Tract House #3A

This design lived on the Works In Progress page for more than a year. I can't really say what was stopping me from completing it other than a few things in the design that I didn't particularly like. Sometimes you just need to sit on something awhile until the inspiration strikes you.

I changed just two things about this design (from where it had been just a few short months ago). First, I changed the exterior color from a pinkish hue to a more stolid gray, and changed the roofing material to a darker gray. Both of these are an improvement. Secondly, I made the master bath a little larger and moved a couple of closet doors into better positions. Now I am more (or less) satisfied.

Do you notice the tallish fir tree in the backyard? Ever notice before that trees cast no shadows? Look at some of the other designs to see that they don't. Well, this tree isn't a flat image like all the others. This tree is an object, and blocks the light. It's no big deal, I just thought it was a neat addition.

Also notice the houses on either side. These are pre-built models included with the CAD program, so I decided to show this house alongside its neighborhood brethren. And I also decided to put a fence around the back yard, at the risk of obscuring parts of the house.

The Front

The Rear

Some things worth noting:

• The kitchen and informal dining space is one I particularly like. The kitchen is small, yet with the capsule-shaped island, there should be plenty of space to work.
• I put ceiling-height built-in cabinets in the informal dining and formal dining rooms.
• The living and family room areas are plenty large. I decided to put a TV in the family room, but others may find a better arrangement in the living room. Perhaps the TV could be put against the north living room wall.

On the second floor (below), you might want to note the following:

• The master bath has a nice tub arrangement. I like this much better than what I had before. I did not place a shower enclosure--I figured a shower curtain would work just as well. I also did not place a shower head. Use your imagination.
• The master bedroom has one large closet, and one small closet. Initially I had two closets of more-or-less equal size, but sacrificed one of them to make the master bath larger. I merely moved the linen closet ... and there we have it!

And here we have it: the night shot.

Here we are looking toward the "east".

This image is shown from inside the front door.

Here we are in the vicinity of the futon, looking toward the kitchen and informal dining. Of course, those are stairs leading upstairs.

We walk into the informal dining area and look toward the kitchen.

We walk toward the back door and see the rest of the kitchen. That's the formal dining room beyond through the doorway.

Standing in the doorway to the formal dining room, we look back toward the kitchen and the informal dining area.

We walk into the living room and look toward the front door.

Now upstairs, we walk into the master bedroom. The office nook is to our back. That's the master bath door on the right; closet on the left.

From over in front of the closet doors, we look back toward our office nook. See, there is plenty of room for a desk.

Here we are in the master bath. Note the shelves within reach of the tub.

And we end our tour from the vicinity of the toilet, so we can see the twin sinks in our master bath.