tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19930872797656808742012-02-16T12:38:58.095-08:00designing & building a house out in the open internet.jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12030080170649084678noreply@blogger.comBlogger141100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1993087279765680874.post-5161634761265990382009-03-14T09:18:00.000-07:002009-03-14T11:23:53.906-07:00

Things are looking surprisingly doable with this piece of land. I've been cranking out lots of thoughts for the past few weeks, discarding many, and forming the remaining ones into somewhat of a plan. This piece of land is actually supporting many of of the things I had speculated upon in earlier postings, and you will see that these plans incorporate those concepts, as well as many others.The

jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12030080170649084678noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1993087279765680874.post-69020798928278684952009-02-10T10:37:00.000-08:002009-03-14T11:22:19.179-07:00

The extremely low price on this land is like the flowers I buy my wife after an argument... it would be much nicer if there wasn't a reason for it.The problem is that the lot slopes up steeper than the town allows a driveway to be built. The seller had started to remedy this situation by digging and removing dirt to lower the grade, but this obviously resulted in a driveway that is channeled much

jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12030080170649084678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1993087279765680874.post-64683697224312584912009-01-26T17:22:00.000-08:002009-02-10T10:30:54.079-08:00

That was not the greatest cliffhanger ending, but for those still following the show, it is back for another season.Over the past eight months while this blog has had no activity, I have in fact been doing two very important parts of production; making money and watching the real estate listings.Finally there appeared a piece of land in a perfect location, which filled our criteria, and fit our

jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12030080170649084678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1993087279765680874.post-62420906760572241002008-06-05T09:11:00.000-07:002008-06-05T09:47:13.733-07:00

I've looked over many pieces of earth for sale, but none attract me as much as the lot I posted about previously... that is until I found this wetlands map on the town planning & zoning website which doesn't make the lot look so pretty...Now, I walked the land with the Realtor, and it only really feels like wetland in a few small patches toward the bottom of the slope, and the lot has been

jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12030080170649084678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1993087279765680874.post-67403864425894787422008-05-21T17:34:00.000-07:002008-05-22T12:39:46.664-07:00

While I haven't posted for a while, I have looked at several pieces of land. One of them in particular has my attention because it is in the perfect location for me and my wife, and has a very low price tag. The cheap price is probably due to a substantial slope in the land down from the road. A real topographical study hasn't been done, but I sketched out some rough lines indicating the terrain:

jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12030080170649084678noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1993087279765680874.post-20807354567131657522008-04-24T13:04:00.000-07:002008-04-24T14:31:44.981-07:00

I scribbled out a little sketch showing the general concept I'm looking into:The idea is to find a site which allows for a private but open outdoor area to the south, shielded by the house whose "back" is turned to the road and the north winds.The glass explains much of the reasoning.The functions of glass windows/doors...goodbadView the beautiful outdoorsCan reveal unsightly thingsProvides an

jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12030080170649084678noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1993087279765680874.post-53106152795941224312008-04-18T09:22:00.000-07:002008-04-18T13:45:16.900-07:00

Determined that shape must make a difference, I mulled over the roof styles further, and I'm very intrigued with this one:Here are my reasons:SimplicityThe entire roof is a single face, which will make construction simple and inexpensive, maintenance rare, and runoff very manageable.The SunThis design favors one large wall over the other three, just as the sun shines from one cardinal direction

jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12030080170649084678noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1993087279765680874.post-43787305910091518722008-04-16T12:55:00.000-07:002008-04-17T08:24:29.886-07:00

I came up with this blog as a means to expose my thinking, and embrace critique. It has been extremely helpful hearing all of your comments. I realized though that I haven't communicated my lifestyle and values very well, which in turn has made it difficult for readers to contribute relevant direction. Before going further, I'm going to try to clarify some things, for you as well as for

jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12030080170649084678noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1993087279765680874.post-81910225272772731632008-04-11T12:14:00.000-07:002008-04-11T14:35:09.053-07:00

I had previously boiled the purpose of a home down to the simple "form containing livable space" definition. A key factor in a space's livability is in its protection from the elements. I've briefly mentioned considerations in protecting from the cold by reducing surface area and shaping the house around a cube, but a cube's flat top isn't the best way to to protect from precipitation, and

jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12030080170649084678noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1993087279765680874.post-56256405849786785932008-04-09T17:47:00.001-07:002009-01-26T16:49:35.398-08:00

I had raised the discussion over at GardenWeb and received some great practical critique of my thinking, and of this idea of a cube shaped house. Some of the mentioned drawbacks are:"Flat roofs leak easily""A box house isn't very appealing""Think about snow load""Other things (especially site) are more important than shape"Here are my current thoughts on each of these points:1. Flat roofs leak

jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12030080170649084678noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1993087279765680874.post-53269856812431994672008-02-22T22:29:00.001-08:002008-04-16T14:38:13.084-07:00

I spent the weekend sketching, most times beginning with 7 straight lines that resemble a cube in perspective. The question of how closely I should adhere to my premise that a cube is the "best" shape kept coming to mind. I had based this premise on a general understanding, but I now needed to run the mathematics to give me a scale on how advantageous the house geometry really is.This chart shows

jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12030080170649084678noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1993087279765680874.post-10623564836892896992008-02-21T07:56:00.000-08:002008-04-16T14:38:34.138-07:00

To begin thinking about a design, I am going to treat this blueprint as I would a painting - laying down the big strokes first so that I don't get caught up in the pores of the skin before marking out accurate proportions in the figure.In either case, I need to understand the purpose of my strokes before touching the canvas. I have boiled down the purpose of a house to this overly simple

jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12030080170649084678noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1993087279765680874.post-26999426744968508802008-02-20T16:05:00.000-08:002008-02-21T13:13:02.542-08:00

Since every person sees and lives in a different way, I understand that I need to direct this journey toward a central goal, which is of course to construct my "perfect house."Despite my use of the word "perfect", I am of course limited by money. Probably about 150,000 dollars of it for this structure that will house my wife, my many future kids, and myself here in the state of

jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12030080170649084678noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1993087279765680874.post-27064625512278861962008-02-20T12:31:00.000-08:002008-02-20T17:31:35.990-08:00

the OPEN-house projectMy wife and I are now starting the process of building a house. This blog will follow the project all the way through from conception to birth by:keeping the house experiences and thoughts open as a resource to otherskeeping our plans and ideas open to collaboration by the collective minds of people around the worldas we attempt to rethink the concept of a home by keeping an

jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12030080170649084678noreply@blogger.com3