Grampa Tom's Favorite

Well at least so far it's Grampa Tom's favorite. Every now and then I come up with a plan that he looks at and says, "That's the best design you've come up with so far." and I did it again with this one.

Last week I shared a 2400 square foot inter-generational home with a storm room, 2-3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, a formal living room and a very, very cool master suite. But, it's really pretty big so I thought I'd work on it some more to see if I could shave a little square footage off it. I did it! This one is 1762 square feet, with the option of putting a basement under it if you want more room or just some storage space.

I kept the master suite with the large window seat, enclosed porch, the whirlpool tub that is accessible from both the porch and the master bathroom, the private toilet stall, the huge walk-in shower and the large attached mud room. 

Then I created a large great room with a guest bath just off the kitchen, a long sun room for passive solar heat and another large room off the kitchen that could be used (depending on your needs) as a formal living room, an office, or an extra bedroom that's big enough for your folks have a bit of private space if they can no longer live by themselves . If you don't want a basement, turn the stairwell into a combination storm room/ pantry and you are all set!

This home also follows dimensions that could be easily accomplished by a modular home builder.

What do you think?

Are there any changes you would make to this home?

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Jesse's Place

My youngest son is a farmer and he absolutely loves houses with wrap around porches so I named this one after him. It's an  inter-generational home designed for country folk who produce a lot of their own food with a wrap around porch to satisfy his heart's desire! Maybe he'll build something like this by the time I need to live with him :)

The spacious 20' x 15' mud room sports a walk-in cooler and freezer, a large closet, and plenty  counter space to process either your meat or veggie harvests. There are plenty of sinks. A hand sink, a mop sink and a deep double laundry sink make keeping things sanitary easy.

The mud room opens into an attached garage, the family room, the kitchen and the master bath (which has a large handy walk in shower right inside the door).

The gigantic country kitchen gets plenty of natural light from a row of clerestory windows along the family room wall. If you don't know what those are, (I didn't.) Check out the windows on this garden shed from the Mother Earth News. It is at the heart of the home. 

The second bedroom opens into a sitting room that has a private outside  entrance. The sitting room could also be an office or a third bedroom depending on your needs. The living room has double doors for ease of moving furniture in and out of the home.

The master bedroom has a large walk-in-closet and a window seat. And the master bath has a large whirlpool tub!

In my book, this home has plenty of room, but if you have a lot of kids like my boy wants to have, you might want to have a little more room. I wouldn't put a full basement under it unless it sat on a hillside or the basement went all the way out to the edges of the porch. I just have this thing about natural light and fresh air. 

What I'd be more likely to do is put a  root cellar/storm room under the laundry room and then put a second floor over the sections that have the kitchen and bedrooms.

You could put two or three bedrooms and a bathroom up there. This is just one of a few options that might work for you.
Showed this to Jesse and told him I'd be moving into the granny suite someday. He told me I'd be going to live with my daughter. No way! She lives in the city!

What do you think?

What would you change?

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Margret Mae's Courtyard

You and your folks will be fighting over which master bedroom suite you want in this generational home! Both feature large closets, plenty of room for a king size bed and a chair or two, direct access to the spacious inner courtyard, whirl pool tubs and large walk-in showers!. 

We currently live next door to my wonderful in-loves and plan to care for them should the need arise. If we were to build this house, I'd put them in the 18 x 14 bedroom, mostly because their hermit son would be more comfortable if he had a little more privacy. He could hang out in the office and living room area. There are double pocket doors between the kitchen and living room that could be closed to give him the privacy he needs. 

Mom and Dad on the other hand have always been very public people and would be quite happy with the semi open family room area for their primary living area. By the way, I named this plan after my mother-in-love, Margret Mae :)

Besides the courtyards and the two master bedroom suites, the other really awesome thing about this house is 4, count 'em, 4 toilets! Old people tend to sit on the throne for elongated periods of time. With four of us in the same house, we'd always be able to find a place to rule from!

Are you planning to take care of your folks when they are older?

What do you like about this house?

What bedroom would you choose?

and What would you change about this home?

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue