Would love some feedback on the schematic design of our home

9 years ago

My wife and I are first time builders and would love some feedback on the schematic design. There's still time to change things! It's just my wife and I now but we do plan on having kids someday. As it is designed right now it's nearly 3,000 sq feet.

The lot is on a hill. there's a 25' drop from top right to bottom left. I also am including a video that goes through a 3d model of the house.

A couple of things to mention. There's doors on all the rooms, they just aren't in this design. There's also a tub missing from the master bathroom.

thanks!

Featured Answer

Butternut

9 years ago

Cool house!

I agree with rethinking the sunken areas. IME, it's the difference between being able to plunk a crawler/early walker down in a gated room with some toys and empty the dishwasher and emptying the dishwasher bowl by bowl in between herding baby away from the stairs. There is really no easy way to gate those stairs. Babies who would fall down stairs are incredibly drawn to them.

The stage of babies being unable to be trusted around stairs lasts about 1.5 years (~9 months to ~2.5 for my kids). Multiply that per kid. My parents have a sunken living room and it is so difficult to even visit them during these ages.

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Comments (15)

kirkhall
9 years ago
Do you plan to live in this house with small kids, or will kids be in day care during the day and both parents at work?

I'm not trying to be argumentative or "smart". It is a real question. Small kids like to be/need to be near their adult people. Your living room, and very probably the kitchen itself, will become the playing room of the home. Additionally, with the kids' bedrooms on the FAR side of the house from the master, there will be issues in the first several years of raising 1 kid, multiply that by #of kids how close together. It could be a decade or more that this house would function very poorly for your family.

On the otherhand, if you will have a live-in nanny, or au pair, or are never actually home as a family except to sleep, it might not function that poorly and a split floorplan might actually be desireable for a nanny/au pair.

