inspiration from Sagamore Hill

We were just watching an American history documentary, when it showed a house: Sagamore Hill in Long Island, New York. It belonged to Teddy Roosevelt. It's a great house, but what struck me on sight was the colouring. We both really really liked it, to the extent that I'm wondering whether we should mimic the colours at Amherst.

Thanks to the wonders of Flickr here's some photos, showing it in different lights and seasons. (Thanks very much to those who took these photos and posted them in a form they could be blogged).


Sagamore Hill
Originally uploaded by cyclingbill2003


Sagamore Hill
Originally uploaded by halgil


360/366 Sagamore Hill
Originally uploaded by Amberture

The main house is coloured blue - of a similar albeit slightly lighter hue than the one we picked for the cottage. But what's different is that they've used a darker grey colour as accent for the window frames - whereas up till now I'd been planning to use an off-white.

I also really like how they've got the contrast with the rust red on some walls. That could work perhaps for the extension parts of the cottage - the upstairs bathroom part; the laundry - as well perhaps as the library extension on the main house? Need to think some more about this, but it has certainly given me some more ideas... Even if we didn't go with the red colour - the idea of having a sharp contrast - green perhaps? - is appealing.

email updates from Dad

Dad has been making progress at Amherst, see updates below. Thank goodness we have his help, it would be impossible otherwise.

September 17th:

Hi, I have just returned from a day to Amherst to meet with the building inspector dealing with the application for a permit. I met with him for about one hour, but had to get there and back the same day. I took a large load up of wrought iron balustrading, pinepoles for the gazebo, and wrought iron posts to use as needed, or to access material for completing other tasks. I got another load of wood to finish my winter. I will work tomorrow on the stumps and stirrups of my back veranda. I had two days together to do work here, but the inspector could only fit in with Mon, Weds, or Friday, so I took time to meet with him. I have to do some additional drawing of details of the Juliet balcony over the bathroom of the old house. The present plan shows that posts to the ground and footing is the support mechanism, but I made it clear to the draftsman that cantilever beams would support this. I will draw an addenda detail asap and send to you and the council. I am too tired now to tell you all he wants, but will send an email tomorrow morning with greater detail.


September 6th:

I returned home from Amherst at 7pm, to a small party for my Father's day. Pete brought his new girlfriend, and Jenny had been there visiting with Vida since 6pm. I had a great conference with the plumber, who used to come as small lad to your paddock to hunt rabbits when it was Fisher's Poultry farm. I will hear back from him soon as to the cost of a 3000 litre septic with effluence drainage fields. He feels it will be best to proceed directly with Septech though because of the cost, probably near $5000 depending on what specifications John Kelly the health officer requires for the length of the effluence field. But he is going to be the plumber of choice I think for the rest of the old house plumbing. I will explain later in greater detail. I am off to church now so must hurry for now.


September 1st:

I will tell you now of my plan to continue to build the hobbithole, but instead to make it an actual chicken house in the short-term. I like chickens, and it will do it no harm in the course of the construction of the house over a long time for it to be used primarily as a chicken house. So I will continue to dream and use bits and pieces that come to hand to create the dream. Dave said when we spoke of it that this was alright, and after consideration I think it proper to proceed when I feel like it after my work here in Ringwood is completed.


August 29th:

I have completed the roof of the shed except for some ridge capping and spouting and drainage. There has not been anymore rain so transfer is not needed to the upper tanks. I still need to contact the plumber and electrician. I will place the drip system into action for the citrus trees in the orchard when things start to dry. There has been showering rain there it seems.

Dave's visit

Dave got back yesterday, at last. Here's his short summary of what they did each day along with a few photos:

Monday 4th August
rained all way up, got there 2pm, built shelter


(this photo was taken a few days later obviously, given the blue skies!)

Tuesday 5th August
cold morning, started to strip back panels on side wall, forest side



Wednesday 6th August
primer coat on stripped wall, continued stripping. Planted lemon tree, blood orange, almond, pecan.





Thursday 7th August
painted first coat on side wall, built scaffold for work on dam side wall.





Friday 8th August
more painting and stripping, 5,000 gal tank arrived and installed. drove back to Melbourne in the late afternoon.



Saturday 9th August
rest day in Melbourne

Sunday 10th August
drove back to Amherst in the morning, arrived early afternoon. started initial work on olive fence, put 5 posts in



Monday 11th August
more painting and stripping. forest side finished, dam side half stripped. another 10 posts in



Tuesday 12th August
30 posts put in am, primer coat done dam side all other posts in.



Wednesday 13th August
first blue coat on dam side, holes dug for fences round almond and chestnut trees.



Thursday 14th August
second blue coat, started completing fence with first run of wire



Friday 15th August
wiring up fence. finished first run, started top layer.

Saturday 16th August
finished second run of wire (upper) started fences for trees

Sunday 17th August
ran hare fence around olive trees

house painting update

Dave and Dad have been working hard on painting the old house, with some extra help from my sister Jen who spent 2 days working with them this week. Thanks a lot Jen!

They've made amazing progress. In the end they decided it was best to just get a coat of paint on rather than faff around with replacing and repairing weatherboards. This way they'll at least all be protected until we can next get back to work on them, and it turned out that not that many of the boards need replacing anyway.

I really love how the colour is working out. You can see the ultimate planned colour scheme here. It should look equally good when both green, as here, and in the height of summer when everything is parched and orange.

update from Dave: progress!!

Dave is actually *on the ground* in Amherst for the next 2 weeks. I am SO envious.

He's working with my Dad to get the house stripped back, weatherboards repaired and painted. From his voicemail today:

"The guy called as he couldn't make tonight, so we're going to see him tomorrow instead. (This is the structural engineer Jeff he's talking about).

We had a fair crack at doing the weatherboards today, I got the side on the right hand side of the house as you come out the door half stripped, while your Dad's been doing bits and pieces. We'll get our way through it, it was a really good day today, so hopefully the weather will hold and it'll be fine"

I am just so happy to feel that real life physical actual tangible progress is being made on the house, with more to come. It's just brilliant to be getting properly stuck in - I just regret I can't be there to help. :-(

revised electrical plan

In response to Mum's comments, Dave revised the electrical plan slightly, basically just adding a few powerpoints. You can see the revised version here, but we'll probably tweak it again when we get closer to installing and know eg: precisely the kitchen layout:

(Click photo to view bigger):


Here's Mum's suggestions in full from her emails on July 22:

I think you could do with a light over kitchen bench underneath the overhead cupboards – light overhead is behind you and will cast shadows otherwise. Or use spotlights to shine in on angle I guess.

Make all powerpoints double and I think you could do with more – kitchen needs more, over bench – blenders, mixers, toaster oven, whatever. You may not use them often as you don’t cook like I do BUT when you need them you will kick yourself if they are not there. Also, I think more are needed almost everywhere – a heater, a fan, whatever might well be needed all over. Allow for computers to plug in, TV in bedroom and so on – and don’t forget TV antenna points and consider smart wiring, radio network the palce – you may as well, it probably won’t cost much extra to do it from scratch but will be a lot more to add it later.

I am not sure about dimmers – they are out of fashion, hard to get, and we are soon to go all energy saver lights which cannot be fitted to dimmers at this stqge. Later this year they get phased out, the conventional sort – and from late next year the normal sort cannot be sold. Already there are more inds and sizes of the energy sver sort on sale – I can put them in most places round my place now and they come in different sizes and bayonet or screw in now too.

Don’t forget where you need the vacuum cleaner to plug in, either. Is one power point outside enough? I’d be thinking at least a double one on each veranda, ie one beside of house if not two per side. Car cleaning with vacuum, maybe a pump, external lights, whatever.


My reply 22nd July:

Hi, thanks a lot for looking at it and for the comments.

Yes, I thought about the kitchen bench lighting but we aren't sure where the cupboards will be. But I should make a note of it for Dad anyway.

Good idea too about the heaters etc, maybe I will just scatter a few more powerpoints around generally. All would be double powerpoints as a matter of course (I didn't realise they came in anything other than double anymore!) But for things like computer area we will have a separate extension board that plugs into a single socket and then has space like for 6 things to plug in. The boards have a circuit breaker to protect in case of power spikes: we use them here and it's just good practice as have heard of people whose equipment has been destroyed by it otherwise.

We'll just be using WiFi to beam things around which is wireless - so shouldn't need anything special done wiring wise: keeping it wireless makes it a lot easier to upgrade.

TV antenna points? I didn't even think of them - I'm so used to just having a satellite dish. But yes will make a note of it in next iteration. The TV location is marked and we can use our Slingbox and the WiFi to beam the signal around the house to any laptop, so as long as it works to the TV in the lounge that's the only point it would need.

Dimmers are a non-negotiable requirement - we've learned from our house here that they make a huge difference to the mood of a room. They are still very fashionable here, even more so nowadays when people want to save energy as when you dim you reduce the power used. Maybe we should buy a bulk load of dimmer switches here to bring back? Starting last year in UK, you can get longlife bulbs that dim. They're not perfect yet (sometimes take a little while to flick on) but they work.

electrical plan for cottage

Dad was adamant that we do a first pass of the Electrical plan for the cottage so that he can start getting quotes from electricians.

Here's my attempts: a plan for location of powerpoints, and a separate one for built-in lighting and switches. (Click to view bigger):






Dad's email 21 July:

In order to get an idea of cost for the whole project I must get a quote from an electrician for the wiring, a quote from the plumber for the plumbing, etc. I am often not on the premises for any length of time so this seems a natural time to book an appointment for a few tradies to visit ... I need to start gathering some momentum to get done those things which involve persons other than myself... Of course I will do outdoor things first, but I will be hoping to get the wiring done and then I can use it from the generator and work anywhere in the house safely. I want only a basic for this week of where you definitely need things, then I want you and Dave to discuss at leisure these things, and if Dave has the chance to walk about and place texta marks on studs in vital places while here I feel it will be well worthwhile. But having the plans there will give you some idea to put marks on it in pencil, and Dave can make notes while here of anything you need to discuss more later. Of course the kitchen is one such. I only need to know approx how many power points and where so wire, switches, fittings for power, etc can be estimated by an electrician. We can start with batten holder fittings for light, and refine later with other special lights for you. Things done after plaster goes up are possible but not so easy so become more costly.

latest cottage floorplans

Da da... we have more floorplans. The only difference from the previous set is the addition of the profile drawings at the top showing the view from all 4 sides. I really like it, so unless Dad finds something that needs to change, we're now *almost* ready to go ahead with permit applications. At last!!!

New vs existing floor plans:




Profile drawings of the house:

revised cottage plans

We have at last got the finalised plans for the cottage at Amherst. Here they are, click to make bigger:





Hoping to get elevation drawings also for the views from each side of the house too. I'm no good at imagining what it will look like from floorplan drawings and want to be sure I like each of the house's "faces" before we start renovating.

It's so good to be moving on this again.

painting has begun

Dad has started painting the old house.

There was a little mix-up in that we'd thought Dad was going to be putting undercoat on - and thus we still had time to tweak the final choice of colour - but it turned out that for this kind of paint, you use the 1st coat of the paint itself as the undercoat.

Anyway, it's turned out OK in the end. Dad got the paint mixed to match the colour we came up with while in Savannah. It looks good in situ, so I think that's what we'll stick with.





For the moment, Dad has just been painting EVERYTHING in this deep blue. Ultimately of course we'll have the frieze patterns picked out in contrast colours - much lighter - but he assures us he'll easily be able to paint over them later, and that the easiest thing for now is just to get a first coat of paint on all over to protect it.

Interestingly, I saw another house of similar vintage to ours while in Rushworth. They too have gone for a deep blue albeit a bit more grey/purpley, so it's not that unusual.

Dave's visit

Dave was back in Australia for 2 weeks at the beginning of April. He managed to squeeze in an afternoon at Amherst. Here are some photos.

It's dry dry dry, as you can see in this stitched together panorama shot from the far side. Dam is to the far right, house is to the middle right, hobbit hole and caravan is to the middle left.


The dam ridge is the most pronounced we've seen yet.


Dad has started working on the preparations for painting the house, setting up a mobile scaffold he can use to get to the top sections.


