Plans for the Farmhouse

[Shinsan]

I've been working on the plans for this farmhouse for some time, and although I'm pretty happy with what I've got so far, I'd like to get some opinions from the members here. (Other people are generally better at pointing out problems or faults that I have not seen for myself.) I'm also open to other ideas and suggestions. The left side of the plan has been clipped by my printer - don't know why - and the walls are 12" thick, not 2".
Note that we are in the southern hemisphere, so in the mornings the sun would rise on the right-hand side of this plan, (where the garage/workshop is), and set on the left.

[TxCloverAngel]

bedrooms? Looks Great!!!

[Julia]

Your kitchen is much too small. If you're really going to be processing food in it, you need all the space you can get, including a large work table or island to cut up half a beef on, or can 5 bushels of tomatoes, or press cheese. You've got an awful lot of really expensive real estate tied up in the dining room, which will be used rather less often than a working kitchen on a working farm. You need to use that space more wisely.

You also seem to have a lot of doors right in the kitchen area, all taking up valuable space that probably could be used better. It seems a really awkward design. I'd lose them, and put one out to the veranda so you could work out there in the summer, where it's comfortable. You could even put a work table and stove out there so you wouldn't heat up the whole house during canning season.

[Slev]

I'm thinking, if you have bar stools then that must mean an open wall there? if that's the case, then I think I would get rid of the door next to it. I'd bet you could save a lot of money if you got rid of that area, and/or put in a sliding door? Also, look at a triple sink.

Also, I really don't think ANY insurance company will let you store/opperate a diesel genorator from inside your garage, (where you keep your vehicles worth thousands of dollars???) Better off to contact your agent and ask how far out a small shed would need to be placed and run it that way.

In my dream house plan, I want the clothes washer/dryer close to where all the dirty clothes wind up, next to the bathroom. Which, then I want my bathroom next to my closet. So, on one side of the wall would be bathroom plumbing, on the other side my washer/dryer = keeping all of the plumbing in a general area and a clothes closet off the bathroom. (Just my thoughts.)

[Shinsan]

TxCloverAngel,
Bedrooms are upstairs. I have several alternate plans, this one being the 'luxury' version, featuring a spa bath in the main bathroom, plus an ensuite and dress-in wardrobe for the main bedroom. The 'dress-in' wardrobe is simply a walk-in wardrobe, (closet), that's big enough to get dressed in....and having seen the plan, all three of my daughters want one! LOL

[Ramblin Wreck]

Love the porches. As alluded to above by Julia, you might be able to put in a header or beam from the left wall through the kitchen and eliminate a lot of doors and a "busy" wall/door section. That's what I'd do here, but there may be reasons you'd want to close those rooms off that is more appropriate for your usage. There's a full bath on the floor presented but no bedrooms, you might save a few bucks (or transfer some budget) by eliminating the shower. Best wishes in your dreaming and building.

[Shinsan]

Thanks for the input Julia.

The kitchen actually measures 12' X 12', which is twice the size of the kitchen we have now. We also have plans for an outside kitchen, featuring a clay pizza/bread oven with a barbeque and smoke box, under a large pergola, (sort of like an Italian loggia), which will be perfect for our Aussie summers.

The large dining area also doubles as a work area; the table used as a cutting/work table for dressmaking, etc.

Thank you also, Slev.

Where the barstools are, there is a roll-down shutter than comes down to close off the kitchen area from the dining area.
(Can almost hear my miisus calling, "time, gentlemen, please!" as she rolls the shutter down and closes the bar. LOL)

Coming in from a hard day's yakka on the farm, you place your boots in one of the boot-box seats on the verandah, (keeps the spiders out of 'em), then go immediately through to the laundry on the right of the entry, and enter the shower area. Removing a laundry basket from the shower stall, you fill it with your filthy workclothes, then step into the shower. After showering, you open the towel cupboard to find, not only shelves of towels, soap, shampoos, etc., but several wire basket type drawers holding clean changes of underwear, t-shirts, shorts and socks, etc. The shelves and baskets are recessed a few inches so that bathrobes can be hung in there also. On your way out, place the laundry basket in the laundry, or better still, load the washing machine while you're there.
BTW, A cupboard below the workbench, and a cupboard above it, is where my home brewing equipment will be stored.
(Can almost hear my missus calling, "While you're in there.....".)

