Assortment

On Shelter | 2

  

 

 Shelter No. 2 follows a similar layout and design as Shelter No. 1, save for a few key changes. From the covered front porch, you enter the house through the front door into the great room, just as in Shelter 1 that I described for you in my previous post. The living area, dining space, and kitchen are just as you would find them in Shelter No. 1.

 

Over the kitchen window, on the exterior, is an awning trellis for your favorite vine to grow over. If your thumb isn't green, the awning can be roofed to match the main roof of the house, providing shade for the window and visual character. (Shelter 1 has this trellis awning as well, I just forgot to mention it!)

 

 

 

 

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As you enter the stair hall, in Shelter 2, instead of a half bath tucked under the stairs, you'll find a cushioned reading nook below an oval window with recessed shelves and a sconce on the wall to light your book. Next to the reading nook is a built-in cabinet for your stacked standard-size washer and dryer.

 

Across the hall from the reading nook and laundry closet are two doors. One is a coat closet, the other leads to a full bath. This bath takes the place of the mudroom with its rear entry that was in Shelter No. 1. Provision for its absence is found with the hall itself doubling as the mudroom of sorts (as does ours), but this one with the nook seat (and its drawer underneath) on one side of the hall and the coat closet on the other. Additional storage for outerwear is provided for at the top of the stairs in the wardrobe on the landing (much like ours).

 

The full main floor bath has a high window above the tub/shower that lets light in. The toilet is around a partition at one end of the tub and the sink is around a partition at the other end. There's a built-in wardrobe with interior shelves along one wall. 

 

The master bedroom and bath remain the same as in Shelter No. 1. 

 

The stairs leading to the loft are of standard width and rise, as I described for Shelter 1. The landing at the top has the wardrobe as mentioned, and the whole room is flooded with light coming from the bank of windows in the dormer. 

 

 

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Double barn doors lead off the landing into the first bedroom with its two curtained twin extra-long bed nooks, each tucked under its own window, with bookcases flanking their ends. When open, the barn doors give a wide opening onto the landing, nicely expanding the size and functionality of this smaller room. 

 

At the end of the landing hall, you'll find a door that leads to the same larger bedroom with its three built-in bed nooks as described in Shelter 1. There is no bath on the second floor in this plan. 

 

Outside, you'll see the same built-in exterior storage at the back of the house, and the same 10' deep covered porch across the front as is described in Shelter No. 1.

 

 

So, in a nutshell, Shelter No. 2, has:

 

:: 1400 sq ft

 

:: three bedrooms

 

:: 2 full baths

 

:: sleeps 8

 

 

 

 

 

Mediterranean Landscape by Dallas Architects & Building Designers Stocker Hoesterey Montenegro

 

 

On Shelter | 1

 

So, these little houses. These houses that have covered porches, plank walls, exposed beams, and wood floors? These houses that have bed nooks, windowed bathrooms, and built-in wardrobes? These houses that are small, yet somehow large? I want to open the front door of each one and let you step inside (and share some photos that inspired along the way).

Shall we?

Today, I'll walk you through Shelter No. 1, one of the two largest at 1400 sq ft, and the first due out. Here, you'll find the great room as you enter, with the living area directly in front of you, the dining area to your right, and the kitchen across the far end beyond that. Unbroken sightlines give the visual impression that the room is larger than it actually is.

 

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The ceilings reach to 9 feet, furthering the illusion of an abundance of space. Exposed beams run across the span of the ceiling, providing visual interest.

 

Influenced by the floorplan of our cabin, you'll notice a similar windowed bump-out in the living area for the sofa, as well as one in the dining area for the banquette. In the kitchen, you'll find that the design is similar to ours, only a bit larger, providing for a dishwasher and a recessed coffee station with a four-bin recycle center below. Look here for a description of the exterior awning trellis that shades the kitchen window. In the living area, there is a built-in bookcase, like ours, but modified to hold a television, if desired. 

Leaving the great room and entering the stair hall, you'll find that the stairway to the second floor is of a standard width and rise - nothing steep here. Because I wanted these houses to be built wherever you might live, we followed the International Building Code in its design, which required the standard stair for second floor bedroom access.

 

 

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Tucked beneath the stairway is a windowed half bath. Across the hall from the bath is the doorway that leads to the mudroom and rear entry, with its covered stoop.

 

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The mudroom has provision for a stacking standard size washer and dryer - with extra shelves and storage beside - that fit neatly behind closed doors.

 

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Opposite from the laundry closet in the mudroom is a built-in wardrobe flanked by 'lockers' with coat hooks and bench seats with drawers beneath. 

At the end of the hall is the master bedroom, with its custom designed bed platform that has below-bed drawer storage, flanked by built-in wardrobes with recessed nooks in lieu of nightstands, similar to ours. The opposite two corners of the room also have built-in wardrobes, with a combination of drawers and shelves inside. There's room between them to tuck a desk in beneath a window.

French doors lead off the master bedroom into the master bath. As you enter, you'll find a double sink vanity in front of you, with a clawfoot tub to the right and the toilet tucked behind the door to the left. Light fills this room from four generous windows. The ceiling height changes in the private spaces of the master bed and bath, to a more intimate 8', providing a sense of comfort and enclosure.

Let's head back through the master bedroom, back through the hall, and take the stairs to the second floor...

