House Design

We've started working with an architect to design a house.  It is going really well.  

After looking on the internet and talking with people whose houses we liked, we met up with 4 different architects and designers.  One guy started showing us a bridge that he designed...  uh, yeah.  It was a very cool bridge, but not what I'm looking for in a house design.  Another guy was very enthusiastic and passionate, but was more focused on a modern-industrial sort of look (lots of concrete and cinderblock).  His buildings were interesting, but not what I would want to live in.  

The third guy we had really high hopes for.  He is known for sustainable building - creating homes that make use of local, eco-friendly materials.  We know that we want to incorporate ideas such as passive solar heating (positioning a house to take advantage of the winter sun) and like the idea of building sustainably, if we can.  We also liked the fact that this guy is an architectural designer, not a true architect.  Their fees are often lower than architect fees. Anyway, he ended up being so focused on the the sustainability part... well, it just seemed like some of his ideas weren't always that well thought out.  He had his own agenda that he was going to push hard for.  We admired his passion, but feel like we have enough on our plate without having environmentally moral battles over house design and materials. 

In the end, we decided to go with Richard Carver at Redbox.  We liked the styles of the buildings that they have designed, but also felt like Richard had a really good understanding of where we were coming from and what we wanted.  We have been so happy with our decision! The whole process has been great so far.  We only have to say a few words and Richard totally understands what we mean.  We were hoping for some kind of synergistic relationship with an architect, where ideas would bounce off one another to create something even better.  We also wanted someone who make the most of our limited budget.  Richard has achieved all these things.  Yay, Richard!

The above picture is one of the first concept drawings of the house.  Our current budget only allows us to build about half the house.  However, we wanted to design the whole thing so that the finished building wouldn't look odd.   Initially, we will build the bedroom "wing" (the golden-orange area), along with the hallway, bathroom and linen closet (blue areas).  We'll end up using the master bedroom as the living area and the en-suite as a temporary kitchen.  Later, when we are getting money from the grapes, we will build the living areas (in the tannish color).  This drawing was an early design.

This later design is closer to what we are working with now.  It is very similar to the first drawing, but cuts down on some wasted space.  We're really happy with it.  (Sorry I couldn't get the pictures any larger.) 

Once we are through fiddling with the overall design of the house, Redbox will draw up working drawings for the part that we will build.  These get submitted to council for permits and builders for bids.  If all goes well, we'll be able to start building in November... with a February finish.  That leaves us a couple months outside of when we need to leave the cottage that we are currently renting, but we'll cross that bridge as it gets closer to December.