Plan for an unusual house

[Ferdinand]

(*)

Four times the nuptial bed she warm'd,
And every time so well perform'd,
That when death spoil'd each husband's billing,
He left the widow every shilling.
Fond was the dame, but not dejected;
Five stately mansions she erected
With more than royal pomp, to vary
The prison of her captive Mary.
When Hardwicke's towers shall bow their head,
Nor mass be more in Worksop said;
When Bolsover's fair fame shall tend
Like Olcotes, to its mouldering end;
When Chatsworth tastes no Ca'ndish bounties,
Let fame forget this costly countess.

 

Note: The Cavendishes, still ensconced at Chatsworth, seem to have outlasted the Walpoles.

Edited February 23, 2020 by Ferdinand

[Falesh]

I appreciate your detailed thoughts on this Ferdinand. There are a couple of slight misunderstandings though, I don't use a wheelchair and am as physically able in short bursts as an everage person. It's just that the energy I have to spend on moving about is very limited, imagine that my body is the same as yours except it is powered by a watch battery whereas yours is powered by a car battery. It is a very confusing illness, it took me years to understand it and I've got the bloody thing. I have also given up on the idea of the empty garden space between the bedrooms. Moonshine and further research has shown up my previous understanding about soundproofing as more of a misunderstanding. Now I will be doing the next redesign using double stud walls between my room and others.

 

Having said that you make a very good point about considering how someone can use a wheelchair in the house. Even though I don't see myself using a wheelchair, I am more vulnerable to being forced into one then a healthy person. If the building regs requires at least one bathroom that has wheelchair access it might as well be mine.

 

Building a good document for the architect is something I am working on. Right now we are still waiting to see if the council will sell us the land, the probability is very high, but it will take some time for them to reach a decision. During that time I aim to learn as much as possible and refine/redesign the plan so that I can deliver something that either works as is, or at least explicitly shows what we want out of the building. Even if the design changes a lot from the ones I post, these threads have been a huge help as I always have valuable takaways from them.

 

The two guest bedrooms are important as my niece and nephew are frequent visitors and will use the one with the sofa bed for a computer gaming room and one or both for staying overnight. There is also the possibility that either my niece or nephew could live with us when they reach adulthood and so having two means one could be used for that and still have one left over for other guests.

 

The reason the bedrooms are right off the living area is simply to get the most use out of the house size as possible. We need to save as much as possible and cutting out corridors is one way to get the most bang for our buck. I am planning on the bedrooms having staggered stud walls filled with Rockwool and solid well sealed doors, so sound shouldn't be a terrible issue.

[Ferdinand]

Apologies for the slight misapprehension.

 

ME is unpredictable as you say - I have friends for whom it has persisted, and friends for whom it has gone into remission after a year or five. One of those was pensioned off by her school after the sick pay regime ran out, did nothing for a year or two, went back to her parents, and then 10 years on was running a lighthouse for the National Trust - including all the tours up to the light. A good story, but rough along the way.

 

If you want sound insulation for the guest bedrooms I would recommend the Soundblock version of rockwool, which is denser and not *that* expensive. 

 

It is good to see your thinking developing - a mistake that is easy for self-builders is not to take enough time in advance for knowledge to develop and the concepts to "brew". Never be afraid of taking thinking time (which it sounds like you aren't ? ).

 

Cheers

 

F

Edited February 23, 2020 by Ferdinand

[Temp]

I would encourage you to spend some money with the Architect. Give him your wish list and ask him to do two or three floor plans (only). If he's any good he will come up with ideas you haven't thought of.

 

If this is a bungalow could you put guest rooms in the roof?

Edited February 23, 2020 by Temp

[Temp]

On 19/02/2020 at 15:19, Falesh said:

I've gone through a lot of different plans and have homed in on one that seems to tick all our boxes for the smallest amount of space.

 

Is space an issue for your site or is it your budget that's dictating the size? You might find a simpler design allows it to be larger.

 

I'd agree with others that some of the rooms look too small to be practical. I mentioned it before on another thread but some CAD models of furniture (chairs, beds, baths, tables, even cars) are on the small side compared to what many people actually buy/want. 

 

The two back to back WC will be difficult (but not impossible) to construct. You would need to accurately position pipes coming up through the floor slab early in the construction phase. 

[Randomiser]

I have followed this thread with interest, much of what I would have said has now been mentioned.  However, I would reiterate the point that cost is not just a function of size but also complexity, for example, you may well find that by bringing that external gap between the two main bedrooms inside the fabric of the house you actually reduce cost.  You have also just answered one of the main questions I had which was about how frequently you would have the visitors you mentioned as you are giving over a lot of space for them.  As it sounds as though they are quite regular then that may well be the right idea.

 

You mention that you discounted a second floor because you would not be able to help keep things clean and tidy, but what about a lift?  Yes that will cost you extra money, but again you may find that the cost of building a smaller two storey house with a lift is less than a single storey house with its footprint and roof that, for the same square footage, will be twice the size.

 

If you stick with single storey the only other thought that does occur to me is the potential for flexible space.  Could you incorporate moveable partitions that can be used to enclose part of the space for a guest to sleep in, but be used as living space when there is nobody staying.  Maybe something to explore.

 

I wish you well in arriving at the best possible design for your needs. 

Edited February 23, 2020 by Randomiser