BEFORE THE ARCHITECT – BLUEPRINT HOME DESIGN CONSULTANTS

HOW TO SITE A HOME

There are times when AG and The Missus see a home design failure - inside, outside, some small point, some big 'uns - and there no telling what possibly might have gone on to have made it so.  The course of human life – individually and collectively - is curbed by its own excesses, to which excesses some are impelled and others propelled:  the Icarus syndrome; the insufficiently attentive to what had better be done to persist if not prevail and prosper; under-prepared; the aberrant and the perverse. Before The Architect

How do you handle the siting of the house on a lot?

Sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do . . .

            Depends on the lot and the home 

            Praise be, AG and The Missus are not civil engineers, licensed graders, landscape architects or anything else like ‘em

            Without exception in jurisdictions with formal authorities, AG and The Missus couldn’t opine much or extensively specify at all about topography and its design and decoration except for siting prescriptively and proscriptively

So what about the lot and the home?

Generally,

            Before The Architect sites to advantage views worth advantaging and disadvantaging disadvantageous views

            Before The Architect prefers to site with certain space – notably: interior spaces, such as Family, Living, Breakfast, and the like; exterior spaces, such as, patios, decks, whether covered or not, etc. – facing South ±30°

            When conflicts arise between these standards where each is effective, clients’ values control

            Sometimes, the lot itself  - covenants, easements, topography, etc. - or its neighborhood – community boards, not wanting to appear odd in context, etc. – modify or remove siting options or latitudes from serious contemplation

            So, too, might, though not often at all, a style or arrangement of interior or exterior space oblige siting – big porch, garage entry/exit, wing, and so forth

Expressly –

            A home siting northeast of Austin, TX was required by the lay of the development that was foregone on signing – no exceptions

            In Rancho Mirage, the house had to face the roadbed, period

            There’ve been some views to which to build, e.g., 200 miles from Alabama ridgetop into Mississippi, the same in all directions in northwest Arkansas, a to-die-for valley in Asheville, mountains out the backdoor and a major river out the front in eastern Washington state, magnificent riverfront in Maryland, Mt. Shasta in California, Mt. Rainer in western Washington state, Mt. Pisgah in North Carolina, etc.

            There’ve been some extraordinary limits to footprints, the toughest of which was AG’s layout in University City, MO with an infill whereat Before The Architect’s plans specified that the formwork be certified by a registered, licensed surveyor and explicitly accepted by abutters and the local building authority having jurisdiction before placement

            In the Mt. Rainier mention above, AG and The Missus jockeyed home and semi-attached, big garage structure along with parking and circular drive to best take in the mountain view, avoid as much as possible of the view of one neighbor several hundred yards away, and still stay within setbacks – all the while working to minimize grading given the obdurate substrates and an unevenly and steeply inclined topography.

            You see, it depends on home and lot 

Perspective

            Computers’ blessing outstrip their banes in unusual circumstances, one of which is the pervasive reliance on cybermapping by surveyors

            Language can be a toughie, especially if it’s an older version of Autocad, Autocad now being the surveyors’ standard cyberops

            Dimension settings and other display and working controls between surveyors and AG can be nightmarish, albeit so far always transitory

            Accuracy of footprint to actual site bars no holds . . . it’s as close to reality design as it gets without walking the lot         

Comment:  Whatever you do with your home building, please, please, please have an accurate survey the earlier the better and, furshur, before serious designing let alone building.

[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Curved Stair Design ] [ DESIGN STANDARDS ] [ Design Tidbits ] [ Graphics Gulch ] [ Green is Green? ] [ LA Shotgun House ] [ Plan Reviews ] [ Siting A Home ] [ US PERIODS GEM ] [ Working with SIPS ] [ Working with Others ]

 About Us ◊ jrp2h2000@yahoo.com ◊ 770-889-6964 ◊ Site Map

Before The Architect does not endorse any links.  Anything you do with any links is solely between you and them.

· · · · · · ·