Update - Completed - Family Home with a Mountain View
If you read my April/May Newsletter you were left wondering how the project would turn out. That article details the troubles that were overcome in the early planning phase of the homebuilding undertaking, and also some of the challenges of building on the steep slopes found here in Western North Carolina. I tell more here about the product and showcase the beauty of the home and the site, plus give some follow up about the close out process. Keep reading please, we finished up there in late July and as you will see, everything went smoothly and the house turned out beautifully!
Our clients, a young couple with plans to start a family, had several key design points to accomplish. Besides creating space for a growing family, the final design was focused on the family's goals to incorporate the site's great southern view into the home's living space, providing space for future phases of work and, of course, keeping costs under budget.
Providing key elements of the family’s design within the budget required some innovation. The efforts to meet these two goals were baked in early in the initial design. Structurally the home incorporated only 4 corners in the main block foundation walls. Additional design interest was added using a cantilevered bathroom to break up the east wall elevation. Extending the vaulted ceiling over the front and back porches added design flair without increasing the foundation cost. Vaulted ceilings were accomplished by use of parallel chord trusses, allowing standard batt insulation and avoiding costly ridge beam and rafter construction.
As selections for finishes were made our homeowners did their part to keep costs under control. In spite of keeping their selections reigned in, you will see the house turned out with very nice looking finishes and well executed features. Natural three and a quarter inch oak plank floors (finished in place) grace all the main rooms. A uniform cost effective selection of 12x24 format porcelain tile is used in both bathrooms on walls and floors alike. Likewise, a simple subway tile backsplash with contrasting black grout was selected. The wood burning fireplace insert is dressed nicely with a thin brick hearth and topped with a solid fir mantle and corbels. One particular feature that the owners did choose to splurge on were deluxe walnut countertops and shelves from B Tree Hardwoods in Swannanoa.
In the first article, much was made of the additional design work required by the steep slope designation for this lot. In the end the work of those experts paid off. The site and geotechnical designers set the guidelines to meet (like buffer tree plantings required on the downhill side of the house), and the targets to hit (ex., maximum fill slopes for the yard around the house), in order to receive the approval of the county. So as I mentioned above we had no issues during the closeout process. As is usually the case, good value was received for the additional design cost incurred.
Congratulations to our clients, who kept the budget under control, met the bank's deadline, and welcomed their first child into their wonderful new home!