Dave got up the scaffold and took some closeup's of the freize pattern. It's in good shape, but I need to work out the colours to paint it.

tweaks to the verandah

To make sure we avoided making any clanging mistakes, I asked Eric for his thoughts about the verandah design. He liked it except was a bit wary of the raised up bit over the front door and suggested a revision:

"I think that the verandah gable might clash with the house gable. How about adding some extra detail to highlight the entry, but locating in under the verandah and at a smaller scale. One idea to consider is the location of the viewer and where their eye will be filled with the view. In the sketch below, from a distance the dominant form would be the house gable. From closer, the house gable would disappear outside of the "cone of vision" of the eye, and the detail right around the entry would take over. You see this in a lot of classical architecture. St Paul's cathedral, for example. The dome, the main gable, and the detail around the door all dominate the view depending on where you are. A long way from St Paul's to Amherst, but the principle remains. Well, there is another idea to ponder. Let me know what you decide."



We talked about it quite a lot with Dad, as he really liked the idea of the gable. But both Dave and I can see Eric's point. So, we've decided to go back to the original with no gable. Wait and see if the lack of light is actually a problem before we bother with solutions for it! Now we've got rid of the verandah at the back end of the house & there's just a small canopy over the door, a lot more light will come through from that end than when there was a full verandah, so there's a good chance it'll be OK.

More on the cottage verandah

We'd previously promised Dad we'd get back to him with more details on the verandah post design for the old house, aka the cottage, and an idea for the gable.

Here is what we came up with, in Dave's words.


Here's a sketch of the front door side (East):




It shows the use of a gable over the front door area. Not really sure what pitch the roof of the gable is to be, but it needs to stick up a little bit. There is a little canopy over the bedroom window but no verandah. Also you can see from this sketch that, if possible, Lyn doesn't want a bannister in the section in front of the lounge window. (If that means we have to get creative and add an extra long 'step' or something to meet requirements of minimum drop, so be it, but Lyn is keen that there is at least a small section of verandah she can sit on the edge of and look out with unimpeded view).

This next picture is a rough sketch showing the front door and gable/verandah in closer view. You'll see the verandah posts have big pillars at their bottom... more on this later.




Now look at this next picture which shows the side view of the house (North).



You can see the arrangement with the steps leading directly opposite the french doors. There are thick (pillared bottomed), and thin verandah posts. More on that later. Note the roofline matches at each end.

Now look at this picture which shows the back of the house (West).



Note that the steps now come out sideways, with the house on one side, rather than straight out the back. As there is no verandah here, we have put sunshades over windows, and also a small canopy over the back door/laundry door.

A closer-up view of the backdoor canopy is shown in this next picture. Note that there is no pillar to hold it up, it is supported by being joined on two sides to the building.




This next picture gives the overall view as to where the steps are, and which way they go, plus where 'big' and little' pillars go.



All the posts are roughly in the location Lyn wants them. May need to be some final adjustments here and there, but the principle is that even though they are not symmetrical in terms of precise measurements between posts, they appear nice to the eye because they're balanced & in line with other features. Most importantly, there are no pillars in front of doors and windows.

Finally, look at the pictures of the pillars that we mocked up in SketchUp. These show the styling of big pillars Lyn would like to have.



Each has the fat bottom part and then 3 smaller pillars up, then topped with some kind of 'fat' section to finish it off. The thin pillars are just a single pillar of size like the posts you used before, topped with the same 'fat' section. The idea is to have these 'fat sections' at the top of all posts that serve to tie it all together, and thus avoid the need to have a freize.

We aren't sure how to make the pillars, but think of californian bungalow type except square not tapered. I think they are probably not the norm for Australia but they seem to be like a kind of verandah posts that the house would have probably had were it built in America during that period. (So long as it looks good together and is consistent in terms of broad heritage, Lyn doesn't mind if it is American rather than Australian influenced!)

The fat bottom bit (large squarish box) are usually brick I think, but does that make it impossible to build because of height from floor to ground? If so, perhaps we could get creative in terms of building them hollow and putting cladding on or something. We aren't sure yet what the pillars would be covered with, ultimately... Lyn is toying with the idea of weatherboards, or, if they are brick, then rendering ala california bungalow style.

In terms of the smaller posts, we aren't sure as yet regarding degree of decoration, but they'd need an edge routing. Something we can sort out perhaps when we see a set of edging patterns.

Dad's ideas for verandah

Dad emailed a few days ago with some more ideas for the verandah. Here's extracts from the email, along with Dave's replies in blue:

Dad said...