Also, are those 2 sets of stairs between the main living area and the entrance to the master? If so, I see that being a problem for any future limited mobility as well as any scared or sick child in the middle of the night.
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dekeoboe
9 years ago
Very modern looking house. I am a fan and we don't see very many here on GardenWeb. Thanks for including the video. Our house is also on sloped land, the thing you really need to pay attention to is how you will handle runoff, especially since it appears you will have a lot of impervious surfaces. How is your house going to impact the water situation on your neighbor's lots?
Shane Sherman thanked dekeoboe
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Quick review.... Refrigerator & Sink... If you put a prep sink in the island facing either the range or the refrigerator you will have solved the problem of the ref being too far from the sink. It's actually pretty close to the range. Right now, your island is pretty much a "barrier island" b/w your sink and refrigerator...the prep sink also solves this problem. Wait...is that square in the island w/a dot in the middle a prep sink? If so, you've already solved your problem! But, I would move the prep sink to the range end of the island so it's accessible from both the range & refrigerator/prep zone. It also frees up the rest of your island for those big projects like baking, crafts, homework, gift wrapping, etc. That's a great size for an island, btw. BTW...a prep sink helps to separate the prep zone from the cleanup zone...always a plus, especially for multi-worker kitchens. Pantry... The pantry is too far away from the kitchen...plus I would not want to have to go through the office every time I needed to get something from the pantry. The pantry should either be in the kitchen (preferred) or just off it. In this case, the current office location would be a better location for the pantry. I recommend one of two things: (1) Switch the office & pantry and then open up the office from the room that's south of the current pantry. I don't know what that room is as the print on the second plan is illegible (at least to my older eyes!) (2) As you suggested, move the range up (I think that's what you meant) to make room for a door into the pantry. But first, let's crunch some #s: I think your kitchen is approx 18' wide. If so... 25.5" for sink cabinets + counters 38" for office doorway (30" door + 3.5" on each side of the door for trim + slight space b/w counter & trim) 36" for range 38" for pantry doorway 25.5" for refrigerator cabinets + counters ---------- 163" If the kitchen is 18' then...216" - 163" = 53" left for counter around the range. Leaving you 26.5" on each side...so 24" cabinet + 1.5" counter overhang + 1" b/w door trim & counters. That actually isn't a bad idea...24" is the minimum I recommend on each side of a range or cooktop for working room, emergency landing space, and safety margin b/w the doorways and the range. Yes, you lose some counter space, but not that much plus you have a large island that is much more useful anyway. It also eliminates the corner & gives you a straight run of cabinets...preferable in many people's eyes (I like both; I don't really have a preference...at least not in a kitchen with so much room already.) [Note: If your kitchen is less than 18' or maybe 17'8", then you might want to rethink either the second door idea or the size of the doorways...you could use 24" doors, but I prefer 30" doors whenever possible, especially for the office. You could put in a 24" door for the pantry & 30" for the office, but since symmetry is important to your DH you probably won't want to do that. Whatever you do, try to keep at least 24" b/w each doorway & the range.] Island... Do you plan for any seating at the island? I wouldn't advise it on the sink side...seaters would definitely be in the way! You could proabably have seating on the refrigerator side, but I would move the island north (toward the sink) at least 7" so the sink side aisle is 4'0" and the seat/refrigerator side aisle is 4'7". Seats on that side would also give your visitors a view out of what looks to be 8' of windows. If you do put seating on the refrigerator side, moving the prep sink to the end is even more important to maximize your seating capacity. You could also put a couple of seats on the DR end. Just remember these guidelines: 24" of space per person (so a 6' long island would accommodate 3 seats....2'/seat.) 15" of overhang/leg room for counter height seating. Microwave... Where do you plan to have the MW? I recommend on the refrigerator wall, especially as you don't want the pass/view through. Dishwasher... Think about moving the DW to the other side of the sink . When open, it could block the office doorway. I think I'd rather have the DW on the DR side. Pass/View Through... If you do keep the pass/view through, would you have seating on the non-kitchen side? Where is the extra light coming from there anyway? It actually doesn't look like it's a room...what I can see in the 1st pic says "Mech Rm" which, to me, means Mechanical Room...and I wouldn't want to look into that room! In the 2nd pic it looks like it looks out onto the stairs...??? Sorry, but that second pic is way too busy and pretty much impossible for me to read. HTH!
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Shane Sherman
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks Kirkhall for the feedback. The biggest complaint we have gotten is the house isn't that good for young kids. It's something we have thought about a lot and we have gone back and forth on.

dekeoboe, we only have neighbors on 2 sides. I have talked to the architect about how everything will drain. The front will be a french drain, the courtyard will be an area drain thats under or around the building. Definitely something we are going to keep in mind. We are also doing a 3-4k gallon rain water collection system that's behind the house near the master bedroom. thanks again for the feedback!
Mini Soda
9 years ago
We have very different design tastes, so I will try to be judicious in my response... Well, maybe just one comment about 1975 calling and wanting its house back! ;-)

Outside of the design differences, you may want to rethink the pool. Definitely not kid friendly, but more immediately it doesn't seem to lend itself to hanging around the pool and enjoying the ambience. Feels more like a canal on the side of the house.

Also, thought the back hallway was long and dark and personally would never do sunken living rooms...

In any case, do what you like and rock it!

Mini Soda
Shane Sherman thanked Mini Soda
bpath
9 years ago
So cool! I suspect that when you have a baby, it will take over the media room for a while, convenient to everything. So many people have split the master from the kids, even on different floors. Personally I like being able to see a ray of light coming from under my high schooler's door at midnight!

It may be unavoidable on a hill site, but for me it's the stairs from the garage, and even to the front door. Your visitors will, I imagine, park on the street? That's fine, just checking. But a full flight of stairs, exposed, could be difficult after a trip to the grocery store, ikea, etc. And you haven't lived till you try to tote a baby carrier or a grumpy toddler, and a purse, kiddo's backpack or diaper bag, down a full flight of stairs after an icy rain. If you can't avoid the stairs, can you at least enclose them?