Light floods the stairwell from the bank of windows in the dormer on the second floor. At the top of the stairs, there is a landing with a generous closet, whose doors are planked to match the walls. I should mention, too, that, although the second floor is tucked into the pitch of the roof, there is generous headroom with the ceiling heights at just under 7' at the exterior walls and just over 9' at the peak.  

 

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The first door off the landing leads to a small bedroom with a twin extra-long bed nook with drawers below, tucked beneath a window. Floor to ceiling bookcases flank each end of the bed, and there is provision for a rod and curtain to close off the bed nook for privacy. This little room also has a built-in desk nook, and a wardrobe recessed into the wall.

 

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The next door off the landing hall is a full bath. It has a standard size tub/shower, a toilet tucked around a corner, and three sinks. A perfect kid bath. So much light will flood this room from the window on the back wall. 

At the end of the hall is the last and largest bedroom. It, too, has built-in bed nooks tucked below windows along two sides of the room. Two of the beds are twin xl, the third is full-size. They have the same built-in drawers below the mattresses, and the same bookcases flanking the ends as we saw in the first bedroom. They, too, can have curtains that close. There are wardrobes built in and provision for a television and gaming/satellite equipment to be stored inside one of them. There is room below the bank of windows in the dormer for a long workspace, vanity, or desk. 

 

 

One of my favorite features may be the exterior storage that is built into the back side of the house. Like an exterior closet or locker, it could be used as a tool shed, as a larder, as a potting shed... oh, the possibilities!

 

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But I don't know, now that I think of it, the 10' deep covered porch is definitely vying for top spot. 

 

In a nutshell, Shelter No. 1 has:

 

:: 1400 sq ft

:: rear entry with mudroom

:: 2 1/2 baths

:: three bedrooms

:: sleeps 7

 

 

:: A note about heating and cooling: The heating and cooling systems are not typically specified in floor plans. This is something that you can talk about with your builder, who would be knowledgeable about recommended heating and cooling systems for your area. One thing that is a benefit with these plans, is that the homes are one room wide, therefore taking full advantage of cooling cross breezes if sited to catch prevailing winds. I never knew how I would love this about ours. 

 

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But First, Breakfast

 

And here is where I'm supposed to go into detail about these house plans, about the process, about what you might expect when you see them. But, oh, when your writing window of the morning is nearly closed already, and when the words are skittering out of sight like ferral cats, leaving you with nothing but punctuation marks to work with, all because there's this thing coming up called a 'plans release' and it's making you do all sorts of technical, internet-y things that are distinctly outside your realm of ability, and those things are eating up your time in big, slobbery gulps, it's just hard to get your head unstuck over there and plug it in here and make it sound intelligent.  

Boy.

Did that make sense?

And then all you want to do is knit that blue cowl you've been working on since mid-December. With earbuds in your ears, listening to this. 

But, at least I get to go out to breakfast this morning. Seeing as how it's Wednesday and all. Different boy, different parent, each Wednesday, at the Branding Iron. 

How's that for the name of a restaurant in Wyoming?

We'll be there, that oldest boy and I, for our Branding Iron Breakfast. I'm not sure there could be a better time in the week for such and event. Right in the middle, just when you need a boost. When it's our turn, we spend the preceding days anticipating, carefully laying our plan for food, for drink, for which tiny jelly should be used on our toast first. We pre-select our order from the plastic menu in our minds.

When we arrive, there'll be the faithful gray-haired crowd, already assembled with coffee mugs half-drank, and one of them will look up and say, "It must be Wednesday." And we'll say yes and good morning as we cross the uneven floor and choose which slanted table to sit at this time, one by a window for sure. 

I'll order the #2, because that's what I always do - two eggs over-easy, hash browns with ranch dressing on the side, four slices of bacon, no toast. The boy of the day will order a BLT. I know. You never know what teenagers will come up with. I mean, the idea of switching breakfast for lunch? I shake my head. He said he's going the BLT route because their biscuits and gravy aren't nearly as good as mine. Heartmeltmoment. Then I reminded him that it's he who made the biscuits and gravy the last two times we've had them, so, technically, it's his own cooking he's in love with. 

He'll pound the BLT, then want another, I'm sure of it. Because the first one was just an appetizer (and now we're talking about appetizers for breakfast, oh my).

And we'll talk about whatever. Probably about running and the first indoor track meet that's coming up, and the track spikes he just bought with his own money (we won't mention the replacement spikes that he unknowingly ordered from the UK, that are coming by Royal Mail from across the pond). I'm sure we'll talk about the fact that he now carries that hard plastic card in his wallet, the one with his picture on it that he somehow thinks gives him permission to drive that Jeep to practice and back. Yeah, that. He comes home every evening with a grin stretched clear across his face. 

And we grin back when he walks through the door, his dad & I, relieved that he's home in one piece, because just moments before, we were serious parents - brows stitched up tight, checking clocks and watches every 2 seconds, looking out the window for round Jeep lights every three (even though he's not late), going over the emergency contingency plan in our heads, following the road he drives in our minds, noting those tricky spots where the snow tends to drift, where the corners are sharp (parents of first-time drivers, you know what I mean). Then, he walks in the door all smiles, and we're suddenly all smiles, too, and he has no idea how many deaths we just died while waiting for him to come home. 

Friends, there's a whole lot of day ahead. 

But first, breakfast.

 

P.S. That picture there? It has nothing to do with Branding Iron Breakfasts. It has everything to do with winter, and a mountain river, and an afternoon of spontaneity. I told all about it on Instagram yesterday.