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supergrrl7

Infill new build help needed

supergrrl7
12 years ago

Hello, I am new here and could use a fresh set of ideas about the house we hope to build.

We bought our current house because it had a second buildable lot attached to it. We love our location, which is in a walkable historic inner ring suburb in Ohio. The empty lot is small, about 55 feet wide and 138 feet deep (from the sidewalk). In addition to significant setbacks (34 ft in front, 8 feet on each side and 10 in the back), there are two buildings and a driveway very close to the property line. We are also bordered on two sides by a church parking lot which has a lot of traffic on Saturdays for the farmers' market and Sundays for church.

Anything we build will have to follow strict architectural guidelines, look historic and be approved by an architectural review board. We cannot not have a garage that faces the street unless it is tucked behind the house and we will need a variance if we want it attached (probably ok). Fences are frowned upon, but we are hoping we can get a variance for a 6 foot privacy fence along the parking lot.

Assuming we have a 24x24 garage, it looks like we have about 36 feet of width and 70 feet of depth to build. In that space, we really want the following: 1st floor master (to age in place), 3 other bedrooms on the 2nd floor (not huge), 2.5 baths (one upstairs, one master, one half), a good size living room so furniture doesn't go against the walls, a small office, laundry on each floor with bedrooms, mudroom and pantry. If we can squeeze all that into 2,500 square feet, we will be thrilled. We also plan to have a full basement with a family room, workout room, storage and probably another bath.

We don't need much yard, but we would really like a small area in the rear of the house for entertaining/eating outside/grilling when the weather is good. We would also like to maximize the the amount of natural light in the house, but to limit our view of the parking lot and the neighboring property.

I have been looking at narrow lot house plans and I have fixated on the idea of an L shaped house with a second story only over the front of the house. If we put the garage in the back so we can turn around to get out, that would leave us with a narrow courtyard and outdoor privacy on the south side where our current house is.

I have been pencil-drawing various floor plans for the L, but I am wondering if I am locking myself in to that footprint too early in the process? Is there a better option that would help us maximize sunlight, squeeze in a 1st floor master and still have a bit of usable outside space?

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