Better, but means a total redesign, move the garage to where it can be closer to house-grade level. And don't sink the garage if it means a sloping driveway, we had that and it was never a good thing. What if the garage/private entry swapped with the public entry? Imagine the view coming in the front door, seeing the lap pool!
Shane Sherman thanked bpath
Shane Sherman
Original Author
9 years ago
bpathome we had the same concern with the stairs. We are actually putting in a either a dumb waiter or a small elevator in the garage. I think if we tried to put the garage at the house level we would definitely end up with a sloping driveway which would be terrible.

Unfortunately because of the lay of the land the garage needs to be where it is. The other thing we talked about was having the garage in the back of the house but then you waste half your lot with a driveway. I think just a simple dumb waiter would make me happy. thanks for the feedback!
lyfia
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I think I would make the pool a hockey stick or an L where the short part of the L is wider and goes in front of your patio a bit. This would make it both useful for swimming and lounging without destroying the geometrical shape.

To make the house more child friendly removing the sunken living/dining will go a long ways. Also allows you to have elderly family members visiting when it gets harder for them to navigate stairs. You just have to get them into your house, but at least when there they can move around in the public spaces without issues. Also easier on you when carrying plates etc. to the dining table. It is a long haul as it is and then add in the steps. Lots of opportunities to spill and drop things. I understand putting the dining to be viewed instead of living from the front door, but it does make for a long haul.

We have our kids room and master clear across the house from each other. Slept in there since sleeping through the night with no issues.

Is that a flat roof over the entry? If so I would really avoid that if at all possible. My experience with roofers and in Austin is that there are very few that actually know what they are doing and I wouldn't want to have to worry about it leaking down the road.
Shane Sherman thanked lyfia
bpath
9 years ago
Go for an elevator over a dumbwaiter. You can use an elevator as a dumbwaiter, but not vice versa.
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amfm11
9 years ago
Mid-century modern meets contemporary...Love it! While it's not my style, I can totally appreciate the architecture and clean lines of your home and it will work well in Austin. I am building a home, so a few things from my perspective - 1. just re-iterating what everyone else said about the sunken areas… not sure what stage of life you are in or if you even plan on having kids. But, if you do and you plan to live here a long time (with kids), definitely re-think the sunken areas. The stairs down to the MB are fine because they can be gated off. Also think about any sharp corners (i.e. the wall between the dining and living space). Is this a 2-sided fire place? If you plan on having kids, you will have to think about how this can be gated off/secured from little hands. If this is not a fireplace, are you tied to this wall? I, personally would just open the space up since it is not a huge area. 2. Master suite - consider having only 1 door into the closet/vanity area in lieu of 2 on either side of the bed. If there are 2 of you sharing this closet, you will appreciate more wall/storage space! 3. Pool - love that it butts up to the house. However, you will regret not having some sort of adjacent deck space for chairs. Maybe take a few feet of the rear side of the pool and convert to deck space. 4. Deck off the master - make it bigger, more usable. It barely looks big enough for a small chair. If you plan on using the space and not just for show, than just make it a few feet bigger. Maybe add steps down to the pool/deck area (mentioned in #3).
Shane Sherman thanked amfm11
lexma90
9 years ago
I am a great fan of modern design. And we just finished building a modern house on a sloping lot, but our slope is uphill. Though we are almost empty-nesters, so we didn't have to plan for young kids in our house full-time.

I understand how you will have to plan around your garage; we had the same issue - I felt at first like our entire house was planned around the driveway pitch and the garage! Obviously you will have railings on that stairway. Also consider one single flight with young kids, especially if the stairs are cement (or older people) - not a pretty sight if someone falls. In the stairway in our house, it's an L shape, so if someone falls, it's only half as far. Also, not to be too risk-adverse, those open stairs are gorgeous, but just waiting for someone to catch a heel or toes, or an entire foot for a kid. Our architect really wanted open stairs, but we just couldn't agree. We ended up with a zig-zag pattern. Our stairs are enclosed by glass on the lower side (to keep lower-level noise on the lower level), and I really like the way the zig-zag looks.

