So ive been trying to design my future home.

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Frit0z

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Im not the type of person to settle with anything. So i dont plan on buying a house that has some or most of the things i want. Im going to buy a piece of land that i like and design and build the house myself. well i wont build it myself but will have someone build it for me. Anyway here are my ideas so far and everything is up to be changed as i dont have a floorplan in mind yet just some stuff that i want.

Things the house must have even obvious ones.
1. Inner Courtyard atleast 20x20 possibly bigger
2. Master Bedroom with walkin closet.
3. 2 Guest rooms with closets.
4. Office
5. Living room
6. Kitchen/ Dining room not cramped probably about 10x20
7. Decent size bathroom but not extravagant
8. Pantry

The strange quirks to it are going to be that there will be no hallways all the rooms will be connected by the inner courtyard and walkways on the border of it. Im using the base design of a traditional chinese 3 or 4 sided courtyard house, and modifying it to my own liking. with the room sizes and everything that i was playing with i came up with around 1200 square feet of living space. Its going to have a much larger footprint because it will be a 1 story house with no basement or attic. and it will have that inner courtyard. I also want to work in kind of a japanese hot spring to it. not so much as a swimming pool but a custom outside spa. would like that to be added to the side with the bathroom on it. The master bedroom is going to be on the backside of the house with the Living room at the front. everything else will be on the sides of the house.

What do you guys think of this idea? any comments or additional ideas would be welcomed. I will be designing the floor layout myself or with a local architect.
 
Sounds good. Are you having a double sink/vanity in the master bath? Also, if you're designing it don't put the shitter next to the shower/bath area. I've always hated that design, basic as it is. Speaking of, how many baths? You'll want more than one if your extra bedrooms get any use.
 
probably 2 full baths. may do a mens/womens kind of style or just 2 normal full baths.
 
Huh. I've been thinking of doing similar for my own future property. The biggest is my future (new-construction) digs will be 2 stories with a finished basement and quite a few odd features--like hidden passages and maybe a hidden room or two. A cool feature might be a second basement, though that'll since the second might end up under the waterline. It'd be cool to have a basement with a bigger footprint than the house itself--and potentially useful, too.

An idea to consider, if you're thinking of a courtyard, is to have retractable windows over the courtyard. Also, if you're planning to stick around Connecticut/the Northeast, do remember to plan for any natural disasters you could face. That means protection during a nor'easter or hurricane especially.

As for the inside, make sure you get the right design for your bathroom. I'd personally integrate an audio system (look for outdoor loudspeakers--Polk Atrium's, for example) and probably separate the functions a little. Two sinks would come in handy if one sink was in the shower area and the other was in the toilet area. That way, bathing can be done in functional privacy. Other things to consider might be a bath tub or two. A large shower stall next to a bath tub doesn't take up much space. Still, I want a shower to have multiple adjustable heads. Perhaps an electronic control panel (with a thermostat) would be a good addition.

As for prices, it's a "pay off loans, build wealth, build house" thing.
 
yea im right there with ya bob. i wanted some hidden passages etc but i may build fun stuff like that in later. i dont want it to look to techie at first glance. i like traditional asian looking houses.

i dont think its going to cost anywhere near $500,000. sure if i bought the house from someone else it might but with me building it myself on a piece of land that i own it wont be to bad because it will be fairly simple to build and not require as much materials as a large house you find nowadays. im going to estimate the cost after land to be 150-200k. for the primary build. after that maybe another 100k into it 10 years down the road.
 
Don't forget the cost of labour. If you're doing this all by hand, you still have to meet local codes for construction, electrical, plumbing, etc. One nifty feature of my future digs will be running 230Vac to an audio room and 230Vac to my computer room. 6 power receptacles in each room may be good--with 4 being 115Vac and 2 being 230Vac. I personally use a lot of symmetry and overengineering.

The tough thing about secret passages is, in my opinion, that all has to be done at initial construction. Having hidden doors is only good if you rarely need to use them.

And $500k may be the final price tag in the future, but I am not going to worry. While they're all high hopes right now, I think a fully custom home is possible. One thing I will look for is an empty lot and building a small house on-site. (bedroom, bathroom, office, living room, & kitchen)

My personal sense of style says that the house should make extensive use of dark wood, metal, and glass. Paint would be darker colors; no pastels.
 
Ahh, the pleasure of building your own home. I am actually in the same boat, in the sense that 8 years ago, my family got back some of their properties nationalized by the communists. Among those some empty land. I did absolutely nothing with it so far, but eventually it will be my dream retirement home. I already have a layout, which gets modified yearly - but I love designing and it's fun for me.

You have bigger issues to deal with, then the amount of sinks.

1. There are zoning laws that regulate the amount of build-able square footage. In other words, the actual lot determines how big your house can be.
2. A architect is a must, as you will need a ton of permits.
3. If you like traditional Asian design - you will have a attic.
4. You will need storage space. A full basement is a must, in my opinion.
5. Geothermal energy is a must since you are starting from scratch. Besides using it to heat or cool the house, you can also have heated floors, or pipe the water below the pavement to melt the snow - so you never have to dig snow ever again.
6. If you can afford it, I would also invest in solar energy.
7. Planning of the mechanical systems is very important, and a big advantage when starting fresh. Dedicated electrical lines where you want them, the location of every switch/outlet/water line, etc.
8. Build with the future in mind. 20 years from now, for example you may want to add a second floor. The structure needs to be able to support the added loads and stresses.
9. I can help you a great deal, and when the time comes - just call me.

