The Compromise House
We need some fresh eyes and opinions!
We have been saving and planning for a home for a long time. Our ideas and ideas of what we want have been constantly evolving as homes keep getting more expensive! As we keep looking the realities of what we want and what we might be able to afford have come to form this house plan. We have tried to check most of our boxes with this house plan as possible while keeping it cost effective. We cut corners from our "Dream Home" plans (pun intended) and went to a rectangle. Tried to keep plumbing close together. Got rid of the wrap around porch and went with a breezeway porch to the garage. Simple lines. Simple gable roof with 3/12 or 4/12 roof. Etc Etc.
Please tell us what you think of this plan and your input.
The areas we are struggling with are the kitchen layout. We want the sink on the exterior wall with a window. The stove on the back wall and centered in the room. We dont want anything on the kitchen island. This pretty much leaves us with this layout we think but we are concerned the "kitchen triangle" is too large. The pantry is more of food storage and appliance storage.
The ideas right now are,
Home is 40x65 which we consider a large home
Breezeway is 20 feet wide. Garage is 40x40
Slab foundation
Flat Ceilings at 9 or 10 feet . (Wanted vaulted) Flat ceilings will also allow us a space for any HVAC and mini split lines.
We want radiant heating in the floor for primary heat with ductless mini splits for AC and 2nd heat source. If we do this the only vents we will have are exhaust fans in the house. The stove in the living room will be an emergency only ventless propane stove. We live in a harsh climate and warmth is what we need most.
Depending on cost we would like ICF walls with wood truss roof. I am seeing a lot of compelling arguments showing the increase price in ICF walls is very small in the overall house cost. We are willing to splurge a little extra with ICF.
One of the main feature of the house is the gallery hallway with large glass windows on both ends. We love this idea and hope it creates a very open feel to the home. The one problem we might encounter is is someone is at the front door they can see through the entire home. We haven't came up with any great solutions for that other than to have the door buzzer on the breezeway entry. Input would be appreciated here.
Ways we are considering to further save money.
Build the house in stages.
Home First. Then garage and then breezeway roof last.
Concrete in breezeway can be gravel until we can afford concrete.
Fireplace in breezeway is a luxury item and not needed immediately
Install slab radiant floor heat tubes but not the heating system boiler until later. Use the mini split for primary. Plan on adding the ventless stove in living room later.
We first drew this plan with the breezeway roof being part of the house and garage. So one long roof. We would like to give the house a little character and curb appeal so this is the reason for the bump up.
Im certainly forgetting something. But please look it over. I will include our first rough sketches and some amateur Sweet Home 3D renderings.
Thank you
The Compromise House
