"We truly love the Island Cottage"

We recently received an email from a couple in Texas who were interested in purchasing a second set of plans from our Southern Cottages House Plans website.

We truly loved the Island Cottage we built last time, and received so many compliments. The compliments we got that meant the most to us were the ones by all the contractors that bid on the home and worked on it. They stated how well designed it was, and sturdy. THEN... Hurricane Ike beat up all the homes near the Island Cottage, and yet she stood totally unharmed! Proving this house was well designed! So when it came time to build again, I could not even consider anyone else's plans. We are very excited!

Thank you,
Michelle


Here are some pictures of the Island Cottage Michelle built.

Thank you, Michelle, for your kind words and trust in our company.  We are happy to have customers like you!

Have you built one of our Cottages and love it?  Let us know by emailing us at mike@mcleodarchitectpa.com.

What is VOC-Free Paint?

VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compounds.  They are organic chemical gases that are emitted into our environment from a number of sources, such as carpet and cleaning products, as well as paint.  VOC's are released into the air as paint dries, creating the distinctive smell of a newly painted room. 

VOC's also contribute to your indoor air quality.  A study by the Environmental Protection Agency "found levels of about a dozen common organic pollutants to be 2 to 5 times higher inside homes than outside, regardless of whether the homes were located in rural or highly industrial areas."

They can have an effect on your health, too.  They contribute to headaches, dizziness, respitory problems,  immune system problems and more.

If you are worried about the health effects of VOC's or perhaps just do not want your house to have that lingering new paint smell, here are a few of the options available that are worth looking at:

• Sherwin-Williams has two lines of paint in their GreenSure program:  Duration Home Interior paint (low odor and low VOC formula) and Harmony Interior paint (low odor and no VOC formula).
• Benjamin Moore has a paint called Natura Interior paint, which is virtually odorless and has no VOC.  It has been named as one of the Top 10 Green Building Products by BuildingGreen, Inc.
• Home Depot carries Freshaire Choice paint, which has low odor and no VOC in the paint nor colorant.
• Lowe's carries Olympic Premium Interior paint, which has a zero VOC formula.

Stacey in our office used the Freshaire Choice paint when painting her baby's room.  She said there is a huge difference between using it and regular paint; the whole house did not smell like a room just got painted.  There is an odor while painting, but once she left the room she could not smell the paint at all.  A gallon of the low- or no-VOC paint does cost more than the other paints on the market, but it might be worth it to have breathable air after painting a room.

Have you ever heard of a Lego Architect?

Lego's are the construction toy that a lot of us grew up with.  We built houses, gas stations, airports and towers of as many Lego's we could stack on top of each other.  They came in many shapes and sizes to help you build whatever you wanted.

One architect, Adam Reed Tucker, has taken those pieces and used them to make replica's of famous buildings around the world.  Stacey from our office went to Washington, D.C. to visit the exhibit at the National Building Museum.

This is 11 of the 15 Lego models.  (l to r) Jin Mao Tower, St. Louis Arch, John Hancock Building, Empire State Building, TransAmerica Tower, Willis (Sears) Tower, Trump Tower, one of the World Trade Center towers, Marina City, 7 South Dearborn, and Chicago Spire.

The tallest Lego building at the exhibit is also the reigning tallest building in the world, Burj Kahlifa, in Dubai.  This Lego model is 18 feet high and made out of 450,300 Lego pieces!  That's a lot of Lego's!

These models are of the Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai, China, on the left, and Trump Tower in Chicago, on the right.  Most of the Lego models have windows made from clear Lego bricks, as you can clearly see on the Trump Tower model.

Stacey said one of the most interesting facts about the exhibit is that there is a section on most of the buildings where the wall has not been filled in.  This exposes a structural system on the interior of the models, similar to how an actual building has a structural system.  This model is the Jin Mao Tower.

This model is of the Chicago Spire, a highrise that was planned but has not yet been built.  This model is one of Stacey's favorites because of its height, design and the way that Tucker was able to construct the twisting of the spire.  Also, because of the design of the building, when the sunlight hits the clear Lego windows it shines in an intriguing way.

This picture is a close up of the John Hancock Building model showing the Lego pieces (actual building located in Chicago, IL).  It is interesting to us to see how Tucker constructed these models.

Not all of the models are of skyscrapers.  This is Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater.  This Lego model is quite large, with most of it being the topography (white Lego's) which sets the foundation for the house (tan Lego's).  This view of the model shows the detail that was put in to represent the exterior stone walls of the house.

Another of the low-rise models is this one of the White House.  It is not finished because Tucker is progressively building this model at the National Building Museum.

This is a close up of a pilaster on the White House model showing the detail that is included on the Lego models.

This exhibit is a two-part exhibit.  After the 15 Lego models, there is a big section of tables with a bunch of Lego pieces for the patrons to play with.  It attracts children and adults alike!

The Lego Architecture exhibit runs until September 5, 2011 and only costs $5 per person.  It is worth a visit if you are in the D.C. area.