As for my own project - flexibility is key for me, and I have the future generations in mind. At such I will do a steel I-beam/reinforced concrete type of construction. Since none of the exterior walls are load bearing - they can be eliminated at will. If for example, my son wants to have a transparent exterior wall, or floor to ceiling windows - all he has to do is demo, and install glass panels. Also, additions, both vertically/horizontally would be a breeze. As far as interior design, I will custom build everything myself, from the doors to the sink/tub.

Good luck anyway!
 
This will give you a basic idea of what i want as a final product. not quite this but close. This is a traditional chinese double inner courtyard design.
3zgd2ct.jpg
 
That is indeed a typical Beijing structure. But that is huge! That was meant to accommodate 3 or 4 generations living together + the servants. Something like that would also cost at least 5 times your budget.
 
Not having a basement doesn't make sense to me, the frost line I low in Michigan is 42", I don't know what it is in your area but it has to be similar. At that depth you might as well spend fraction to have a full basement besides a crawlspace, finished that area would also almost double your living space. That space could be used as the man cave, bar area, a place for utilities, or whatever you want.
 
I'd personally use the basement for a computers and as a listening room. Being 90% underground blocks a lot more sound than windows and walls. A sufficiently deep basement (think an additional 1-2 feet) can have a drop ceiling and removable ceiling tiles. That should be sufficient for running cables. I'm thinking that, in my own eventual house, to have empty cables used to drop pipes down to the basement. Other considerations include whether or not to have the basement sealed against water (the obvious answer would be, "yes, of course!") and materials to use.
 
mega02 said:
That is indeed a typical Beijing structure. But that is huge! That was meant to accommodate 3 or 4 generations living together + the servants. Something like that would also cost at least 5 times your budget.
Click to expand...

Thats not the design im going to use. That is just an idea of how a double courtyard design will look. Im not going to start with a double courtyard either, and may never be able to do it.

balls2dawall said:
Not having a basement doesn't make sense to me, the frost line I low in Michigan is 42", I don't know what it is in your area but it has to be similar. At that depth you might as well spend fraction to have a full basement besides a crawlspace, finished that area would also almost double your living space. That space could be used as the man cave, bar area, a place for utilities, or whatever you want.
Click to expand...

frostline for my area is around that. i would rather not have a basement but you never know i might end up with one. this is all just preliminary ideas.
 
Fritoz, long story short.

1. Find the lot first. 2. Determine how big you can build on that site. 3. Trust me on this one, as it will save you money in the long run and increase both your quality of life and resale value, choose a energy option. Here is a good start: DSIRE: DSIRE Home

These are the basics, I would not worry about design too much at this point. As:
a. Your taste may change.
b. Depending on how far into the future this project may materialize, there will be external factors. Such as a Miss Fritoz with her own ideas, or a particular love/hate attitude regarding specific design concepts.
c. Certain ideas may not work with certain land lots.

I admire you wanted to embark on such a challenging project. But from experience, I can tell you that the final project will have little in common with the original idea. Such constraints as budget, time, lot size and lot location, it's particular regulations and composition, etc - will all have a heavy impact on the finished build.
 
thanks for the advice there mega. i have been looking at some land and im trying to find the perfect piece of land for this style house. im in no way in a hurry to do this. and yea like you said never know what can happen in the future.
 
I'm currently more active considering what a "perfect room" would be and different uses for each room. As part of that, I'm focusing on most every geek's favorite; the home office. And how to make it quiet. And how to make it serve multiple roles without it becoming an "office-slash-___". I'm up to a U-shaped desk, full closet, and necessary furniture. I think I have the audio requirements (4-to-7 passive loudspeakers and a decent Onkyo or Pioneer AVR). The funny thing about that is I'll have 4 matched main speakers and 3 center-channel speakers. The center desk will be the main computer (a gaming rig with 3 monitors). The right desk facing the wall will be the general-use computer. The left desk facing the room will be either empty or an additional general-use computer (or something).

Hm. The toughest part is still a question of how to setup the house precisely. The ground floor will be kitchen/living room/"other" while the second floor will be bedrooms and bathrooms. Then there's the attic, basement, and possibly sub-basement (which would be underneath the back lawn).
 
Above all else make sure to use elongated shitters. Also geothermal is actually pretty easy and not that expensive anymore, helped a friend run a gethermal system for his new house about five years ago. Ground temperature below the frost line is a constant 54 degrees at all depths in the earths crust, all depths we would see in constructions anyhow. In your area it would be nice for a garage too, but I'm not really sure there is room for your garage. It would be cool to make it one side of your courtyard though. Also, the courtyards interior walkway, how is that going to be insulated? Glass panels like a greenhouse or sunroom? Also, for looks I think on each of the four corners a raised roof to somewhat give the appearance of turrets would be a cool stylistic addition.
 
Havent thought to much about specifics like size of toilet and heating lol. I would like a garage eventually but i dont want it to clash with the overall feel of the house. the interior walkways will only be insulated on an as needed basis. they will have removable walls of some sort. The house is meant to be somewhere thats warm most of the year.
 
my future home will be made out of bud light, and these are my friends saying WOW!
Bud-Light-Light-House.jpg





SEE HOW HAPPY MY FRIENDS AREEEE!!!!!!!!


17079_2003.jpg
 
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