Country Home #1

I can't say where the inspiration for this house design came from, exactly. When I began, as it is for so many house designs, I really didn't know where I was going or where I would end up, but I did have a small germ of an idea, and simply expanded it until it became a complete design.

I have mulled over the front facade quite a bit, but I still can't figure out what else/more I could do to "fix it up". What bothers me is the large blank area above the stairway. No windows, no features, just blank wall. Perhaps some windows onto a "fake" third floor would help, but I haven't tried that to see how it would look.

This design also comes with an alternate roof and (slightly) adjusted floor plan. See below for a few images with the modified roof.

The Front

The Rear

On the first floor plan, below, you might want to note the following:

• Inside the front entry to the right is a hall along side the stairs to the second floor. Under the stairs are shelves, and the stairs are fronted by a row of built-in seats.
• The front hall leads to the family room, which is conveniently near (and visible from) the kitchen. The kitchen itself is large and very open, with the range built into the island (along with a small sink). There is also a decently-sized pantry close at hand.
• At the back right is the peninsular dining room, which has a cathedral ceiling. A plant ledge runs along the top of the dining room back wall, with a bullet window top center. Tall, double windows surround the dining room on three sides.
• The breakfast nook, off the left side of the kitchen, has sliding glass doors out onto the back deck. The double window theme is carried to all windows on the first floor.
• The living room, in the back left, is perhaps the most removed from the casual "family" areas of the house. It also has sliding glass doors out onto the back deck.
• A half bath and small laundry room are tucked into the central area behind the kitchen. In many designs I have combined a laundry and half bath, and that could also have been done, here.
• There is a small landing between the living room, entry, garage, and stairs to the basement (an optional feature). The landing is one step down from the main floor level, making it only a single step up from the garage (and one less stair down to the basement).

The second floor plan (below) has some features of which you might want to take note:

• There are a total of three bedrooms, all fairly large. The left front bedroom has a skylight over the section that tucks under the roof slope.
• The right front bedroom, also large, has a built-in wardrobe cabinet to the left of the closet.
• The bath is long and somewhat narrow, and has a built-in linen cabinet inside the door. There is also a cabinet with shelves at the end of the tub.
• The master bedroom and study fill the entire back of the house. There is visual separation between the study and master bedroom (not shown in the floor plan), and the master bedroom has some interesting crown molding details.
• The master bath is along the left side, and has high cathedral ceilings and dramatic windows that sweep upward and echo the roofline. The master bath has a separate water closet for the toilet and bidet, and a large tub and shower. Over the W/C and above the sinks are large plant ledges. Perhaps the only minor disappointment is the smallish walk-in closet off the master bedroom.

Here is a view of the front door from the sidewalk.

Here is the "main" front view shown at night. I added some spot lights to illuminate the house better. I think this is a very warm and inviting home, don't you?

This view is from the vicinity of the "road", also at night. The daytime view from here doesn't have much interesting detail, so I haven't included it.

This view from the left side of the house shows the high windows in the master bath, top left in the image. Of course, that's the garage in the foreground.

Here is the rear view, from the page top, above, shown at night. Note the vast expanse of windows in the rear of the house, maximizing the view potential. I could also see this house built on a slope, with a walk-out basement.

From inside the front door, this looks toward the living room and shows the small sunken landing. Initially I did not have a doorway into the living room from the sunken landing , but decided it better opened up the living room to the front entry. Without the second doorway, the area seems much too closed in. I also considered making some kind of "three-sided" doorway, as well.

From the front entry, this looks toward the front hallway and the seats along the stairs. The shelving isn't very visible in this view, but you can see them much better in the next one.

From the family room, this shows the front hall and the shelving under the stairs. I do rather like the details around the stairs.

So, we turn around and take in the wide open view of the family room, kitchen, breakfast nook, and dining room beyond. Note the cathedral ceilings, plant ledge, and bullet window in the dining room.

From the dining room, we look back toward the family room and kitchen. Note the peaked cathedral ceiling in this room. Also note the open floor plan for this entire area.

Here is a view of the kitchen, from the vicinity of the futon (see the image above). The breakfast nook is visible beyond the kitchen.

Another view of the kitchen, looking out toward the dining room. Note the walls of windows.

The breakfast nook, and the living room beyond that. The door visible to the left of the breakfast table leads to the laundry room.

From next to the breakfast table, we look back toward the kitchen.

From the doorway between the living room and breakfast nook, this is the living room.

This looks back toward the front entry and the landing between the living room and the garage.

This is the living room from the doorway to the entrance foyer. The living room has a wall of glass that looks out into the backyard and the large back deck.

We walk to the front hall and stop on the landing of the stairs. The ceiling over the stairs slopes with the roof.

Here is the right side bedroom. That dormered window is visible in the main front view (above) on the left side of the dormer (on the house right).

From the door between the master bath and the master bedroom, this is the master bedroom and study.

From the study, we look back toward the master bedroom.

This is the master bath, from the vicinity of the doorway from the master bedroom. Note the tall windows that slope to echo the roofline.

In this plan, there is no way to get from the master bath without going through the master bedroom. Perhaps this is a minor flaw, but it's one we can live with. No plan is perfect.

Standing in the corner of the tub, this shows the master bath. The door goes into the master bedroom.

Here we show the tall windows of the master bath. Of course, we're sitting in the sink, but work with me, here.

This is the second bath, looking toward the toilet and the window. This window is on the right of the right side dormer.

OK, if we stood on the toilet, this is what we would see.

Here is the front view of this house (same floor plan with only very minor adjustments) with a hip roof instead of the gable roof I originally chose. I am not usually a fan of hip roofs, but this house looks quite nice with one. One could say it even looks better. I also decided to try out a nice tan siding to go with the brick, and I must say that looks quite nice, as well.

Here is the side view, same position as the original house design. I also decided to make the eaves boxed, which generally look better with hip roofs.

Finally, this is the alternate rear view. Note that I kept the gable at the back of the dining room. This was mainly because I wanted to keep the cathedral ceiling and I also wanted to keep the bullet window. Of course, I also kept the cathedral ceiling and tall windows in the master bath. Who could eliminate those?