Thanks for you candor.

  I've looked at some of the plans I had drawn over the years, and found them more
contemporary and interesting.   More in tune to natural surroundings.

  The latest plans have been more traditional with less imagination.

  Thanks for the thump in the back in the head . . .

  Back to the drawing board.