Chronicling our Springfield, OR new build
My husband and I are building our ”forever” (actually, ”for as long as possible”) home in Springfield. It is being built by the builder who owns the lot, but we have a rather astounding abiity to customize. We can select our own finishes, for example, no “pick one of these three countertop options.” So far, we added a half bath, completely redesigned the kitchen, opened up the back of the house by adding/enlarging windows and turning a window into a sliding door, and moved a couple of exterior walls/doors around. We will be doing tile in the hallways, bathrooms, the master closet and laundry, maple everywhere else. Closet and full bath floors will be heated. Kitchen will be custom cabinets, likely blue lowers and cherry or white uppers. Countertops are soapstone. House wired w/cat6 cable to all bedrooms, living room and office. The office will actually be a gym; the closet in that room is where all our networking gear goes. The front bedroom is my studio (thus no closet) This will probably get floor to ceiling built-ins along one wall. The back bedroom is Art’s office/cave.
We are retired, 57 (me) and 71. Our goal is to make this house one we can stay in for a long time. This is our first new build, although we have gut reno-ed a kitchen and done a complete refit on a boat, twice. Originally, we were looking to buy an existing house, but in months of looking have seen nothing even remotely close. True single story houses (no rec room/garage/workshop under the house) are surprisingly hard to find here. I looked at a re-sale in this neighborhood, which checked all of our boxes. The layout was great, but the finishes were, IMO, awful. The prospect of another gut remodel wasn’t super appealing, either. So here we are.
Floorplan below:
I know I have a better version of this site plan somewhere…
(windows on garage door are stacked verticallyon the right side of the door, not across the top)
Comments (9)
PROMark Bischak, Architect
2 years ago
WestCoast Hopeful
2 years agoRelated Discussions
first issue encountered in build- windows
Comments (19)Andersen doesn't offer as much design information as companies like Marvin so it is virtually impossible to create custom designs without the help of an experienced dealer (not Home Depot) but here is my best guess regarding what happened: Andersen makes a Picture Window that matches the 400 Series Tilt Wash double-hung window and therefore these units can be used side by side and the frame, sash and glass will align perfectly. But in order to provide an Andersen arch top picture window, the specifier used an Andersen Specialty Picture Window that has a very small sash profile and selected a custom size to try to match the double-hung although I don't see how that could have been successful. Unless the window profiles are are substantially similar, something is not going to align. I suspect the specifier sized the picture unit a little shorter than the double-hung units and planned to add some trim to the double-hung stool and head in the hope that the sash heights would not look too different and the glass might align. If you are looking to do clever things with windows I do not recommend using Andersen; that isn't one of the company's goals....See MoreHave a personal build blog? Link it here!
Comments (104)P. Thank you for posting your blog. I, too, am currently building in Cedar City, so I can relate to your story. We are building owner/builder and broke ground in August. It's been a much bigger challenge than I expected, but things are moving along. Your house is looking great by the way. I grew up in an area of Southern California that had many Eichler neighborhoods and many, many, MCM homes. I think you designed yours very well. Good luck with the rest of your build....See MoreIt's February, 2016. How is your build progressing?
