Critique Don Gardner Serendipity
Kathy
5 years ago
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cpartist
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoRelated Discussions
athomewithchuck's plans... please critique
Comments (8)rhome410 - Thanks for the detailed look at the plan. I have copied what you wrote and will answer in parentheses below to keep it focused. Looking at your plan, I have some big concerns, so I hope you don't mind some critical comments. I am concerned about the scale and if things really are workable as sized. The doorways to the toilet and shower in the master bath, for example, are about the size of the depth of the kitchen cabinets...so 2 ft? I don't know how you'd get into the master bedroom closet (small doorway and not enough room to hang rods on both sides as you show), and your guest and linen closets are narrow and deep. (The entire left side of the house will be bumped out another 1.5 to 2 feet for the bathroom and closet space, as well as the additional depth in the garage and thus the bonus room. So to answer your questions - the doors will be wider - more like 2'4" in the toilet and shower and this well open up the space for a larger door into the master closet from inside the master bath. We don't want to have to wake the other person up in the morning if possible, so keeping the door shut to the master bed and accessing the closet from the master bath should help that we fee. This will make the walk in closet a total of 7" wide which is plenty of walk thru room even with clothes hanging on each side. Good catch though - it took me a little while to figure that one out.) I don't think you'd fit a table in the breakfast area with the clearance needed for seating and the 2 doors. (I have scaled it out with our current breakfast table and chairs and while it will work, I really am leaning towards eliminating the entire breakfast nook and using that space for making an incredible kitchen layout. This would remove the door to the patio - perhaps not depending on the layout - and would allow for two pantry's in the kitchen - one where the refrigerator is now for brooms and other cleaning items you mentioned below, and the other for food would likely be included in the kitchen cabinets instead of framed in. What do you think about taking out the breakfast nook? I know people like them, but if you use it religiously then you're dining room is likely going to be neglected. That's a lot of wasted space in my opinion. But I eat at the bar most of the time so I won't miss the table. In fact, we've used our breakfast table in our current house about 3 times in 2 years. We personally won't miss it.) The bathrooms don't have much room for storage or towel rods. (We currently have less storage in bathrooms and still have more than we need. It's always good to have storage, but I'm not worried about it with the size of our linen closets. We store towels and sheets in there only. So, between the two of us we don't really have a lot of stuff to need storage for. Did I mention we're 24 years old and have one spoiled rotten dog and zero children. We don't plan on having children in the next 3 years or so either.) I don't know what your family size and ages are, but I don't see a closet near any secondary/family entrances, and, I know this may be a personal thing, but I would hate a walk-through laundry, and one without room for even one hamper. You'd have to be super neat and keep all dirty laundry elsewhere until it was going into the washer in order to keep that walkway clear. (Again, just the two of us. We currently have a 6 foot wide by 4 feet deep laundry closet - this will be an upgrade in our book. We don't keep dirty clothes in the laundry unless they are in the machines. My fiancee is an OCD clean freak. You can eat off our floors and I promise you that there is a place to store everything within our closets - including dirty clothes. We wash 1 time a week for both of us. I guess we're lucky, but if we were Jon & Kate - I may be looking for a different style laundry room. I'm not big on the walk thru but it is large enough to get the job done and without changing the layout and therefore adding costs to the build for something we won't utilize like the other areas we will - I can't justify spending the additional money and changing the look of the outside. If you want to draw out a sample of how to modify the layout without changing many things in the plan then I'd be happy to try to incorporate it.) The deep back porch mean it and the great room will be kind of dark...are you planning any skylights? Will you have windows in the great room? (I may be missing something but I don't understand the first part of the first sentence here: "The deep back porch mean it..? The great room won't have skylights - I hate them - as a Realtor, every house I've ever toured that has skylights also has leaks. No thanks. We may incorporate some of the solar tubes if I can find out how prone they are to leaks as well. Big holes in my roof that have to be flashed around well to prevent leaks, scare me. I currently have way more light in our living room that anyone can stand. I don't want that again. Thus we incorporated the covered porch area. We will have full lite doors on both sides of the fireplace leading to the deck. My parents have almost an identical rear porch layout and we are totally fine with the amount of light that comes in. Our house faces the same direction as theirs does and we have less trees, so I think we'll be fine. I'm still debating whether or not to vault the rear porch ceiling and that may help a little bit. We'll see.) Have you tried drawing furniture to scale in each of the rooms so you can check that you have room for what you want and clearance for traffic around it all? Also, where do you see storing cleaning supplies, broom and vacuum, and other things necessary to keep stored around the house? (Yes, I have scaled every piece of furniture we currently have in this plan and it all fits. This house is over 300 sq.ft. larger than our current. All rooms are larger and I'm not interested in additional sq.ft. just to have it. We lived in 400 sq.ft. 1 bedroom apartments throughout our years in college, and we've learned to love cozy spaces - as long as they are designed and decorated well. We do not have clutter. Did I mention the OCD clean freak I live with? Most days, the dog is too much "stuff" in the floor! Not joking. Stop laughing! If I reorganize the kitchen the brooms and cleaning supplies will be taken care of. Also, even though it's not drawn in - there is room for a double door cabinet style pantry in the laundry room - this will house the vacuum and other miscellaneous items we'll store - including the doggie grooming supplies. By the way, we have the cleanest dog in the world. Most days I think she's probably cleaner than me. I'm thinking of incorporating a small 3 x 4 tile dog shower in the area under the steps to the bonus room - accessed through the garage where it would otherwise be wasted space that we can walk the dog into for her baths. She's getting older and balance has been an issue so getting into and out of the bathtub with her is a hassle. Plus, I don't think having dog hair in the tub is a good thing. What do you think?) Hope this helps. It's a complex process to get a plan right for your family. Best wishes. (Thanks for your comments. Please keep them coming.)...See MoreI can do better than Don Gardner....I think.