I've been reading a book at the place where I work at night. It is a series published by the Australian National Trust, and this book is a two volume set called Äustralian Homesteads". The approach we take to building the verandah will be greatly affected by the ultimate design we decide on. So I photocopied some images to help in discussion.

First is the image of Gidleigh, NSW, which is in it's main house very like your house, in terms of roof and size and with a setback for the lounge portion of the house creating the interesting prospect for the entranceway and veranda.



Your house was built as a terrace house, but is now placed in a large space without the confines originally placed on it so it needs to be rounded out to look comfortable. Your idea of the L-shaped veranda, even going only partway down the side of the house facing the lake would achieve this and would be more harmonious with the new house when built ultimately.

The second image is of the cottage veranda floor. This is included as you sent some images of this alternative as demonstrated by a house in Queensland.



If we used this approach I would be costing it first, using 6x1 OB unseasoned hardwood unless you have another idea for planking, and allowing that it would have gaps between the boards once airdried. I used this flooring type on the house veranda I built at Healesville. It was cheap, and very good as it did not hold water on the floor when water was swept in by the wind. It also allowed me to do the less expensive framing approach, eliminating a complete row of stumps and bearers. Costing this approach and considering it is something I would suggest for now before we go further in discussions of labour.


Dave replied: "We like the floorboard style you suggest and will probably use that in parts of the verandah on the 'new house'. We almost got to the point of thinking to have that for the old house too, but then Lyn became concerned that it might not be in keeping with the original style of the old house... that it might clash stylistically with the level of detailing on the window frames and patterning on the top. So, at present, we've come back to favouring the T & G floor"


In this next image, I want to encourage you to seek the frieze pattern for both houses if you think making this old house harmonious with the new house is important.



I do not think the old house needs to be as nice as the new. Treat it as the "cottage"it is and you will come close to my concept of it in the scheme of the whole project.

Dave replied: In terms of the frieze, we are not sure yet what we will do, but agree that it would be an important feature for helping tie the houses together. Depending on how the sketch of the new verandah posts for the old house goes, it may be that we can manage without a frieze on that, but we will see.

We understand where you are coming from here when you say that the old house does not need to be as nice as the new. But, we want to restore and 'improve' the old house, being sympathetic to its style. The things we do to it externally and internally need to reflect that. If we wanted to be minising costs, we'd put up fake brickwork on the outside, for example. Lyn calls it a cottage because of its size. The old house isn't possibly going to be as nice as the new one, and will certainly be a lot smaller, but it doesn't mean it's not going to be nice. Lyn suggests it's perhaps better to think of it as a whimsical cousin rather than a lowly cottage.


Bear in mind that the roof material used can make a significant impact on the design of posts and roof framing. This example is with a slate roof, and so is necessarily of more robust construction. You can use a much lighter approach if you chose to leave out the ceiling. But if you ultimately want the lining of the ceiling the framing of the veranda needs to accomodate this so adding it at a later date is possible.

Dave replied: Agree about building the framing to accommodate a ceiling, but it is something we can do at a later date, unless we spot material to do it in the meantimea a bargain basement price. Ultimately we do definitely plan to line ceiling, but that particular job can be put off til we move there. Lyn wants there to be enough beams in the frame to hang hanging baskets off.


The next image is of an entrance which I thought was able to give you some ideas for the entrance to your house.



This was chosen by the architect to achieve some very good objectives:
1. It makes a statement about the house.
2. It is a gable which lifts the roof above the doorway and permits massive amounts of light to enter the passage without being obvious about it like a skylight or clear sheeting in the roof does.
3. It is in keeping with the period of the house.

I don't like the portico posts but for this house of brick it works. Certainly not on your house. But a veranda post configuration such as this could help with your desire to get the light into the passage, and if made to be like all the other posts of the veranda, but with a difference that makes it stand out a bit, you could achieve such a good effect as this entrance achieves.

Dave replied: We're having a play with verandah post configuration now. The gabled bit is nice, but it's too grand we think for the old house. We have another idea though that we will include in the sketch, as we like the principle of allowing light in without being so obvious about it.


The next image is to show you how I had planned to embellish the square posts I bought for the deck. I would work the centre part with the router and plane, and add the moldings which give it character and dress. The skirting around the post at the bottom is likewise an embellishment which can be added later.