Comments (90)Originally, I was told I'd be moving in for the holidays, and I don't mean the upcoming St. Patrick's day -- I knew this wouldn't happen, and there's been a lot of Waiting for Permits / Waiting for Inspections -- which in a small town with a population less than 600 means the town offices have severely limited hours. My broken ankle didn't help matters much either -- during the 3.5 - 4 months of severe down time at my end, I got up there a total of once. However, I've now been there twice in two weeks, yay team. I'd picked out a lot of stuff for the kitchen last summer. Had to jump through hoops to get the kitchen wood-look tile I really really wanted... after ordering about 15 samples of other stuff that when you see it in person, just didn't work out. When I ordered it last December it seemed to have been discontinued, but a call placed to South Cypress found that it had simply been moved to a different "line". I have it, now. I also picked out two quartz countertops from Consentino last summer. They still have the Eco Luna, which I love. However, the Silestone Olive Green is no longer in production. I'm ordering a sample of Silestone Tea Leaf, to see if this works for me. This is it: https://shop.cosentino.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/slide_16.jpg The other counter top: http://www.silestoneusa.com/colors/color/luna/ You fine folks here convinced me to go with silgranit sinks. I'm ordering the main sink and the prep sink both in biscotti -- here's the main one: http://www.efaucets.com/detail.asp?product_id=441595 and the prep one: http://www.efaucets.com/detail.asp?Product_Id=441219. (AND you guys convinced me to put in a prep sink....) I do believe my GC is going for the best quality possible. It's just taking forever. This is quality pine backing for my lower kitchen cabinet/drawers, being custom built by GC. GC doesn't understand the whole "drawer" ambiance, but thanks to you folks, I'm pushing for them. Fridge will go to the opening in the left. Counters will be 38" tall, because I'm 6'1". Ceiling vents, not required by code, but helpfully useful none the less....See MoreStalled in our building process. Help!
Comments (43)According to the Looney, Ricks, Kiss website, the Tucker Bayou plan got an Aurora award for homes in the $1,000,001 - $1,500,000 price range. So there's that. And you don't know whether that's a real retail price, or a price less donated materials (from advertisers), never mind land, legal, permits and site development. In my neck of the woods, this plan, at the finish level shown, would easily be a couple of million. This plan is going to be relatively expensive whether it's on a basement, crawl space, or slab. The framing itself is not simple, and all the little features that make it cute cost serious bucks. Also the large, numerous windows. And lots of porches. And custom millwork, custom cabinets, lots of upscale appliances and plumbing, hardwood and tile, etc. You're in the classic conundrum of a budget that won't budge, so you have a choice between a smaller house with more detail, or a larger house that's plain. IIWY I'd revisit the sloped part of the lot. See if you can put the kids' bedrooms, lauundry, "family" room, etc. down there on a walk out. Then put the rest of the rooms upstairs. Try to make it a one story with some high ceilings, and a simple shape, e.g., a rectangle. Build simple decks or gravel terraces instead of wraparound porches. Stuff like that. The point is, to save money, the whole house should have a much smaller footprint, an overall simpler concept, and that gives you a shot at making your budget. Unless you've really got a couple million to spend, in which case you might as well give Looney, Ricks, Kiss a call....See More
theotherjaye
2 years ago
PROPPF.
2 years agotheotherjaye
2 years ago
cpartist
2 years ago- PRO
PPF.
2 years ago theotherjaye
2 years agoPPF: The neighbooorhood has several houses of a similar style with these doors. Most of them changed the upper shingling on the gables to board and batten. I think it looks great. Of course I also think of our house as sort of craftsman adjacent rather than actually being a craftsman house. We could make the whole thing more modern by reducing the pitch of the roof, but it faces south and is at the perfect angle for solar at this latitude, so, no.
Anyhow, we drove by the site this morning and:
cpartist: What makes you say this home will not age in place well? Having had a knee replaced a couple of years ago I’m well aware of what a pain a non-accessible place can be (our old house was 2 stories with a very narrow staircase.) That experience was actually one of the catalysts of our decision to find a one story house. We are doing a curbless shower in the primary bedroom, although if one of us gets to the point of being long term in a wheelchair, it’s probably time to relocate.
We are comitted to the lot, if not legally yet (we haven’t signed anything), emotionally. We made a bunch of changes to the original plan over the past couple of months, and we’re happy with it. It is not, however, set in stone. We are definitely building this house for us. That is how we remoodeled our last place, and we had absolutely no trouble selling it, even though things like lime green marmoleum in the kitchen and a navy blue bedroom made our realtor itchy to do a quickie remodel to stage the place. We didn’t, and it sold in a week, way over asking. So we’re not super concerned about making choices that not everyone would agree with in terms of design. This will, with any luck, be the last house we own - next stop will be some sort of retirement community.
chispa