I notice one aspect is contrary to what I think of as the conventional (but not necessarily the best) layout of similarly sized abodes. That is your placement of both bedrooms on the ground floor, and the kitchen and full bath upstairs.
Thanks for the critique, Theo. This is the kinda stuff I am looking for. If Rockytopper ever checks back in, he can supply the kooky commentary.
There are a number of reasons for this layout...
This structure will eventually be (mostly) abandoned if/when the real house is built. It will ultimatly become a full time garage. When that occurs, the 2 bedrooms (or at least 1) will be converted into guy-space to complete the full function of the 1st level as a garage. The upstairs will have 2 potential fates: a) leave as is, provide a sleeper/sofa, and it is a guest house b) gut it also and my woodshop goes up there. Anyway, having all the plumbing and kitchen stuff upstairs makes this the easiest conversion process and provides the most options down the road.
Another reason, and this is likely the bigger. All of our waking hours of pond enjoyment will be spent in the kitchen and living room. Being elevated and directly attached to an elevated balcony will provide a substantially improved view of the pond.
Finally, it provides distinct separation between sleeping and living quarters.
Is it ideal?...nope, but it's the best I could come up with and still have as many goodies and elbow room as I could squeeze out of it. For instance, I never thought I would put a powder room underneath a set of stairs, but it works. This entire thing is like designing a travel trailer; best use of space.
Also, I see the woodburner upstairs in the "great room" but do not see space allocated for any other utilities (furnace, hot water tank, water softener, etc.). Where are you planning to put stuff like that? In the garage area, crawlspace, ???
...details, details
The woodburner upstairs is a "must" for heat and I really want it to enjoy the ambiance in the living space. Downstairs is a bit of a conundrum, as you note. I am leaving that decision open for development as we proceed. So much of that depends on whether or not we actually can afford to pull in the utility power. If we do (and I truly hope we can afford to do so), then the geothermal thread will be hatched and we are on our way to heating the bedroom zone (or, at least zonal space heating with electric base board...or....radiant heat from the slab)
The utility stuff will work into the garage area along the wall opposite the overhead doors. The inside dimensions from the OH doors and the opposite wall is 27'; plenty of room to frame in a small utility room. It will also be on the side of the structure that will face the future house, thereby putting the utilities (elec, water, septic) on the best wall for entrance/exit.
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OK, your turn...