I like the square posts for the veranda rather than the round look of the turned posts. And they are a fraction of the cost for expenditure right now. Embellishment could be done later when the style is decided and the frieze is decided. All things you and Dave could do in free time as well, given that you can wait for such things and save these sort of jobs for yourself. Getting the moldings is easy, and using the tools easy too.

If you want turned posts, these need to be done before being put in place, however, and do not lend themselves to embellishment at a later date so readily as a decision of how low to keep the unworked part of the post to accomodate the frieze must be made before placing the post in situ.

We replied: In terms of the verandah post shape. Lyn likes turned posts but is worried they may not fit well with the balustrading. So, we are in the process of designing some 'square' post scenarios that Lyn is comfortable with, and I'll try to finish those and get em to you this weekend.

We've also been experimenting with some ideas about the animal protection bit under the floor level on the verandah. We saw a picture of one that was recessed back a set of stumps, to allow shaded space for garden and/or for animals to rest. We think this is a good idea to try on at least part of the house.


Finally, this next image is to give you some idea of the roof structure of the hobbithouse I plan to build.



I will have a veranda on it of course, and it will be built in a crescent shape following the hill it is carved into, but the roof structure will be quite distinctive and time-consuming. The whole will be quite unseen from your house or the roadway, but will be a pleasant surprise to discover when walking. I will obtain a permit for the structure first as I want it to be a building you can use as a bed and breakfast. But at present it is my dream on paper and in my mind. By getting the permit, I can proceed in a sensible sequence with my foundations and Treebeard and his Entwives which will be posts to support the whole of the structure. (NB: Treebeard and his Entwives are Dad's names for the big tree trunks from the trees taken out at Mum's house).

Dave replied: It'll be great when it's done! It is very interesting, I bet there won't be another house like it in all of Victoria!

Cottage verandah quote

We're picking up again on plans for the old house, aka the 'cottage'.

To help give us more clarity in the decision over what type of verandah, and how big, to install Dad roughed out a quote for doing a 3m area which I then put into a spreadsheet.

Basically, for the 3m area it comes out to near enough to $1800 if you include all the fittings like fancy fretwork and railing; or $1100 without.

Now we have a proper understanding of the materials cost, we've decided to make a little cutback on the verandah area. Now, except for a landing type area near the backdoor and laundry, we're not going to put verandah on the back side of the
house. Instead it will be L shaped, running along the side facing the dam, and partially across the front.



By our calculations, using the scale on the plans, this smaller area is 17 square metres. So, as a rough estimate, the cost would be (17 divided by 3 =) 5.67 times the cost of the 3m section. So, materials cost around $11000 in total, but dropping to around $7000 if we delayed on investing in frieze, fancy balustrade, etc.

This is still a sizeable chunk, but it'll be a worthwhile I think. I don't think we can reasonably cut out any more verandah area without it looking stupid or feeling cramped. I imagine we'll live on that verandah a lot of the time. :-)

verandah plans for old house

We're still undecided about how best to proceed with the work on the old house at Amherst once the planning permit comes. Of particular debate is the approach to building the verandah.

We're waiting for Dad to give us some costings before we can decide how to proceed.

In the meantime, below are extracts from various emails that capture the conversations and where we're at currently.

____________________________________________

DAD SAID... in passing in an email November 6th

"...I would like to proceed with the veranda roof and framing when possible. Material stored there needs to be used or the white ants will eat it".

____________________________________________

I REPLIED... in email November 7th

With regards to your comment about proceeding with the framing & verandah roof... don't forget the discussion we had at Dave's parents. We have decided we do not want to put the verandah roof on until the house has been painted , because it will be too difficult otherwise for us to paint the detailing at the top. This also means that we do not want to put the rest of the verandah floor on until after painting either, because without a roof it will have no protection.

I know you have bought materials for the verandah so if white ant is as big a problem as you keep saying it is, can you please move the verandah materials to the house - there seemed room to store them in the hallway stacked up, and they can happily sit there for the next few years until they're needed. Alternatively, they could be stored instead in the garage that you were going to erect down near the container (nb: on a gravel base only, not a slab).

