Design Session Six

This morning, Wes came to Westport as he had business in Greenwich.  After Brie got her barking out of the way, we sat down at the dining room table and went through the latest drawings.

This first drawing of the main level now has the screened in porch back in.  We may not build it right away, but will certainly add it and it may be part of the initial build.  Wes has also taken out some of the complexity on the left side of the house, adding a little room and reducing some cost as the foundation will be simpler.

On On the second floor, not much has changed with the exception of the left hand side, where Dormers and Window Seats are now larger and since the ceiling will extend to the roof line, Wes has added another set of windows above the original two. We'll see that in the elevation drawings.

Although the basement has not changed, it's worth spending some time on it as we certainly did in the discussion today. The basement will generally follow the grade, with a Crawl Space on the right side, then a normal basement (from a height perspective) in the middle, followed by a high ceilinged basement on the left side. After going back and forth on the type of support we would put on this left side, we decided that it was OK for the columns to stay as we would want to divide up the space. Allowing this reduces the cost of the support structure.

The main area on the left will house a social area with a pool table and my office area when we decide to finish it, and will have space for another bedroom, but that's just for resale value. In the middle area, there will be lots of storage, a future bath and a future sauna. The Sauna discussion was interesting as it was the first Kim heard about it. I've now learned to use the term 'Future' as a way to introduce some things into the house design (or any part of our marriage, really).

During the conversation we discussed where the wine storage, aka 'future' wine cellar would be. I think we ended up with it in the middle section, but I may push for it entering the main area on the left along the front wall so it can be part of that room.

Next we got to look at all four elevations. This was exciting as we had only seen a front elevation in the past sessions.

The re-worked front elevation has changed somewhat, in that it is now in proportion to the floor plan drawings.  There was no reason for Wes to spend much time on the elevations until this week as we kept growing or shrinking the footprint every time we met.  The other element that this now shows is a more modest covered front porch; cleaner, but with some rustic feel.

The two side elevations are very interesting. The walk out basement is on top (or on the left depending on your browser), and we discussed sliding doors (which the drawing shows) versus French doors. We're still not sure which is best. You'll notice above the basement doors is a small overhang and some detail work designed to break up the height of the wall. We really love this idea as our Skillman house always look akward from the back due to the walkout and high elevation.  Also, here you can see the second set of windows on the top floor to let in more light.

The right side elevation (which is either on top or on the right depending on your browser) may look a little squashed on the lower level, but remember, it's built into a hill, so is actually into the grade. On the right side of this elevation you can see the Screened in Porch as well as the 'future' covered terrace.

Another interesting discussion on the side elevations was the introduction of four skylights. Wes added them as Kim would really like the light they bring, but they do come with some drawbacks; mainly cost and potential maintenance.  Wes also feels that they may bring in too much light in an already well lit room leading us to put some sort of blinds on them. Hmmm ... skylights with blinds .... thinking about that one.

The rear elevation shows the expanse of windows in the Great Room as well as the level Terrace area giving way to a gradual slope down toward the walk out.  We'll be using 'thin stone' as well as landscaping to try to take some of the focus on the height of the house on the right side.