I love the fireplace, but yes, with kids, also a problem when the fireplace is on.

I also wanted cement floors, but husband didn't. So we have mahogany throughout, except for the entryway and bathrooms. I do notice that the 100% wood is harder on my feet than if we had some spaces carpeted; cement would be even harder on the feet.

I like the lap pool - I assume that's what it is. Though again, you'll need to be creative re gating it off from the kids. The terrace area, I can also envision kids tipping off the end of that; adding a railing will detract from the view, but you may need to consider. We have a juliet balcony on the front of our house, and were originally going to have glass sides. Then I thought about how quickly that glass would get dirty, etc., so we have cable. I love it - barely noticeable from on the balcony or inside the house, but no need to clean. So that might be a thought if you decide to put in railings.

The "hallway" between the living area and the island looks narrow. You know that the chairs will rarely be nicely pushed in, so consider that width. Also, consider little arms and hands reaching out to a hot stove, depending on how wide that island is. We have a very similar configuration, but our island is deeper, so don't have that issue. I love the view out our front when standing at the sink, and the view out back when standing at the stove - I'll bet that you will love it too!
Shane Sherman thanked lexma90
caben15
9 years ago
Wow that is incredible. Timeless also. Don't understand the 1975 comment - I think that's more a function of the limitation of the textures available in the 3D modeling software.

We see so many unoriginal tract-like homes on the internet, this is really quite special and has some clever design elements.

With kids anything more than one or two steps is a stress. Given that you're on a hillside stairs are inevitable. Learn to manage the stress and create kidsafe zones.
Shane Sherman thanked caben15
D. L
9 years ago
I'm not into modern design at all… but this house is pretty neat! My husband would absolutely dig it and that pool tucked into the house is beautiful. No doubt whoever designed this home is truly talented.

But… I would never ever buy a house like this if I had kids under the age of 10. I just couldn't sleep at night. Having those doors and pool between me and the kids would give me nightmares no matter how many child proofing inventions were involved. If the pool wasn't a factor, I could navigate the distance with technology. But I know so many first hand stories of pool tragedy. Little ones need "constant" monitoring around doors/access points because that water draws them like nothing else. But not everyone is a scardy cat like me. :) Something to consider for resale though, as I think there are a quite a few families who would cross off this incredible home because of that.

On the other hand, there are quite a few couples or families with older children who would jump at the chance to own a place like this. It feels almost like a Palm Springs movie star retreat… If I saw this house on VBRO I'd want to rent it for a week even if it meant my sleeping in the main living space to patrol the back doors. ;) Super fun.
Shane Sherman thanked D. L
Shane Sherman
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks everyone. I really appreciate the feedback!
lafdr
9 years ago
I like the design. Is the pool really against the house ? I would want to be able to walk around it. Regarding the kids' bathrooms, I would put the toilet on the interior wall. It will make hearing the flushes when you have guests at the dining room table less noticeable. I would say the layout of my house is similar with the kids' rooms at the opposite end of the house and the tv room next to the master. Kids these days tend to not even watch tv on tv and use computers for everything, and hang out in their bedrooms. So there shouldn't be a problem with the kids keeping adults up at night in the media lounge. I agree the media lounge could be a great nursery or toddler bedroom. The distance is not an issue since I have lived with it. I prefer this to an upstairs downstairs setting. Baby monitors make them as close as the monitor anyway! I hope the office has windows and the hall outside the office is full of windows too so it isn't a dark little cubby. I prefer no stairs or steps in a house since they end up being a trip hazard. But you have to make due with the garage. I would not need a dumb waiter seems like too much hassle. But you better hope no one needs crutches or is in a wheelchair or they will have a hard time getting in and out :)

lafdr

Would love some feedback on the schematic design of our home

Butternut

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