Do you think this would be possible?

[RoxyRocks]

I have admired Ross Chapin's homes for several years now and seriously considered buying one of his plans but worried that it was going to be a 'tough' build for a couple novice builders(I have heard it would be hard to build without a lot of experience) Well I am hoping to achieve some of the looks with the Universal Cottage and I think we can do it or I am hoping atleast!

Well I love alcoves and built-ins and in one of his floor plans(actually several) he does a alcove/loft for a bed
http://www.rosschapin.com/Plans/Cottage/Egdemoor/Edgemoor.html
I was thinking tonight(which I have notice is a dangerous things lately) if it would be possible to do a mini suites for our boys and do 2 of those loft style beds and have them separated by a bathroom and also have room upstairs for our Master bedroom/bath

[RoxyRocks]

Oh, I wanted to add it shows a pic of it on the bottom and also on the floor plan:)


ETA
Maybe not with a bathroom between but on the outside I dont know if that would make it more 'possible'

[sjdehner]

Hi!

We are in the planning stages for another house - this one for my mother who owns a nice little lot in a seaside town in Washington state. She's been a fan of Chapin's designs for a long time. My wife and I also like some of his designs, especially the the Coho, which has a Craftsman inspiration.

Our hometown in Washington had a couple of Chapin houses go up a few years back so we had the opportunity to visit them before they sold (one in fact has not sold as of 2009!). On the exterior both houses were much larger than we expected; they are not all that small. They tend to sprawl a bit more than we expected. Long and narrow can be more difficult to heat.

The interiors - to our surprise - felt severely cramped. We thought the floor plans were poorly laid out. As an example, depending on how much you use a kitchen, both that we saw were impractically small in our opinion, designed for a more restaurant-centric urban life.

We found that we were able to build a more suitable house (for us and my mother) on a smaller footprint by self-design, taking inspiration from the Two-Story Cottage plan by John Raabe. In our opinion, John's plans are better laid out in most cases and the plans are a great deal. John's plans can also be modified easily since he designed the plans with that in mind. They are good plans to be creative with and there's plenty of support at the website.

However, if you are dead set on a Chapin plan - and live in the Northwest - we strongly suggest locating one of the houses that you admire and give it a tour. That would give you a "feel" for the way he lays out his houses. Truly, we were stunned how the finished product compared to the plans online since they were quite different.

Also, a Chapin house plan should be modifiable since they are not typically very wide. Using engineered lumber (I-joists and/or trusses e.g.) might allow you to shift around main floor rooms as you see fit. But his plans are not cheap.

Hope this helps. And good luck!

Shawn & Jamie

[glenn kangiser]

Chapins plans are cool but they are pretty well the same as John's plans with added gingerbread.   I would just start with the simple plan and then add the gingerbread to look like the expensive plan and pocket the savings.

[RoxyRocks]

Shawn & Jamie thanks I want to say I love how your home turned out I look at your gallery pics quite a bit We are building our home in the Pacific Northwest(Eastern Washington)The one thing that has always bothered me about them is that I thought it would be cramped even more so with a husband that is 6'3 and 2 boys  I was really thinking about it after I posted this and I dont think we all could sit in the living room together....which is important. Also I'm a cooker and so is Chad so the kitchen is pretty important to us

I would love if you posted moer pics of your home

Glenn I think you are right about the gingerbread and that is something I am realizing the more and more I look at the 2 different plans. With the price difference between them I probably could add a few different things

Thanks:)

[glenn kangiser]

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.