Our Generator is only a 6.5 kw portable unit, and is not considered to be a hazard. (And one of the insurance blokes around here has a gen. set up in his garage.)
Originally I was thinking of putting it under the landing of the stairs, but there won't be enough room with the deep cycle batteries for the solar system being under there.

[Freeholder]

I like your plan. It looks like there would at least be room for a small work island in the kitchen (I love having an island, if there isn't room for a kitchen table).

Personally, I'd want a larger pantry and 'cool room', don't know if you could find space for them, though.

And I agree with those who suggest eliminating that short wall between the kitchen and the hall. That would allow you to also get rid of one door out of the kitchen, and even extend your kitchen counter to where the wall is now. The only reason I can see for having that wall and door dividing the kitchen and the hall is if that's your guest entrance, and you don't want company to be able to see the mess in the kitchen as they come in. However, that problem could be solved by directing guests to the other side of the house -- have them come in directly to the living area, rather than through the utility side of the house. You could use your landscaping to direct your guests to the correct side of the house, and save the hall entry for family use.

I very much like your laundry/bath right off the entry that you'll be using to come in from farming activities. And I would keep the shower on the ground floor. I think in any two story house it's a good idea to have the possibility of one-story living if it should become necessary due to old age or injury.

Kathleen

[alpacamom]

If it were me, I'd want a more direct route to the house from the garage/workshop. It seems there is a long walk there.

I love the verandas, shadehouse, the open concept of the dining area and lounge, all the storage, the bathroom on the main level off the laundry, and the large laundry, but the front half of the house seems awfully cluttered to me with too many walls/doors. The upper level of the house is laid out very nicely.

Good luck with your home plans!

[Jim S.]

If it were mine, I would put the master BR on the first floor, unless you plan to move again before then. As you get older, walking up those steps will get harder. Not having a first-level master is the #1 reason for resales of 2-story homes as the owners age. Almost all modern plans offer one.

If you do not plan to put your washer and dryer upstairs, the coolest little feature I've seen added is a laundry chute into the downstairs laundry room, which takes up very little space and yet saves millions of steps down the stairs over the years. It looks like your laundry room is right under the ensuite and dress-in wardrobe. It would be easy to add the chute to either. Ideally, the chute should be in a common bathroom for use of all bedrooms, but that requires altering your basic plan quite a bit.

As your plan is now, most of your laundry will be generated upstairs, so a chute would be perfect. Having your washer/dryer upstairs would be even better, but you would have to put a water-catch pan under the laundry floor with a drain, and that is more expensive than a chute would be.

[hotzcatz]

G'day!

If it were my house, I'd ventilate the battery storage area REALLY well and make some sort of fireproof wall between the living areas and the battery storage area. Perhaps some sort of ceiling tiles holding up loads of baking soda and held in place by fusible links so if the batteries did catch on fire, the fusible links would go and dump baking soda all over the fire? Better than merely a fire alarm since if there was a fire there, it would put the fire out. Some commercial kitchens have fire suppressant systems set up over their grill areas, perhaps there would be some good ideas if you checked those out?

I like the way you've thought about how you are going to live in your house and then designed the house around that. It's perfect! Do the same for the kitchen, imagining how you would use it on a typical day and also how it would work while putting up the largest amount of stuff you can imagine as well as the biggest feast you ever expect to prepare there. If it all works under those three scenarios, then it's all good. House design is basically what I do for a living and the best houses come about when their people imagine living in them as they do on a regular basis and designing around that.

No windows looking into the shade house? Perhaps some glass set into frames without any opening windows if fumes were a consideration. The glass would let in light and let you see into the shade house without having to worry about humidity and such from the shade area. I'm not sure what your plans for the shade house are, but if it is a green house type of area many houses have them incorporated into the rest of the house as sort of a conservatory area. Although, I'm not sure what your climate is, so I don't know if that would be something you'd want.

