Have you ever designed a place you or your guests would someday live in? This is my first time doing so. It's both fun and a little nerve-wracking. I could do something really stupid that I will later have to live with.
One thing I know I'm not doing is putting a bedroom where it needs an East facing window. East facing windows are the bane of my existence, especially in a place as high and flat as here. The sun starts coming up at around 5 am and doesn't go down fully until about 9:30. I don't want to be awakened by the sun each morning, or worry about a crack I accidentally left between the panes of the light-blocking curtains.
I also want all bathrooms to have windows that open. Why do people even design houses without bathroom windows that open?
Because I'm building off-grid and using a method called passive solar for a good portion of the heating, I have to have an all glass wall facing South. I don't want the refrigerator to fall within the space that gets that direct light, so that I'm not using electricity to cool a fridge that the sun is simultaneously heating. So I'm putting the kitchen on the north side of the cottage.
These are a few of my considerations as I design what is going to be a personal retreat rental.
What's in Your Design?
If you were designing a 500 square foot cottage for people to live in a week or two at a time, what would be important to you?
How would your design change if suddenly this became your own tiny house to live in as your normal home?
Assuming you can make out the rough sketch below, what would you change in my design to make it more fitting for you?
Let's design a cottage together!
Beautiful design to me. If I was to make that plan, close to the bed room which is in visitors area, I will add a book shelf for any one interested in reading some books or magazines and probably a computer for an e-library. Also the bedroom should be either divided or built separately should in case a person needs some privacy
Interesting ideas. You want to encourage reading and the internal life in your space. Lovely.
Yea, am including that because of recent I started appreciating books and when I mean books, i am not talking about school books alone but other books that relate to life.
My level of ignorance has greatly reduced because I read books and write ups which in a way or two has greatly assisted me.
Off topic
The team had a meeting yesterday which lasted for three hours.
Here is a post of some ideas that were brought upI need some contribution and ideas from you concerning the @steemminna project i told you some time ago.
https://steemit.com/charity/@steemminna/steemminna-team-meet-up-to-brainstorm-on-how-to-move-forward
What's your contribution and suggestion to the team.
love it!! this is one of the most fun parts!!! the talking natural homes page on facebook may also be of help to you. people throw ideas around concerning their natural builds and there are many people there with TONS of experience. i'm so excited for you! designing a home that fits your needs/desires/and the space you live <3
we're asking similar questions here as we think long term for the "bigger house" natural build that may happen as early as next year. so much to consider! the south facing passive solar is a huge element for us as well. i also want comfy nooks. The pattern language by christopher alexander i would like to also recommend. he is a genius architect who deeply understands and intuits the habitation of spaces, how humans feel in spaces... i plan on reading those patterns again and again so they seep into my consciousness as i design a future home!!
Thanks for the book recommendation and page. I'll take a look for sure. And congrats on your design project as well. It is fun to get to be creative in the design of one's spaces. I look forward to sharing the creation journey with you.
To me, being waken up early every day by natural seems amazing;)
I thought that when I wrote that. Some people may love east facing windows! But honestly, I'm exhausted every day and having to actually take naps just to make it through to dinner time. I just can't go to be early enough to wake up that early and still get enough sleep.
Yeah, that's definitely understandable. People are different and have different scheduals, so choosing a solution which puts you in charge of your own sleep is a great choice. Good luck with further planning!
Great job, @indigoocean. For a rough sketch it looks pretty good. It looks like my typical rough sketch. You probably already plan to, but I might suggest solar panels and maybe a wind turbine, if there is enough breeze, for electricity.
I couldn't quite make out the kiva, though. Wikipedia says they are square-walled, underground and used for spiritual ceremonies by the Hopi and Pueblo people. Not knowing much better, at first I thought it to be a couch in your sketch, as I used to have as couch in that shape ... :) If I'm reading it right, I would think being rounded like your sketch appears to make it would be better for spiritual/energetic reasons. Watch it be a fireplace or something... LOL
Just brainstorming a little, I did want to ask if they use basements in that area. Maybe that's one use of the kiva too. I think I recall your mentioning plans to build more than one cottage. I would at least consider adding a full (or semi) underground basement floor or at least a smaller wine/food storage cellar on the one you would use. Maybe a kiva (or portion of a kiva) could be used. I say this because basements are good isolation/protection from the elements.
They call them kiva's around here, but really they are adobe fireplaces. They are often made with a bench so that as the fireplace heats up, so do the seats you can sit on near it. I have one in my current rental that doesn't have benches and had a previous rental house that did have the benches, and prefer that. Here's a pic of my current one.
You can't see it, but at the bottom there is also a compartment for storing firewood.
The places here not only don't have basements, they don't even have crawlspaces! I've talked about this with a couple of natural builders, particularly in terms of being able to get to the plumbing without jackhammering the floor if something goes wrong over the decades. They say that there isn't enough heat retention if you do anything other than slab on grade.
I'm definitely doing solar. Probably won't do wind, because I don't want to listen to the turbine day and night. The heating is a combination of passive solar and hot water flowing under the floors in some parts of the house. Though for this smaller house, passive solar may be sufficient for the entire place.
Ok. Nice. That makes sense. I guess if there aren't many trees in the area, firewood would have to be shipped in. Thanks for sharing that.
There are a number of suppliers of firewood. I will probably have some in the cottage for the guests to use, though I've lost my interest in fires myself. In my last house I burned a lot my first year, then in the last couple years I think I maybe burned 3 fires total! Now I just use the fireplace here as a decorative area.
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