The House Plan...



View From The Mobile



The 10acre property we plan to build on is located in a mountain valley just east of Mission, B.C. and is surrounded by mature hemlock and cedar trees.  A river at the end of our quiet street flows down from Cascade falls and makes for a great place to cool down on hot summer days...  It's a somewhat secluded setting and we wanted to build a house that would fit the surrounding landscape.  We originally had planned for a log house but the building cost didn't suit our budget and while it certainly would fit the landscape, I think we would have grown tired of not having flat walls. 





After spending what seemed like a ridiculous amount of time on the internet we came across a site http://www.antiquehomestyle.com/ that had scans of mailorder houses from the early 1900's.  Companies like Sears-Roebuck and Harris Bros. of Chicago designed and sold craftsman style homes to much of the U.S. and Canada in the early part of the last century and after studying some of the designs, we decided an old craftsman-style farmhouse would be a perfect match for our property and lifestyle... actually, after living in the mobile for 5+ years, just about anything would have fit the bill but we really did like the looks of what we saw.  We now had a basic idea of what we wanted and as chance would have it, on a weekend trip to visit the parents, we came across a house in Ladner that had great visual appeal to the exterior.  We snapped a photo and spent the next week drawing the interior layout on graph paper and then it was off to the plan design company. After we got the first draft back from our designer, two things were apparent: first, we weren't quite on the same page yet, and second, modern renditions of craftsman style houses have lost many of the small details that give them their distinct style.  What was suppose to have taken 3 weeks turned into 15 weeks as we revised the plans over and over, trying to finalize a floorplan that really made sense for us as well as include all the exterior features that would give the house the character we wanted.  We think the time and effort was worth it, but that said, are still a bit nervous of what we've designed...












Front Elevation

 



Elevated Deck & Walkout Basement on Right Elevation

T