Last Friday, Paul and I signed the contract and finalized the plans for our custom home. We have spent the past month going back and forth with the designer to create the design for our dream home. Our land is scheduled to be cleared on the 25th of this month. After they clear enough room for the house, we will walk through the property and decide which trees and foliage to leave on the rest of the property. Our house is on a corner lot and we chose to have the front of the house facing south. The next step is to dig for the basement and, we are told, it will only take 120 days to finish our entire house. Over the next few months we will be picking out every little detail. I can't wait!!!
We are very excited to share our final design with everyone.
*Click on the image for a larger view.*
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| Front View |
Our house is considered a cape style home because it is a story and a half high with a steep, pitched roof with end gables.
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| Left View |
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| Rear View |
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| Right View |
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| First Floor Layout |
Here is a detailed description of the layout of our house:
Basement:
we have included a full basement in our design that will be finished at a later date. There are two entrances to the basement, one in the garage and the other off of the main living area.
First Floor:
5 Bedrooms, 3.5 Bathrooms and 3 Car Garage
-The four bedrooms off to the right are for the kids and our guests. There are also two full bathrooms, so everyone has plenty of room to get ready in the mornings.
-The main living, kitchen and eating area is one open space. This was something that was at the top of our list to include in our design. We really want to be together as a family as much as possible and this space helps us achieve this. The living area has a cathedral ceiling and a large dormer on top that will make this room feel huge. There are stairs that lead up to a loft area that looks down into the living area. This is the only finished area on the second level for now.
-Our kitchen will include a large walk in pantry, something that I really wanted. We are planning on purchasing an all in one double oven/gas stove with range to the ceiling. Our island area in undecided until we meet with the kitchen designers, but we are hoping to fit another seating area there too.
-The left side of the house includes a half bath, laundry/mudroom, garage, master bedroom and bathroom. The half bathroom was important to me because it is close to the living area and also because I do not like the idea of guests using our personal bathrooms with our things laying around.
-The laundry/mudroom was another important part in our design. Considering the snowy weather here, we needed a room to get bundled up in before we went out and a room to take off all of our wet clothes and shoes.
-Our master bedroom and bathroom is something we are really excited about. In our room there is plenty of room for our king size bed, a 6'x6' walk in closet and a nook area that includes a bay window and seating area. Our master bathroom has his and her sinks with a lowered makeup area in the middle. Instead of a huge bathtub that frequently goes unused, we decided to design a huge 6'x5' open shower area that will include a built in bench, half glass block wall, two shower heads and rain shower head in the ceiling. Paul also fit in the most important thing to him...a walled in toilet.
Second Floor:
-Like I mentioned before, the only finished area on the second floor is the loft that overlooks the living area. There are two dormers over the kids bedrooms that complete the look of the house. The rest of the second floor will be pre-wired and plumbed for future bedrooms, bathrooms or other living areas as our family expands.
We hope you love our design as much as we do and we would love to hear what you think of our dream home!