When designing houses the climate where they are determines a lot of the design. If you want to get up early then put the bedrooms on the sunrise side of the house, etc. Wind can make an outside area unusable if the wind is strong enough. Views are important. Here in Hawaii we have lovely weather so many of our houses have more outside area - huge porches, windows all over, easy access to outside - than inside area. Shade is more important than sun, so we have three foot wide roof eaves to shade the side of the house to keep it cool and to keep the rain away. Each area has it's own type of construction to meet the climate of the area, I'm sure your area has all sorts of typical building styles and methods, too.

Aloha

[Wildwood Flower]

Thanks for sharing your plan--I LOVE IT!

I'll give you some of my observations and experiences. Take what you like and forget about the rest:

I do think your rooms are large--and your kitchen an efficient size. (My kitchen/dining area is 14' X 18' and seems HUGE to me. It also accommodates 4-5 people cooking and preparing family get-togethers with ease.)

Getting too big can get as hard to manage as too small. I don't think you need that drop down partition at all. You'd never use it, I'd bet.

The only thing I was thinking is about your sun exposure--I love morning sun in my kitchen and dining room--it makes waking up in the morning so pleasant--and evening sun in my livingroom area is also pleasant at the end of the day. Could you FLIP the plan?

I suppose it depends on your morning view also--what you have when you look outside of your windows.

I love the mud room idea--and believe me, it will save on your housework. I had one in a previous house--and loved it. The kids could come in and out all day long and not track through the living area to go to the bathroom or get a drink. I'd even put the coffee pot there for DH.

I would NOT want a work area in the dining room. Work rooms tend to get messy--and stay that way. Your dining room should be for--well--"dining". JMO

Looking at workroom clutter would be debilitating to your family home atmosphere--which should be clean and simple, and easy to take care of. Love the barstools--great for breakfast and snacks and even conversations while cooking or doing homework.

It looks to me like your sewing room would be adequate for sewing--especially if you have plenty of specialty built-ins for your supplies and maybe a drop-down cutting table of some sort. But then, maybe you'd want a daylight window to sew by. Do you do the sewing for a living? Maybe you could think about making a whole worshop on its own--in that big garage area?

I think the office-type area in the living room would be okay, if you cannot make any other arrangement. Especially if you could make built-ins that could hide paperwork or even a "drop-down" that would close it off when you have company.

Good luck to you--I have to read more about the special greenhouse area. Sounds interesting, and could also be lovely.

I also don't like bedrooms on a second floor--but I'm older, and lived in a 2 story house growing up. My mother and I hated it--and it's harder to keep on top of kids keeping their rooms clean and their laundry put up. (Not to mention your own.)

Be sure to be thinking 20-30 years down the road at keeping things efficient for yourself and DH in your later years. (wide doorways--which it looks like you have)...and no wheelchair barriers. It's something people sometimes over-look. Like--could I go to the bathroom if I were in a wheelchair? Could I easily get in and out of the front and back doors? Where would I sleep? Could I take a shower easily---transfer in and out?

I did it with our plan--and was SO GLAD I did when DH unexpectedly broke his neck in a horse accident and I had to care for him for a number of years. Believe me, I would have been SUNK with a 2-story house.

I love house plans--have spent many many hours drawing them. It's fun! Just some things to think about.

[Liese]

It's my understanding that your kitchen is on the west side with a big bay style window over the sink, if that's the case I can tell you my west kitchen gets quite warm in the summer and I think your's might really heat up from reflected light. As to the kitchen size, 12x12 seems quite ample, big kitchens can mean more steps with less efficiency but I agree with the previous post that an island is really helpful - I scavenged a lab table being thrown out - perfect height for this 5'4" person to knead bread & roll out pasta. Are you venting the chest freezer outside? My upright puts out a good amount of warmth when running.

A first floor bedroom would be nice for when you want to check out those midnight-2am noises, or during lambing & kidding season, to be able to get out quickly without waking everyone else up stumbling down the stairs. It's hard enough for me to get out the door pulling on trousers, let alone doing steps! LOL

That hallway looks like a lot of dead space - at our house that would fill up with Stuff!

About the bedrooms - the bed placements are considered "dead man's" in Feng Shui, feet pointing to the door - considered very unrestful. But 3 baths, wow that's real luxury for sure!

Love your shade house!

[ailsaek]

My two cents:

One: doors to close off kitchens are good. Candymaking or deep-fat frying require concentration. Animals and small children underfoot detract from that. Heck, a pack of cats yowling around your feet while you debone a chicken is annoying enough.

