Please critique my 40x23' 1.5 story house plan

[walker]

Hi all,

Newbie on the forum here - looking for some advice on our house plan.

I'm looking to build a simple 40x23' (12x7 metre) 1.5 story house for a mild sub-tropical climate. It is to be located on an island in the southern hemisphere where temperatures never go above 80F (26C) or below 50F (12C). It's still quite cold through winter so we want to
have some passive solar properties plus a fireplace, and summer can be quite warm/humid - so cross ventilation is desirable.

Some other considerations:
*We're on a strict budget so we are trying to keep the house small and economical, without being cramped.
*Just two of us now, but we plan to add some kids over time
*Not concerned about resale value of property, or getting a bank loan
*The house site is located on a ridge with nice views to the North we want to take advantage of.
*Timber (local pine) for the floors, walls, exterior weatherboards. Corrugated metal roofing.
*Wide (3'?) eaves to keep the rain off (50" annual rainfall)
*Some day we hope to expand the house to include a few more bedrooms (probably on the south side)
*This will be a small farmstead - we will both be using the kitchen a lot for preserving/cooking/etc,  hence the large size and large pantry. A workshop/shed will also be added to the property later
*For simplicity/cost, and also because we plan to have a composting toilet, we only want one toilet and one shower

Rough draft plans and sketch below. Any suggestions for improvement? Nothing is set in stone at the moment!

Also, if I can clarify anything or answer and questions please sing out. Thanks!

[Texas Tornado]

 
Is this going to be off grid?
I would suggest more windows on the kitchen wall for cross ventilation (west wall).
*Some day we hope to expand the house to include a few more bedrooms (probably on the south side)
Based on this I would consider adding rooms to North wall (would not mess up ventilation for kitchen).
Welcome to the forum!

[John Raabe]

Interesting project. It would be helpful to know what building materials are available and what type of structures local builders are familiar with.

[walker]

Is this going to be off grid?
I would suggest more windows on the kitchen wall for cross ventilation (west wall).
*Some day we hope to expand the house to include a few more bedrooms (probably on the south side)
Based on this I would consider adding rooms to North wall (would not mess up ventilation for kitchen).
Welcome to the forum!

Thanks Texas Tornado!
Yes it is going to be off-grid.
Regarding cross ventilation - we would probably just add a narrow section extending from the southern doorway so the house would be shaped like a "T"...thus retaining the cross-ventilation abilities.

Interesting project. It would be helpful to know what building materials are available and what type of structures local builders are familiar with.

Local building materials is almost exclusively local pine, and this is what everyone uses. For roofing most people use corrugated metal ("Colourbond"). Concrete is available but very expensive, so best to minimise its use (thus we'll probably have a timber floor on timber stumps embedded in concrete footings). This sort of house style is fairly common, sometimes with hip or shed/skillion roof.

[walker]

Bump 

Anyone have any other thoughts on this?

[flyingvan]

I'd move the pot belly stove to the other side of the living room, nearer the stairs.  It will draft better with the chimney near the ridge, heat better with it centrally located, and a portion of the under-the-stairs storage could be dedicated to firewood.  The double doors (shown on the elevation drawing but not on the 1st floor floorplan) look like they'd open up right into the fireplace area, which will include a hearth, all of which is an ostruction to passing through to the kitchen.  Having it more out of the way is better for traffic.  Personally, I like the fireplace area to be a focal point when you walk in, and a more serene feeling zone---putting it in a cul-de-sac area instead of a walk through area helps this.