Monday, January 17, 2011

Sloping Sites

Our unique house plans include this selection of home designs for construction on a sloping lot. Our hillside house plans provide an excellent opportunity to use the basement as a garage or to provide a walk-out patio from the basement level. The house plans below are specifically designed as hillside house plans for sloping lots.


Island Cottage Basement Foundation

Available in 2,058 sf or 2,470 sf sizes, plus basement square footage
The Island Cottage House Plan is a playful, coastal cottage getaway with a wrap around porch, roof decks and a roof-top observation loft. The basement version is designed for a sloping lot.


The Mountain Cottage is a variation of the Island Cottage and illustrates one of the many customizations of this versatile plan. In this example, the Mountain Cottage is built into the side of a hill which slopes down to a large lake providing wonderful views.


The Country Cottage has all the amenities of a larger house designed in a compact space. The basement version provides a rear drive-in garage in the basement which works well with a hillside sloping lot.


The Hip Cottage Basement Option extends living space into a basement with access to an outdoor patio which blends this house into a sloping lot.  It is compact, yet has all the features that make for comfortable living including a separate laundry room, large closets and kitchen opening into the living spaces. 


The Plantation Cottage draws upon the southern, coastal, low country vernacular and features large, wrap-around porches and a full basement. Designed for a sloping lot, it provides for a side drive-in garage in the basement of the house.

Monday, December 13, 2010

The Country Cottage

The Country Cottage has all the amenities of a larger house designed in a compact space.  We have four versions of the Country Cottage.


This Country Cottage layout, designed for efficiency and livability, also has special features such as a wrap-around porch and a walk-out roof deck. A light-filled window bay extends the floorspace of the front bedroom.  Included are 4 bedrooms, 3 baths and a screened porch.  The result is a practical, attractive cottage suitable either for a vacation getaway or a primary residence.

 
This Country Cottage layout is also designed for efficiency and livability, with special features such as a wrap-around porch and upstairs master suite.  A light-filled window bay extends the floorspace of the front bedroom and an attached (2) car garage provides added convenience. The result is a practical, attractive cottage.



This Country Cottage basement plan works well with a sloping lot.  A large basement, downstairs laundry and extra room adds to its liveability. The features include a cathedral ceiling in the living room and a light-filled window bay in the front bedroom. The result is a practical, attractive cottage suitable either for a vacation getaway or a primary residence.


This Country Cottage layout provides lots of space for a big family including a recreation room and workshop on the ground level. The home is elevated above the ground level giving optimal views to water or other natural features. The drawings provide for an ICF (concrete/foam block) wall system.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Island Cottage Interior

We often get asked what the Island Cottage looks like on the inside.


To answer that, here are some interior pictures from a recent client.  Please note that the client has added some elements that are not in the standard construction document set.


The front door opens to the living room.  It is a wonderful gathering space with plenty of room for furniture.  The fireplace provides a focal-point for the room.


This is a view of the living room as seen from the dining room.  The abundance of windows provide a light and airy space.  The transom windows help to accentuate the 9 foot ceilings.


This picture was taken looking from the living room to the dining room.  As you can see, the wall of windows provides a panoramic view of your surroundings.  This is a wonderful feature if your lot is on a lake, ocean or any other beautiful location.


The dining room has plenty of space for a large table for entertaining.  Yet, it is also a perfect place for your family to share a meal while enjoying your surroundings. 


The dining room is right off the kitchen, making for easy serving access.


This is the kitchen as seen from the living room.  The kitchen is open to the living room and dining room, extending the views and creating an open floor plan.


This is the entry into the kitchen as seen from the front door.  Personal touches such as the selection of accent lights create a truly individualized space.


This picture shows the kitchen base cabinets and tall dish cabinet beyond.  There is plenty of storage and countertop space for all your essentials and non-essentials.  This client chose butcher block countertops with beadboard cabinetry, but the cabinets and counters are fully customizable to your tastes.


From this view you can see the gas range and sink.  The window provides more natural light and a view into the screened porch beyond.


The second floor is accessed via stairs near the front door.  The stairs open to the living room on the right allowing natural light to flow freely between levels.  The spiral staircase to the Observation Room is seen while ascending the stairs.


This picture is of the master bedroom before the final paint coat was applied.  As you can see, the ceiling height varies because the roof slope that gives the Island Cottage its distinctive exterior appearance is expressed in the second level ceiling.  Yet, there is ample ceiling height so that one would not hit their head.


This client combined the two bedrooms upstairs to create a master suite with a sleeping area and a sitting area.  This picture is taken from the sitting area (Bedroom 2 on the standard plans) looking into the sleeping area (Master Bedroom on the standard plans).  The glass door and windows not only allow light to come in, but also provide access to a private roof deck perfect for taking in the surroundings or watching the sunset.


This is a picture of the finished sitting area.  An adjustment to the standard floor plan has provided this client with the feature of an additional fireplace.  Again, the view is amazing from the windows.


This is a close-up of the client-added fireplace.


The Island Cottage is available with a crawlspace foundation, piling foundation and basement foundation to suite your site conditions.  It is also available in two sizes of heated area: 2,058 sf and 2,470 sf. 

Please see our Southern Cottages website for more information on the Island Cottage.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Modern Day Widow's Walk

A few months ago we posted an article about the origin of the popular architectural feature called a widow's walk.   Now we would like to highlight some of our home plans that feature a modern day widow's walk.

Some of our Widows Walk House Plan Designs incorporate a roof-top windowed cupola or "widows walk", which we refer to as an observation loft, accessed via spiral stair from the second story hallway. This observation loft is a great place to glimpse a distant view, to survey the landscape or to find a special place to read a book or to work on a project in your personal studio.

The Island Cottage

The Grand Island Cottage

The Mountain Cottage

The Grand Gazebo Cottage


Our other Widows Walk House Plan Designs feature a roof-top observation deck to provide a panoramic view and provide your own private sunbathing deck or gathering spot high above the crowd overlooking your neighbors roofline for a glimpse of the ocean or distant view.
The Lookout Cottage

The Porches Cottage


Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Top 5 Beach House Names of Topsail Island

The summer has ended and fall is in full swing.  We would like to commemorate the 2010 summer season with a Top 5 list.  There are a number of great beach house names to choose from, but we managed to narrow it down.

Top 5 Beach House Names of Topsail Island

5. Gritty Britches




An amusing name for a common situation after spending some time on the beach.


4. Sandcastle











A name reminiscent of a favorite beach activity.


3.  No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem

















A perfect description of the laid-back attitude of the beach.


2.  Summer Daze




















A great illustration of your state of mind as you sit and watch the ocean waves come in and roll out.




1.  Attitude Adjustment



      


















This name best describes what will happen to you as you spend time on the beach.



Honorable Mentions: 

All About the View


It's what everyone wants when they come to the beach.


Escape Hatch
 

Just like in the TV show "Lost", we all need an Escape Hatch once in a while.  What better place to escape to than the beach?


License to Chill

One more reason to sit back and chill out during your beach vacation.


If you like a beach house name that we did not mention, we would love to know it!  Please leave it for us in the Comments!

**All of these beach houses are available to rent and can be found on http://www.rentabeach.com/.**
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