Business of Building

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DESIGN

When it is time to designnew product for a community, manybuilders go in search of the perfect plan— something already out there. Theyshop the competition, search the Web orask their marketing consultants to pull atrick from the hat.

But, alas, what builders often find isthat homes fall into one of two cate-

gories: those that have great design fea-tures but are way too expensive to buildor those that are cost-effective to build,but risk putting potential buyers to sleepwith their lack of creativity.

Great design and practicality seem toexist in separate worlds. Frankly, I can-not understand why, but this is especial-ly true in homes under 2,500 square

feet. However, take comfort. There is aformula that allows these two worlds tomerge into one, resulting in a great-look-ing community and bottom-line success.

The focus must be, and continuallyremain, on design fundamentals such as

� value design� architectural design� elevation design.

Designing the Under-2,500-Square-Foot HomeGreat design and affordability are not mutually exclusive, even in a small home. Here’s how tocreate a great-looking community, while keeping costs firmly under control.

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Sunrooms are a popularoption that enhances thebottom line.

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Combine practical features with stylish features to create great design. Herethe garage opens to a service corridor, the basement is accessed from thekitchen and ample storage is provided by the pantry and generous closets.Then wow them with a two-story foyer, an angled bay nook and a kitchenisland.

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>> BY CHERYL O’BRIEN, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

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Value DesignWhenever I talk to builders about designing smaller

homes, the discussion revolves around three main top-ics: cost, cost and cost. Sure, we discuss how to fit 10pounds of design features and closet space into a 5-pound box, but the conversation always comes back tothe bottom line. The bottom line is the beginning, mid-dle and end for most builders, so it makes sense to findthe right approach to achieving great design while keep-ing cost firmly in mind.

We are price-per-square-foot challenged in smallhomes, but you can deliver more bang for the buck if youknow ahead of time where to spend the money. So let’sbegin by dispelling one of home building’s favoritemyths — the notion of “Value Engineering.” I think theofficial definition is:

Design creative house. Complete construction docu-ments. Receive bids. Management freaks at cost.Estimating strips all marketable features to save money.Sales people cry for their features back so they can sellthe home.

Certainly, this is crazy! Give up the notion of valueengineering and adopt the idea of value design. A small-er home must incorporate construction efficiencies rightfrom the beginning. This does not mean sacrificingdesign; it means just the opposite: consciously planningto spend dollars where they count the most — where thebuyer will see and touch it.

The compact 1,600-square-foot, two-story colonialpictured here opens with a lot of drama. Buyers enterinto a two-story foyer and immediately see an interestingstair and a large great room. More first views include thefireplace, a through-the-house vista via the rear wall ofglass and a glimpse into the dining room. The buyer isimmediately immersed in great design!

The walk upstairs offers a little fun with the angle inthe stair, and the climb is rewarded with ultimate livabil-ity features — great bedroom sizes, no wasted space anda master bath with an oversized tub/shower combina-tion.

From the street, buyers see an appealing traditionalelevation and strong curb appeal: brick, detailing aroundthe windows, dentil molding and the coveted front porch.(See “Elevation Design”, page xx.)

The key to the success of this house? It is straightfor-ward and cost-effective to build. It is the good old box,turned sideways, with the basic framing only interruptedby the stair. The money was spent only to create a designfeature.

Build a better box. Minimize foundation jogs, usestandard lumber lengths and a minimum of differentwindow sizes, and spend the saved dollars where theycount the most. Don’t know where to begin in decidingwhat counts? Ask your sales people. They know where tospend your design dollars.

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Architectural DesignIf you don’t believe good design matters, take a look at these

two center hall colonials. The rooms are in the same place, butwhich house do you want to try to sell?

In the first plan, you walk in the front door, see into the liv-ing room and dining room, view a traditional basic stair andenjoy light from the foyer window above. Then you squeezepast the coat closet to arrive in the open, light space.

In the second plan, you open the front door and getoverwhelmed with a feeling of spaciousness and light. Aninteresting stair catches your eye, but your eye quickly trav-els beyond it to the rear wall of glass in the family room.Unobstructed views into the open spaces surround you.Light from every window pours into the center of thehouse.

Design does make a difference, even in a cost-effective box.The key to gaining consistent results is understanding how toachieve that good design. The three fundamentals of architec-tural design are:

� views� flow� light.Buyers should have a minimum of four to five initial-

impact experiences. Creating multiple views delivers a spa-cious feeling. Make sure there are views into several rooms —to architectural features like stairs, columns or niches — andunobstructed views through the windows to the world beyond.

Have some fun. Turn a trick stair on a 45-degree angle. (Atrick stair is a stair with an entrance from the foyer and therear.) Here you achieve multiple benefits: practicality and adynamic architectural feature. The stair positioning draws theeye straight to the view of the family room rear glass wall.

Rooms may have distinction, but the spaces should be openand flow together. Define rooms with flooring changes, creativeceiling treatments or decorative columns — not by enclosingthem with walls. Traditional buyers want well-defined rooms,but keep the feeling of open space alive. Spaces should relatewell to one another and always share light. Naturally flowingfrom room to room will make the home feel larger than it is.