Comments (22)Well I've run into some major hurdles, the big problem is there obvious and the solutions are complex. 1 st we know what we want(just based on our experiences from a previous) which seems to make it that much harder. I have no problem admitting that I went into this blind and that at some point I would need e help especially with roofs and stairs ( Ive learned to hate stairs with a passion). An old fashioned t-shape Pennsylvania farmhouse is our dream. I many worried about getting proportions right to keep with the look we like, too wide of a gable end and your house easily becomes a church. So any time we saw a home we thought was bell balances we would simply stop and ask the owners to let us measure. Finally we feeling comfy with the dimensions,'I've done nothing but ram and smush everything into this mold, problem it just won't fit naturally, of course ive been able to keep adding square footage to house but I lose the simplicity, my motto is " it always comes down to adding just 2 more feet". So we began hunting for architect which feels like a step backward at this point because we have a logic behind our placement. ( ex: we have beautiful views to the right side of our house and garage on left so naturally the pantry/mud room/bath plus keeping the kitchen close by for groceries has been part of the problem all though I've made work before just never felt right. Factor in I need 4 bedrooms and love an open floor plan ( no cathederal ceiling, just raised living room) and the simplicity of simple old farmhouse gets complex. 2) I decided I would try to find an architect to basically "bless" a floor plan and then draft into prints for us , logically if he was happy with it and there were no major blunders I wouldnt expect to pay full rate. I think he quoted around 15k for a 2500sq ft houses with a significant amount of the concept done. I believe it was $75-$80 for 220 hours, after the sticker shock, we decided to stay the course. Even found multiple plans from timber/log home companies that would not sell just a floor plan to convert without purchasing the entire kit. I could produce over 50 cad drawings I've done and probably 3 graphing notebooks of half-a$$ sketches that all come out the same, close but never perfect. Even the drawing i submitted was basically to confirm that the issues were not in my head but legit concerns, which is why the criticism didnt bother me. ( I've been yelled by more important people than you mainly. renovater8 ) , since I've posted my print I've already been back at it but this time better equipped with your comments and this site in general. I like "how long have you been at it" comments. I'll probably keep at my drawings myself until I truly feel like I'm at a dead end, and with the help of a friend who is an engineer/draftsman I'll try to stick t through but not until I'm comfortable with a finished product, I love learning and still feel like I won something when someone points out a potential problem I would of never caught myself. If anybody has used an architect geared towards the rustic/country/t-shaped farmhome, I would gladly be interested.' always enjoy finding that diamond In the rough website that leaves the vinyl siding and cookie cutter plans to their 1000 page book and recreates the classics look. Would also love any pics or comments from anybody who's been on the same path. My apologies to renovator8 for coming across harsh, i use a lot of sarcasm and I dont specifically hate don Gardner , just sick of the seemingly identical planss we poured through over the years. Thankss again everybody....See MoreCritique before I go to architect please
Comments (67)Personally -- I really like the half wall. If you also really like it, it shouldn't be a big deal. Having extra space to place things against (in my own case, lots of books) can be helpful. I also don't like "floating furniture", or rolling walls (sounds so temporary!) or the like. Your second design works better than the original, although I'm wondering if that peninsula is a bit overpowering. Maybe have it approach from the right rather than the left? Or, better yet, try an island? If a lot of people hang out in your kitchen, having access on either side of an island would probably help traffic flow. I do like the master in the back -- but a lot will depend on your preferred morning light. (I made sure mine won't face east, for instance -- I'll be retired and won't have to wake with the chickens...)...See MoreThoughts on this house plan? Fenwicke by Don Gardner
Comments (20)If you have budget issues, why build a 2 story living room? And 2 story foyer. The railing isn't free not to mention the extra volume you are paying for and heating and cooling. The master bath is so tight - crams in all the modern must haves - for a larger home. A rear covered porch costs serious money - and it is long and narrow which looks cute and all but isn't very practical for conversation outside. I had a house with a very similar plan and nearly the exact same sitting room off the master - wasted space. It was my first house build (1999) and I feel especially qualified to point out its many many faults. Had the same master bedroom over the garage - was great when I head to go off to work early. The temperature stratification with that 2 story area is also great to live with (/s). We had the upstairs thermostat just outside the master and it had to be adjusted constantly to keep the upstairs comfortable. What's funny is I just noticed the copyright date. The exact year I built a very similar house. Don't live starting out with a 20 year old plan. When you go to sell in 10 years, it will be a 30 year old plan......And it isn't like people in 2029 will be craving the brilliant 1999 floor plans. Have a budget - skip the garage, skip the porches, skip the 2 story rooms. Give yourself functional spaces first and foremost. Build for the life of the house and energy use will become much more important than 1999....See Morebpath
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