Plans for our Hermann House

[Teacher Terry]

I hate living in a construction zone so all work was done in this house before I moved in. My husband is a engineer and very good at planning and visualizing the final results. We opted for one story so we could age in place. We also made the yard low maintenance. I don’t like a really open floor plan either. I had one once and felt the same as tybee about it. We did remove most of the wall between the kitchen and dining room. Just left a half wall in one area that blocks you from seeing the sink or stove.

[JaneV2.0]

Add my name to the number of posters who don't like (OK, hate) open floor plans. My old condo was well thought out, with an entry hall and an enclosed kitchen with a folding louvered door that could be opened to the dining area, if desired.

This place was designed by an idiot, IMO. Open the front door and look right into a sink full of dirty dishes...What was I thinking...

I look forward to seeing how your house progresses.

[Teacher Terry]

The only good thing is that you can entertain more people in a open floor plan. When rain ruined my June barbecue everyone was in the house. 14 people in my dining room and some people had to balance their food on their lap. Some people went in the living room for awhile. It didn’t seem to spoil the fun though as people came in the afternoon and stayed way into the evening.

[JaneV2.0]

The only good thing is that you can entertain more people in a open floor plan. When rain ruined my June barbecue everyone was in the house. 14 people in my dining room and some people had to balance their food on their lap. Some people went in the living room for awhile. It didn’t seem to spoil the fun though as people came in the afternoon and stayed way into the evening.

I've only entertained numbers of people a few times, but having the option to open up to the DR would have been sufficient for me. The problem seems to be too-small kitchens, rather than lack of visibility from other areas of the house. Aesthetically, IMO, OP is a huge fail.

[razz]

I don't know if anyone would find this interesting, but I just found this site of "best cape cod" floor plans which might have ideas, idk.

https://www.architecturaldesigns.com...tyles/cape-cod

(Spoiler alert: we are looking at a cape cod house right now to buy, so this is a fascinating topic to me.)

Years ago, DH and I fell in love with a Cape Cod design on a hill surrounded by large maple trees in Vermont. It became our dream home, the day when we could afford it.

When that day finally arrived, we had a lot more experience about life's changes watching my parents' abilities and needs change and we ended up building a very simple one floor 1400 sq ft ranch that we could live in forever.

[catherine]

I've only entertained numbers of people a few times, but having the option to open up to the DR would have been sufficient for me. The problem seems to be too-small kitchens, rather than lack of visibility from other areas of the house. Aesthetically, IMO, OP is a huge fail.

I agree. Add that to my list of things that drive me CRAZY watching home design shows. (I've stopped watching, actually). Interestingly I read that "open concept" is actually the Canadian term for open floor plan, and it worked it's way into the American vernacular thanks to HGTV. But my blood pressure rises every time a buyer walks into a beautiful old home and says "I want it to have open concept." And that happens just about every show.

[JaneV2.0]

I agree. Add that to my list of things that drive me CRAZY watching home design shows. (I've stopped watching, actually). Interestingly I read that "open concept" is actually the Canadian term for open floor plan, and it worked it's way into the American vernacular thanks to HGTV. But my blood pressure rises every time a buyer walks into a beautiful old home and says "I want it to have open concept." And that happens just about every show.

Yes--and the result when buyers tear out walls willy-nilly is usually horrifying. I've seen realtors refer to this as "remuddling."

[Float On]

So is my house a cape cod? I just call it "little cabin in the woods". This was when everything was overgrown. I've gone more ozark glade arid. No more bushes covering up the front.
11221615_10206884315368345_2752141379793123203_o.jpg

[pinkytoe]

DH was adamant that we only remove a portion of the kitchen dining wall so that one can't see the counters, sink etc. I will have to post a before and after. It seems like we have spent a lot of our lives undoing bad design or to make areas more efficient. Some of the flippers around here end up taking out all the walls and there is a kitchen counter sitting in the middle of the space. That looks odd to me.

[catherine]

Some of the flippers around here end up taking out all the walls and there is a kitchen counter sitting in the middle of the space. That looks odd to me.

One of our NJ neighbors did that. They have the same model as the house my BIL lived in--traditional for the 70s, with a kitchen close to a family room and a dining room and living room up front. They took out the wall separating the kitchen from the dining room and to me it looked the a Food Network set.