I have been fleshing out a design done by the architect Sarah Susanka. A couple people I know want to build it.
The plans are sold online, and the floor plans images can be saved as .jpg images. Google Sketchup can be used to quickly model a house, using the images, and drawing right atop them. Modeling a house lets me see and imagine all the spaces, far better than when looking at 2D drawings.
This house was orignally built on a steep bank above a stream or river, with the little wooded valley below the house all considered viewscape. It must have been a superb view, because the house is all glass on its view elevations.
Designed as a house strictly for a couple with no kids, it has the master BR suite on the entire top floor, that when figured without its staircase, is only 699 square feet.
But as I am looking at it, I am wondering, what’s wrong here? Something just doesn’t seem right and I cannot put my finger on it. What do you see?
Replies
No bedroom door.
Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Not sure if you were being a bit of a smart -a$$ or if you are serious.
But bedroom doors are a big item in fire safety. A closed bedroom door with a interconnected smoke alarm system may give the bedroom occupant enough time to wake up and get out or be resqued. But the doors need to be shut, which is rarley the case.
I was serious but I wasn't thinking fire safety. I was thinking privacy...noise etc. The stairs are an open set of stairs and there seems to be no way to close off the downstairs unless the entire stairwell system is walled off down there with a door. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
The bed is fine with the custom built in. When finished right, they look great.
The lack of a door is the killer and dump the tub and build a real shower. A home needs one tub but a jet or otherwise in the master is a waste for 99% of the users
the bath design seems wasteful of space -
Needs a second sink to aviod battles during teethbrushing.
For me the position of the bed is just wrong. Can't tell you why , but it feels wrong.
Uninviting to walk into the room and look at the custom dresser.
The position of the bed is what bothers me, too. Seems like it's a lot of wasted space and cramped at the same time.What if he were to pivot it 45 deg in either direction, anchor the dresser to one of the walls, and leave enough space on the sides and foot of the to move about?I think I'd be tempted to enlarge the entry to the den, as well and allow some of the light from those windows to spill into the bedroom. Maybe a French door, or even a sliding barn-type one.'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
I don't like the bathroom door directly opposite the top of the stairs. Not private enough coming out of there.
For me the position of the bed is just wrong.
I wondered about that too but Gene said that the house was built on/over a stream so I'm guessing that the bed is positioned to take advantage of the view.
We're remodeling a lake front house that has a similar situation, bed at an odd angle - until you look out the window and see the greatest view of the lake. Just making a few assumptions here!
Doug
i'd move the bed to the wall with the vanity against it,open the doorway for the den,,i 'm not crazy about the pathway to the toliet.larry
if a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
It's missing a wet bar station with a small fridge and a microwave.
If the view is really great in three directions, the bed's position makes good sense, even though it looks awkward in this drawing.
I'm assuming that the bedroom door is downstairs, which would be better for privacy.
The bathtub looks too small for a grown person to use. There already is a shower so there is no need for a tub-shower combination. It appears to be only a little bit larger than the toilet.
Wall space.
There is no place to put a bed and dresser and side tables.
This you are limted to the custom bed dresser in the middle of the room.
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
I'd also suggest a screened porch on the north side, off the den. With a ceiling fan, it makes a nice breezy place to sit and read with a cool drink on a warm afternoon...out in the elements without being subjected to the heat and the insects.
It has a generously-sized screened porch, which is a must-have in this bug haven they call the north country. Access is via a slider door from the LR off the main floor.
The plan, plus photos and screencaps of the elevation drawings, can be seen at this site. http://healthyhomeplans.com/home_plans/home_plan_detail.php?plan_id=42
It really has some tight spaces, as do most all of Susanka's small-home designs. It is like city apartment living, except that everywhere you go, you are looking out through a lot of window area. This one was all about the view, I guess.
The specs given by the plans seller at the page I referenced give some figures I cannot buy at all. They say the footprint is 28'0" w x 30'8 d, and that the basement footage, the largest of the three floors, is 890 sf. I can proof it with standard window sizes and to-code stair widths, etc., but I am a little larger in size, at 29'1 1/2 w x 31'4 d. The gross footprint I get is only 753 sf.
Maybe the mistakes are willful. I have heard that plans sellers on the web deliberately show NTS floor plans, and skew figures like footages and size, so as to make it a little tougher for folks like me to replicate the plan exactly without buying a set of drawings.
Do you know what the NAHB rule is for giving square footage of a house, as regards subtraction of staircase area? I know that for a two-story house, 25 x 40, with a 3 x 12 staircase, the agreed-upon number takes 2 x 25 x 40 = 2000 sf, and then subtracts once for the staircase area of 36 sf, yielding 1964 sf.
What I don't know, is how the staircase is treated for the downstairs walkout basement area. Is it subtracted whole from the basement footprint? Just curious.
View Image
"A stripe is just as real as a dadgummed flower."
Gene Davis 1920-1985
2k for a set of study plans,wow!if a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
It has a generously-sized screened porch, which is a must-have in this bug haven they call the north country. Access is via a slider door from the LR off the main floor.
If possible I'd stack the screened porches so that sleeping outside, on the second floor, would be possible. Of course the second floor porch could be pretty small. I'd add a short roof and soffit around the lower porch to provide shade and keep the visual effect of two separate floors alive.
Edit: I'm not familiar with the sqft calculations you referred to.
Edited 6/29/2008 8:55 pm by Hudson Valley Carpenter
I would guess 90% of kidless people could be fine without the tub. I agree that it needs two sinks though.
I think dumping the tub would allow the main bedroom to lay out a little better.
I'd probably open the den into the bedroom. Cant really see a good reason to wall it off. If the views are that great, the wall will only obscure them and possibly will make the space seem smaller than it really is.
Oh, one more thing. I would think that if I could I would have the bathroom and the closet/dresssing room closer or even better connected. I've always thought a good master suite would have the closet/dressing room connected to the bathroom.
Gene,
It seems like a lot of choppy spaces for such a private suite. Why have a wall around the den and a separate desk area...couldn't both be together and more open??
I also don't like the position of the bed/dresser, altho I can understand the desire to enjoy the view from the bed. If the idea appeals to the HO, I'd opt for a radius to soften the entry into the room. I'm figuring this is a low wall.
You have to go out in the semi-private hallway to get to the bath.
As others have said, the bath layout leaves a lot to be desired. The linen area could be better incorporated into the space and allow for an extra sink. The tub, which in a suite should be inviting, seems to be just plunked against the wall.
There's a nice window beside the toilet, but nothing in the room shares that view.
You come up the stairs and look directly at the bathroom door. Not a very nice approach to a space.
no kitchen
A few opinions....
Laundry needs to be near bedroom unless the future occupants just like toting dirty/clean cloths down/up stairs.
Although I build them all the time, I don't like 2 story houses. Who wants to deal with steps if you have a choice?
Walking up and down keeps you healthier. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07