A FL home building blog nearby

A friend forwarded us this blog found on the NYTimes.com. It is called Dream Home Diaries. They moved to FL to build their dream house. It doesn't hurt to write for the NY Times to help with exposure but I was interested in the comments. In light of the fact that no one visits our blog yet, I can't even defend all the mistakes we are sure to make in the process. So while reading the comments of the readers of Dream Home Diaries, I read every criticism I know is out there. The comments speak of "be sure to build green" and "aren't you worried that FL will be under water soon?" I do hope they build green but as far as the threat of global warming, we are going to go down fighting. I do agree with their sentiment- it is really beautiful down here and that was the point of this I think. This is their "About us" on the blog:"They've found an idyllic tiny town in Florida, they've bought a piece of land and now Paul B. Brown and Alison Davis are setting out to build their dream house. How hard can it be, they wonder, even though they live 1,500 miles away, they've never built a home before and they don't know anything about architects, builders, local zoning laws or financing? Chronicling their adventures on this blog for Great Homes, they are about to find out."

Southwest Elevation

Since we're off to the UK for Christmas we'll be back in the new year with gusto. We will miss FL and the thought of actually getting this house built. This is the house looking in from the water.

Site Plan

The house will sit by the lagoon. It is angled around to maximize the water view. It's down on the edge but if the sea levels do rise as expected we're doomed anyway. The Gulf sits right beyond Manasota Key which is an Island barrier. That is the only land between us and the Gulf of Mexico.

Ground floorplan

Under the house it will be open except for 2 storage areas. We are not going to pave anything for driveways. We hope to use shell or it may end up remaining grass for a while depending on budget.

The floorplan

This is the basic layout. The great room is split with indoor and open space by a fireplace shooting up through the middle. We hope to make that a feature. Slide away glass doors will close between the 2 spaces when the need arises. The sustainable design of the house allows sunlight to hit the right areas at the right time of the day. The design also caters to breeze patterns, air circulation etc. so we should not need to use AC and heat as often. Click on the picture to make it larger.

Northwest Elevation

This is the view of the other side of the house. The cars will park under the house. Although the scan came through slanted, the house will be straight, we hope.

Southest Elevation

This is the house from the side looking in on the guest suite. It's actually a third bedroom but it is separate from the rest of the house. I got the idea from the Edison Ford Estates. They had a room off to the side where you had to walk outside onto the porch to get to the room. The large hatched area is the screened open space. The roof on the open space flows together as part of the main roof.

New house elevations

Hopefully those receiving Christmas cards will be reminded to check in on the blog. I know I've not been keeping at it but with the new year will come the resolution to really get back on the blog project. It's not so hard to do as we move forward with getting some building quotes on the project. We should have them in January. 2007 will be a real jump in point of our green building project. This photo is the house as it will appear coming up the drive.