OK, this is my current favorite for "our" house. I've tweaked it since I showed it to Grampa Tom a little over a week ago. I don't think I'll show it to him again. He's getting scared. His comment was, "I don't know about building this house. You will probably change it 6 times while we are building it and then change your mind completely about the time we're about 90% done with it and we'll have to tear it down and start all over."
In my mind, this is a 76 x 36 machine shed with 16' eaves. It has a 2 story solarium on the south side with big glass sliding doors that can be opened in the summer. My program won't do this, but I'm thinking there ought to be regular doors on each side of the sliding doors that can be used during the winter since the solarium is the main entrance to the house. The solarium has a cement floor and a 2 story cement wall to absorb heat. The wall has windows to facilitate air flow as well as a fireplace to provide extra heat when needed. The second story windows can be accessed by a spiral staircase that reaches to the cat walk on the second story level or through doors to the catwalk from the upper level living areas. I'm also toying with the idea of putting a summer kitchen in the solarium.
Since we have a home based business, I want an office that can be accessed directly from the outside so salesmen and clients don't need to come through our private space, but I want it to be readily accessible to the family area. Since we live in the boonies, I also want to be able to offer the guest restroom to business visitors, so I put in a door from both the office and from the living room. We are planning to care for my in-laws should they need it. If that should happen, I'd put them in this room and move the office to the back bedroom for the duration. This would give them the best access to the family, the outside and the bathroom if they couldn't get around well.
The living room and kitchen open into the upper level. Ceiling fans circulate heat from the solarium down into the main living area of the home and the opening provides extra room for entertaining. I am imagining gatherings where musicians are jamming in the upper living room while people throughout the house are enjoying the music.
Off the kitchen is a large concrete walled pantry with a mop sink. This will serve as a storm shelter. If trapped for days in the worst case emergency scenario, there would be food available and a drain!
The kitchen has a 3 hole sink, a professional range and a separate hand sink. It opens into both the den and the laundry area.
The den has a large walk-in closet. When the kids moved out, we moved our bedroom into one of the smaller rooms and made our master bedroom into a den. The smaller bedroom didn't have much of a closet, so I suggested Grampa Tom leave his clothes where they were. This has worked wonderfully! He is an early riser and I am not. Now when he wakes up, he doesn't wake me by turning on the light and rummaging in the closet to get dressed. I am not giving up this luxury! There is also a hallway that goes directly to the laundry room. The basic reason is to give Grampa the ability to be filthy or unpresentable if I should have company. I can close the doors and he can still get to the bathroom or the bedroom!
The laundry/mud room is connected to the master bedroom by a large bath that features a huge locker style walk-in shower for Grampa and a jacuzzi style tub for me :) The master bedroom has a gigantic walk-in closet. Now that I'm looking at it again, I think this closet ought to extend under the stairs. See what scares him now?
There is also a small bedroom on the main level for guests who might not be able to climb stairs.
So now, on to the upper level! In addition to this level being an entertainment expansion area, it is also a complete guest house. Two bedrooms, a kitchenette, a full bath, enclosed porches and outside access via the catwalk and spiral staircase in the solarium make it perfect for visiting kids and grandkids or a younger couple who might want to take care of us in our old age. You could probably enclose the east and/or west living areas for additional bedrooms if you wanted.
Poor Grampa, about a month ago, I had another favorite that I tweaked several times. Maybe that will be my next post. God Bless You All! ~Grama Sue
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