Continue the experience of views and flow throughout thehome. Keep the fireplace off the family room rear wall. Any

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time you stop the eye with a wall, you immediately end theexperience of the space. The mind cannot imagine that theroom feels any larger than it is because the wall defines thelimit of the space. A wall of glass allows the room to flow intothe outside space beyond.

Light, and lots of it, completes the picture. Bombard thespaces with natural light to make them come alive. Mosteveryone is intrinsically attracted to sunshine, so you need touse that to your advantage. The architecture or merchandisingfor a given structure may not exactly reflect an individualbuyer’s style, but the feel of light is everyone’s style.

Create the drama and back it up with strong livability fea-tures. Don’t skimp on closet space, tuck in a butler’s pantry,provide a kitchen island with an eating bar or make a garden-style tub/shower a standard feature in the master bath.Minimize the amount of circulation space by allowing spacesto flow together, freeing up enough space for the conveniencefeatures required to make the sale.

Narrow lots create a host of challenges but can be handledcreatively by sticking with the fundamentals. One trick is to getpast the garage depth creatively and allow the house to openup behind it. In the 40-foot-wide plan pictured here, the foyer

is compact and well-defined, but the fundamentals of creatinginteresting views, room flow and plenty of light still apply.

From the foyer, buyers see the free-floating stair and aninteresting drywall niche. The house opens before them withviews into the dining room and the round columns that defineit. Their eyes continue on through the family room and therear wall of glass.

All the public spaces flow into one another, with the only hall-ways being into the private bedrooms. Finally, an abundance ofnatural light flows into every space. The impact of all these experi-ences makes the buyer forget that the house is only 40 feet wide. pr

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>> DESIGN

DESIGN INTERESTING VIEWS to adjacent rooms, and create viewsfrom the rear rooms back to the front.

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ElevationDesign

Traditional exteriors still are coveted inmany parts of the Mid-Atlantic andMidwest. Buyers want their homes toresemble the traditional neighborhoodswhere they grew up. To entice buyers tochoose the convenience of new construc-tion, builders need to create the look ofold, well-established neighborhoods.

The critical fundamentals to masterin elevation design are:

� scale� detail� color.Giving presence to a single-story

home can be challenging, but stick withthe fundamentals, and you will succeed.Give the elevation more significant scaleby varying plate heights and addingreverse gables to break up long stretchesof roof. By creating a 12-foot-tall frontwall and a long porch with windowsabove, this 1,400-square-foot modelcommands attention.

Make elevations shine with details.Window trim should be substantial andadd presence to the home. Stucco win-dow heads should be 8 inches to 12 inch-es tall and at least 1 inch in depth. Bandsaround windows should be roughly 6inches wide. Make sure the frieze boardsare kept in the budget! A house withoutfrieze boards is like a woman withouther jewelry. They are essential to estab-

lishing a refined look.Spend some money at the entry, the

part of the exterior buyers see up closeand touch. Front porches are very popu-lar and should be well-detailed.Preformed round columns are reason-ably priced and elegant, and that friezeboard is critical. If the budget allows,consider using standing seam metal ona porch to add an upscale, finished look.

Borrow ideas from high-end tradi-tional exteriors to give scale to yoursmall, two-story homes. Traditional colo-nial homes have height above the sec-ond-floor windows — so the windowsdon’t feel squashed under the eaves —and beautiful traditional frieze details.Emulate this grand scale by utilizing araised-heel truss and a molded-millworkdentil frieze board. Now you haveallowed room to add headers above thesecond-floor windows.

Windows of old had molded trimaround them, with shutters that couldreally close. You never saw shutters adja-cent to multiple mulled windows. Don’tuse shutters as trim; the mind just does-n’t register them as real. Use trim atwindow groups and shutters only onsingle windows.

Other fine details include rake over-hangs that give depth and shadow, a rakefrieze, and 5 inches of corner trim. Use10-inch to 12-inch tall preformed win-dow heads, not the wimpy 6-inch tallpieces. Create raised brick details aboveboth the first and second floor windows.A louver that actually is surrounded by

brick, instead of stuck on top, will addthe final touch.

Finally, color is critical. By all meanshire a professional to help with colorselections. Bad color combinations candestroy an otherwise good elevation,whereas good color combinations actu-ally can hide some sins. Use traditionalcolors in traditional neighborhoods.This is not the place to start experiment-ing with the latest trends.

Now that you have added all the greatdetails, use color to show them off. Awhite trim against a rich tan siding or adeep green shutter against a tumbledred brick feels luxurious. Paint thegarage door the same color as the sidingso that it disappears into the overall look.Save that contrasting color for the frontdoor, where you want to draw the atten-tion. After all, the only way to get buyersto see the exciting interior design fea-tures is to get them to come through thatdoor. PB

CHERYL O'BRIEN is president, owner and principalof C. O'Brien Architects Inc., an architectural bou-tique in Bala Cynwyd, Pa. You can reach her atcherylobrien@cherylobrien.com

Business of Building>> DESIGN

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Small homes demand a commitmentto using upscale details to create astrong community look. Design mod-els with diverse massings to createvariety. Create a cohesive communityby utilizing consistent details.

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