Two: Some room that can be turned into a bedroom on the ground floor without a large expenditure of cash and effort would be a good idea. Even if you don't plan to age in place, what if you break your leg?

[Shinsan]

BlueJuniperFarm,
The pantry and coolroom I consider 'ready use' storage: On the plan, (fine print), it reads, "A cellar built under the house could be used for storing preserved meat, fruit and vegetables, root crops, grain, seed, cheese, beer, wine, more beer, etc." I was thinking of having a trapdoor, from the kitchen, as is sometimes done in Japan.
There's no 'formal' front door, as it were - there is just 'the door'. If necessary, access to the main living area would be by a path through the shadehouse. We are not isolationists, but having visitors wouldn't be a day to day event. LOL

Alpacamom,
I'd thought to put some steps closer to the workshop, however, "By placing the steps opposite the door, a 'no through' area is created at this end of the verandah, which then becomes a shady nook for hot summer days". It's only a few more steps, but if Chi had her way, she'd route the path right around the other side of the house to give me more exersize! BTW, I'm an alpaca fan too.

Jim S,
Great idea: One laundry shute coming up! As for the master bedroom upstairs: We plan to have a smaller cottage on the property for our eldest daughter, so when we're too old to climb the stairs, I'll kick her out and take it over. LOL (She can have the big house.)

Hotzcatz,
The doors to the battery compartment would have plenty of ventilation holes, plus there would be an exhaust pipe leading up to the roof. That pipe, heated by the sun, would act as a thermosyphon, drawing fresh air into the battery compartment.
The shadehouse is mostly that: Our neck of the woods gets awfully hot in summer. Check out the comments written on the plan between the house and the garage/workshop. I could put a couple of windows in, facing the shadehouse, similar to those at the dining area end. BTW, There will be an aquarium located on the sideboard, and surrounded by the bookshelves.
Because we are located in the southern hemisphere, the bedrooms actually do face the sun, but there would be a decent overhang of the eaves because of the heat.

Wildwood Flower,
Wow, lots of points in your post!
Waking up to the sun won't be a problem; the main bedroom faces the sun and is on the east end of the house.
A coffee pot in the mudroom, or a kettle, as I'm a tea drinker, is a good idea.
(I'm of the 'drip-dry' era, so forgot to add that an ironing board is stored in the cupboard labelled 'Broom'.)
We're not much into formal dining, so don't see using the table as a workplace as a major problem. As a matter of fact, our dining table at the moment is covered with 'stuff', and we tend to eat casually in our current family room. Did you notice the 'Sewing Materials Storage' cupboards in the hallway? - they go from floor to ceiling, so there's quite a bit of space there, and would also be used for storing the dressmaker's dummy, and art & craft materials. The sewing machine and overlocker cabinets are sited by a large sun facing window that should provide adequate light, but they are also mobile, and can be rolled to another position if needs be.
For the 'office' area: I've many times admired those old style roll-top desks, so maybe there's the excuse I need to get one?
I agree with the wheelchair access, and probably the door from the hallway to the living area could be made a little wider, though the other doors are quite wide, and would have 'parliament' hinges. (These allow a door to lie flat against adjacent walls.)

Liese,
Yes, the kitchen does have a large west facing bay window, and is designed to contain a herb garden. Outside this window, the decking connecting the north and south verandahs is covered by a pergola. Deciduous vines growing on the pergola would protect the windows from the heat of summer, but allow plenty of light and warmth in winter. I thought either table grapes, kiwi fruit, or banana passionfruit would be the way to go.
The motor and radiator for the freezer would actually be sited under the house and be suitably ventilated. Cool air is supplied to the coolroom from the shadehouse. (I'm doing a drawing to explain this system, and will post it a bit later.)
The hallway is not really 'dead space' - note the storage cupboards - you'd be entering the house via a store room!
The bed and other furnishings in the bedrooms are not fixed, so the occupants could really arrange them in the way that suited them best.
I do have another design for the upstairs that features only the one bathroom, and the spa bath in there could be swapped for a standard bath, but, apart from me, there being only women in the house......

