Please critique my Victoria cottage-based plan

[diana_of_the_dunes]

Hi all,

I'm new to posting here, though I've been lurking for several months.  DH and I are planning on building our own home sometime within the next few years.  We don't yet own property, but we do have some land tenatively lined up.  The parcel we are looking at is 20 acres with road frontage on the west side.  There is good southern exposure, and we are planning on building with some passive solar design ideas.

I really like the Victoria cottage, as there is a lot of livable space in a small footprint.  But the reality is that we are a growing family.  We have one little one, and are planning to get pregnant again this year.  My mother will also be coming to live with us at an unknown point in the future, likely after the kids are out of the house, but that's not a given.  Three bedrooms, one on the main floor, is a necessity for us.  Instead of a loft, we plan on having a "full" second story across the entire home with two bedrooms.  The area above the main floor bedroom would be for storage.

I came up with a modified plan based on the Victoria.  Please let me know what you think and what should be changed.



Thanks in advance!

[Alan Gage]

Looks like you've been having fun!

Which way is north?

The utility room: For ease of construction what about making it full width so there weren't two inside corners? The foundation, walls, sheathing, siding, and roof would all be easier. The side walls are already built so all you have to do is extend the end wall.

What type of foundation are you planning on. What climate? Which is the main entrance?

Alan

[diana_of_the_dunes]

Thanks, Alan.  The main entrance is off the living room.  We plan on a full basement, but the portion under the main floor bedroom and utility area would just be a slab.  North is to the left.

Climate is... northern-ish.  We are in north central Indiana.

[bayview]

   I like it!   Well thought out . . .

   How about a full width porch off the living room?

   A little shy on closet space for the master bedroom . . .    Lots  of windows in the bedroom . . .    Where would you place the bed?

/.

[John Raabe]

I like it!

Good use of space. You can gain another closet in the bedroom with a combo at the tub/shower. A hip porch on the front would capture the cottage feel. Upstairs you can extend the wet wall up for another bath and the living room could have an open ceiling if desired. I'd love to see a cross section or exterior perspective if your software allows.

You have a wider footprint and have used the space to open up some of the tightness and stairway challenges of the Victoria design.

[rwanders]

A small suggestion: I have found pocket doors in small homes can help save a few valuable square feet----you could use one at your bathroom door and at the utility room door---Pocket doors are actually cheaper than conventional doors and are pretty simple to install.

[diana_of_the_dunes]

Here's a couple shots of the exterior.  The windows in the MBR would be casements and placed high on the wall.  The bed would go underneath.  Hubby would prefer a separate tub and shower, which is why I designed it the way I did.  We may decide another closet is more practical later on, though.  Good idea on the pocket door.  We'll definitely consider that for the utility area, since doors take up a lot of real estate.

Front:


Back:

[John Raabe]

Maybe a shed roof on the rear utility room might be a consideration.

[duncanshannon]

I don't know what I'm talking about but it looks nice to me!  Will you be loading the upper floor diagram?

also, which program did you use for your drawings?

, btw!

[bayview]

   I agree with John . . .    The hip roof on the utility room looks out of place.   

   I do like the porch attached to the living room . . .

   How about "bumping" out the second floor over the dining-living area!

/.

[diana_of_the_dunes]

Bayview - Can you describe what you mean by "bumping out" the second story?  I don't understand...   

The hip roof was just the automatic default from the program.  I knew I didn't want a gable, so that's what came out.  I agree, it looks odd.  I tried a shed, and it looks worse since I can't adjust the pitch on it.  Guess we have to use our imaginations.

The program I have is Better Homes and Gardens Home Designer 6.  Not professional by any means, but it's fairly user-friendly and intuitive.  And it's served me well for the whopping $20 I paid for it!

Here's a shot of the second story plan.  The storage are over the master BR would have a little hobbit door about 5 ft tall to access it, since the intersection of the roof pitches makes it a little awkward. We would likely have 2-3' kneewalls (correct term?), so the actual ceiling/roof height would be higher than shown. 

[John Raabe]

See if this helps in setting the shed roof. I think HD6 is very similar to 3DHA 3.0 (Tutorial here: http://countryplans.com/3dha/index.html)

[bayview]

   Like this . . .

/.

[diana_of_the_dunes]

Thanks, John, for the tutorial.  I'm still messing with it, as the stairwell goofs up the entire roof structure when I build it afterwards.  It appears in the 3D view that there is plenty of headroom, but the program disagrees and places a dormer.     So I have to try to fix the utility roof, then rebuild the entire second story.  I'm a little short on sleep today, and I'm finding the process very frustrating!!

bayview - I like the shed dormer idea, but I'm not sure I want to disrupt the roofline.  I like the way it looks as-is, but I know more headroom is always welcome!  I'll have to play with it a bit to see if I can draw it.

[John Raabe]

See if this helps. Build railing walls around the stair and make it open above from the 1st floor.



Example of L-shaped steep stair in 1-1/2 story 3DHA model.



Above plan as viewed from interior.

[diana_of_the_dunes]

Thanks for the help with the stairs; extending the railing out solved the problem.  The shed tutorial you provided didn't work for the utility area; it wanted to make a full second story no matter what I did.  However, I figured it out another way, and I adjusted it to have a 2/12 pitch.  Much better!



If we don't add a shallow shed dormer on the south side, I'd like to have several skylights.  These would be both for light as well as solar gain.  I'm not sure how much the heat from the woodstove would go upstairs, so we may need to supplement with gas or electric baseboard heat.  I think it would be required for code purposes anyways...

I'm so nervous about the entire building process.  Our only real building experience is a (nice) chicken coop and a shed.  A house just seems so... big.  We're not quite ready to make the leap, and probably won't be for at least a year to 18 months.  We are trying to have another baby, and pregnancy and construction don't seem to me to go well together.  But how do you psych yourself up from the plan you have on paper to actually building?  I have visions of a perpetually-unfinished home, even though I know that DH and I would both work 2 jobs to be able to afford to hire someone to finish for us rather than leave our dream unbuilt.  It's just such a huge leap of faith to build a house!  When you buy a house, you know what you're getting.  You can see it.  When you build, it's just this idea that you're trying to make real.  Yikes.