Suburban Contemporary Series

These pages contain a series of house designs (about a dozen variations so far, some finished, some not, perhaps more to come) all based on the same design program. The first design (Suburban Contemporary #4) started very much different, with a lot of curved walls and odd levels. Those curved walls were proving to be a bit troublesome, so in a fit of pique I revamped the plan, and arrived at the current plan. Bolstered with that success, I decided to see if I could design other houses using the same basic criteria, and I have.

The "Suburban Contemporary" Program

These are the characteristics of the basic design program that all the plans are following (more or less):

• The first floor base fits inside a 50' x 50' square. A couple of the plans have portions of the second floor that hang over the 50' square, but other than decks, all of them keep to this restriction.
• Each one has a round tower with a 6' inside radius. All plans have this tower in front, and most of them have the tower in the same relative position, except for rotation of the basic layout. Most plans rotate this layout 45° or 90° in either direction. At least one plan keeps the two towers in their position, and rotates the 50' square.
• Each plan has a round tower with a 5'6" radius. Most of the plans have this tower in the back, though on some it's on the side (the right side as you face the house).
• Each plan strives to have the second floor orientation (at least the roof orientation) at 45° to the first floor roof orientation. Sometimes the roofs' orientation belies the actual mass of the house. It's all about the visuals, you know.
• Most of the plans have 3 bedrooms, with the master bedroom somewhat larger. I have tried to make all these plans suitable for current housing tastes.
• A few of the plans are split levels, though it may be hard to tell. A couple are also 3 story, though not any of the first few are.
• The first few plans use the basic 24" x 24" window unit with no sill or casing. I have varied this on some of the plans, but the first 3 plans make extensive use of these 24" squares with "unusual" window arrangements. In other designs I have found that variation is desirable.
• The designs vary in square footage, with the smallest being around 2,000 sq. ft. and the largest somewhat over 3,000. The first design is right around 2,700 sq. ft., a decent size for most upscale suburban neighborhoods.

Suburban Contemporary #4

This was the first house design in the "series". Of course, at the time I didn't know it would become a series; I was just trying to come up with a nice, somewhat unusual design suitable for a suburban setting. I believe I succeeded. I felt so good I just had to take the basic layout constraints and see if I could make more designs.

As we know, I did.

Suburban Contemporary #5A

I call this house design "5A" because it has an alternate roofline for the area above the living room. I liked this design so much better I decided to finish it out. Yes, it is very similar to #4, above, but the floor plan is not the same. This design, in particular, makes good use of a "funky" window layout. The two-story living room is especially dramatic.

Suburban Contemporary #6

This house design evokes mid-American barn designs, and it's not entirely unintentional. I suppose no one really wants to live in a barn, but there are a few things about this design that I rather like, all the same.

Suburban Contemporary #7

This house design is patterned on the same program as the preceding 3 designs, but is a bit more traditional in the exterior treatment. It features several dramatic cathedral ceilings (living room, master bath, upstairs hall), and an open first floor plan.

 

Suburban Contemporary #9

I have no excuse for why this was delayed for such a long time, but it's finished, now. This design has many more curved walls than other houses in this series, and it also has a flat roof (only Suburban Contemporary #9A has a similar curved walls and flat roof look). Otherwise, it follows the program reasonably closely.

I rather like this design, and in the time between working on the design originally and now, I have learned a few things. The result is a much better and more fully rendered design. I hope you like it.

Suburban Contemporary #13A

I began this house design without a clear idea of where I was going or what I expected to see once I got there. Then, somewhere along the way this South Carolina Low Country house suddenly rose up and captured my design.

I don't know how these things happen, but this design is pretty good, and I am well pleased with the result. Take a look, you might find some things to like about it, as well.

Suburban Contemporary #15A

My most ambitious modeling project yet. This has been an eternity in arriving, but I have finally finished all the renderings for this house design.