Under 500 sq feet Home Design Contest

ailsaek · September 04, 2007, 09:13:46 PM

No more houses? Bummer.

mark_chenail · September 05, 2007, 03:12:02 PM

I actually did several different plans, all under 500sf and all with the same criteria. However I varied the locale. One design for in town, another for the country. One for a cold climate, one for the tropics. Another for the beach and one for the mountains.

The criteria were a simple house for a disabled 55 year old retired librarian/designer/author who lives alone most of the time, but occassionally has guests or a live in companion. He likes to cook, but likes to keep it simple. He doesnt have much use for clothes closets as they are impractical for him to use. He prefers lots of built in drawers and cupboards and believes that bedrooms are just places for sleeping and ought not to be full fledge houses in their own right. He likes lots of fresh air and good light but doesnt like extreme heat in the summertime. He wants to be able to sit on the porch to eat, read, write, entertain and even sleep.

This is the plan I developed for a wooded site in the country. It has two cabin bedrooms with built in beds and wardrobes. They share an ensuite bath with a tub, but it could just as well be a shower. Heat is from a wood stove in the central living room and the hot water heater is a point of service model installed in one of the blind corners under the kitchen counter, with an outdoor access door for maintenance. Being a simple homesteading soul, he does his wash in a tub and hangs it out to dry. The house is sided with T1-11 and has a steel roof. It's built on a slab with finished concrete floors.

If folks would like to see some of the other designs, let me know and I can post them. They are all quite different solutions to the basic criteria of 500 sq .ft. Let's hear some comments on all the designs.

StinkerBell · September 05, 2007, 04:27:08 PM

I hope to get some time tomorrow to sit down and begin to create!

Mark_Chenail · September 06, 2007, 04:30:46 PM

OKAY AILSA: Just for you. This 500 sq ft house is meant for the same man but for a warm weather, tropical location. It looks very spacious but it has less than 500 sq.ft of enclosed heated/cooled space. It makes extensive use of open and louvred verandas for added living space. The guest room has been reduced to a built in bed with storage at the end of one of the more private verandas.
The house could be heated with a small stove in the living room during cold weather. Hot water is from a point of use heater in the kitchen.

September 06, 2007, 05:53:13 PM

I have a couple rough drawings of my design, but I am blocked from all picture hosting sites at work. Must email them to myself so I can post from home or school.

John Raabe · September 06, 2007, 07:55:13 PM

Coming along nicely!

Some interesting ideas and creative layouts.

bayview · September 07, 2007, 06:21:52 AM

120 sq. ft. home with generous use of porches and storage

Dimitri · September 08, 2007, 04:43:17 PM

One more week for submissions.

Dimitri

September 09, 2007, 03:47:31 AM

Hey Mark, are you going to submit your version of the house for cold climates?

Whit_Spurzon · September 10, 2007, 10:39:29 AM

Here is my submission. 496 sf for my Wife and me along with our two bed hogging Labradors.

Whit_Spurzon · September 10, 2007, 10:40:39 AM

The front elevation

Ailsa C. Ek · September 10, 2007, 01:50:18 PM

I adore Mark's first house (the one for the woods) and Whit's house. I did mine for my family (me, DH, DS, dog, three cats, plus grown up DD who'd want to come visit), but mainly as a summer place. Mark's and Whit's, however, would be perfect for us to build for my mom(*), at such time as she needs to come live nearer us. Which is why I asked about the other cold zone one Mark mentioned having done - "nearer us" means in New England somewhere (even if we move, we're not leaving New England).

-=-
* Retired schoolteacher and completely not-retired bibliophile who isn't as active as she used to be

bayview · September 10, 2007, 07:39:14 PM

Whit:

Fantastic use of space! Full Bath, Bedroom and even space for a W/D !!!

What if the dining and kitchen were reveresed to allow a door to the area behind the bath/utility? (Rear Porch?)

September 10, 2007, 10:07:32 PM

I agree with the porch off the back, side or perhaps even a partial wrap around. Possible access though a slider out of the dining area, either side.

Being a hypothetical exercise my main focus was to get functional living space in 500 sq.ft. before the deadline. I would have liked another 40 sf to add to the kitchen...

Dimitri · September 14, 2007, 08:34:21 PM

Well the contest is now closed, will make the new thread tommorrow.

If you post quickly before I start on the new thread I just may add yours as well.

Dimitri

jraabe · September 14, 2007, 10:33:08 PM

Dimitri:

How do you propose we evaluate these designs?

Dimitri · September 14, 2007, 10:59:39 PM

I'm going to make a post of all of them, and I've got a little evaluation scheme I've come up with, level 1 being the lowest and level 4 being the highest out of a few categories, you'll see tomorrow when I post a new thread with all the house plans, in a effort to keep them organized on the top of the thread for the voting.

Dimitri

Dimitri · September 15, 2007, 01:05:48 PM

By the way don't delete the thread or attachments, I just copied over their locations to get the other thread up and running, if they are deleted from here they will disappear from the other thread I believe. :-/

Dimitri

jraabe · September 16, 2007, 03:54:54 PM

Here's the link to the full posting:

http://www.countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1189879408