Ailsaek,
Every two cents counts. Yes, a closed-off kitchen is a good thing at times.
A bedroom at ground floor level is also quite practical too. But then again, Chi finds our lounge sooo comfy she falls asleep on it almost every night, so I won't need to spend any cash.

[RedTartan]

One concern I have is the distance from the front door to the kitchen. That looks like a long way to tote groceries.

I have another concern with the kitchen too. Too many doors look cluttered. Consider pocket doors so they can be completely out of sight when you don't need/want them.

That's my input,

RedTartan

[Maura]

You have to walk through the laundry room to get to the bathroom. I'd rework this area. I'd probably even put the laundry room in the shadehouse rather than wasting the more expensive space on that room. You could make the bathroom a little larger and have a hallway so a person can use either room. You could also make the entry larger with a small coat closet and chair or bench to sit down on.

I'd keep the door and wall between the hallway and kitchen, because then you can invite people into your house without inviting them into your home.

The kitchen would be big enough for me to work in. I would have a wall oven, easier on the back. I would have at least half of the counter at table height to accomodate a person sitting, a child, or a wheelchair. I'd make sure that the doorways and halls are wide enough to accomadate someone on crutches. The stairway should be wide enough for a lift- just in case.

And, I gotta wonder, does your wife need a sewing room? You get a huge garage and she gets leftovers.

[The Paw]

Originally Posted by Maura

You have to walk through the laundry room to get to the bathroom. I'd rework this area. .

I agree with this. If you rework the bathroom and laundry a little, you could enter the bathroom directly from the end of the hall, and you could have the bathroom fixtures and the washing machine plumbing all in the same wall, resulting in shorter pipe runs.

The only other comment is that I would prefer a mirror image of this layout so that I got the morning sun through the kitchen and dining room windows. Of course, I have no idea what the views are, so maybe your way makes more sense.

Good luck.

[Shinsan]

Maura & The Paw,
The shower/vanity/toilet downstairs is not intended as a bathroom: it's an adjunct to the laundry. If you scroll up and read message #7 you will see what I mean.

"....rather than wasting the more expensive space on that room." Gasp! 'That room' is my beer brewing room! I need the space!
(Chi, who runs the washing machine almost on a daily basis, also happens to love a big laundry, and who am I to argue.)

"You could also make the entry larger with a small coat closet and chair or bench to sit down on."
I figured the enclosed verandah area would take care of this aspect: If I invited visitors inside, I'd take them through to the living area.
If they're good friends, I could even leave the kitchen door open. For very good friends, I could raise the shutter over the bar area.
(BTW Those barstools would bring a child up to counter height.)

There's no defined sewing room: There is just a large living area where the space can be used as required.
The garage/workshop would be designed to be used for many purposes, I guess more like a studio. e.g. painting, pottery, leadlighting, etc.

Most doorways on this floor can accomodate a wheelchair, so crutches wouldn't be a problem. Hmm..Guess some ramps to fit over the steps might be a good idea.

The plan can be mirror reversed, but in my case the way I have it now fits in with other plans.

After being woken by sunlight pouring in through my upstairs bedroom window, I will descend to the reasonbly lit but non blinding kitchen to make myself some coffee, then proceed out to the deck to gaze at my kingdom while I drink it.
Before the sun has risen too far however, I should be out checking the critters, and getting stuck into the work that always needs to be done before it gets too hot. (Lunch is from 1 to 2 p.m., and siesta from 2 to 3 p.m.) A few more chores, then he evening should find me, possibly with a cold home-brew in hand, listening to the birds and enjoying the sunset.

[Selena]

Originally Posted by Jim S.

If it were mine, I would put the master BR on the first floor, unless you plan to move again before then. As you get older, walking up those steps will get harder. Not having a first-level master is the #1 reason for resales of 2-story homes as the owners age. Almost all modern plans offer one.

We bought a 1 1/2 story cape-cod style house. One of the main floor bedrooms become more space in the bathroom (with a wheelchair accessible sized door) and a walk-in closet ("dress-in" is a new term to me). 2 closets were removed in the master bedroom as were 2 hall closets removed. This gave the master bedroom more space and again, wheelchair accessible. The upstairs is only used when the kids are home from college. Basically we have a 1400 sq.ft. ranch for when the day comes we don't do stairs well.