As Dave explained when we spoke at his Dad's house, the order we want to proceed in working on the old house is:

PREPARE EXTERIOR FOR PAINTING
- Put in windows/doors in the spots they'll be going according to the plans
- Repair weatherboards and existing window frames
- Make alterations to the house shape... ie: the bedroom baywindow, the new bit in the bathroom, the laundry backend, etc.
- Strip off old paint

PAINT EXTERIOR
- Paint undercoat on boards
- Paint one coat of top coat, in white (this will give some protection from the weather).

We would like the above work to be done in the next 18-24 months, so that when we next visit we can have a 'family working bee' to paint the house exterior the final colours.

____________________________________________________

DAD SAID... in email November 8th

"I know that access to the area above the veranda roof will be greatly facilitated by the roof, which is a trafficable roof of low pitch, and that the alternative to build a scaffold to access these areas with machinery to stripe paint and then to do the sealer and first coat stages would be time spent well by myself as I have no need for all the extra gear on the scaffold that use by anyone else would require, especially at the greater heights. So you may like to think of these things when thinking about the approach you take.

Also,I have $900 worth of fascia/beam materials in long lengths that will need to be protected from theft. I will make the suggestion that we use much of the material onsite as a temporary structure over the container creating storage areas around it and also giving it shade from the heat. You have new sheets of iron on the site now which can be stored away till needed, or made use of until needed. I certainly don't want to preempt your role of telling me what you want me to do and when. I merely wanted you to consider the alternatives".

I REPLIED... in email November 8th

Let me talk to Dave some more about the issue of the verandah roof. We'd thought that having the roof in place would hinder rather than help when it came to painting, as we'd not realised the verandah roof would be strong enough to support people walking on it. We'd been thinking people would be just using ladders to get up there to do the detailing (as some of the patterns at the top will need to be hand-painted to pick ou the pattern, not sprayed. Just so I'm clear I understand, are you saying that you think it would be better to build the roof so people can lie on that when they're doing the paint work above the verandah roofline, or would it make it harder to do the paint? Would you rather build the scaffolding and go down that route instead?

With regards to the $900 of fascia/beam materials, are they materials that you would have been using for the verandah roof? Or were they for some other part of the verandah, eg: the floor? As a general rule, I'm more inclined to use materials where they will ultimately end up rather than use them in a temporary structure, unless there's some good reason not to.

____________________________________________________

DAD SAID... in email November 9th

I would certainly prefer to do the framing of the veranda and the roof of the veranda now rather than later, even if the floor was not done and planks were used. I think access to things would be much simpler for the painting and preparations. But I have not got all the material needed to do all the veranda. I bought material in batches which I could carry on given trips. I needed to have the range of things to do stages of the job I was at. I do not like to have things left lying around on the ground subject to ruin and theft because of not wishing to finish as begun, but I know how important it is that you do not feel overly pressured with the cost. I have not bought any material that are not for the veranda except the plaster materials.

I will talk further to you about the level of the roof above the windows, and be able to discuss it better when I have more time. A change in level that is too great will mean the length of the roof sheets will be too short unless I also raise the level of the outside edge of the veranda, so I need to clearly discuss with you and Dave all aspects before we go forward. I could lift the inner edge about 100 mm I think without risking the sheets being too short, but if I did that connecting the existing with the new will be difficult. So taking the existing off to make it comply with the new is the way to go. So I need to talk first to you of all things, and tell you all the aspects you need for an intelligent choice, and proceed from there."

____________________________________________________

EMAIL FROM ME TO DAD ... November 10th

I had an idea this morning about a way to save money on the old house renovations, which involves changing plans for the verandah. Before we make an ultimate decision though we wanted to get your input as to what the cost savings would be, in terms of both materials & labour.

I know that we at one stage said that we wanted a wraparound verandah on the old house as Dave likes them, but that was before we understood the cost of materials. As it seems to be working out a lot more expensive than we'd envisaged, we might be changing our minds. (it isn't set for certain though, we need the cost savings estimate from you so we can make a decision).

Specifically, the idea is to significantly reduce the area of verandah.

I've been looking for a photo to no avail, but do you remember what our Toora house looks like at the front? It's of a similar vintage to the Amherst old house and it doesn't have verandah across all of the front, only on the part that is 'set back'. Using that as inspiration, what if we only had verandah on the parts shaded yellow in this diagram?



Can you estimate how much more $$$ we'd need for the materials if we went with this reduced approach? And can you tell us how much $$ we'd be saving by doing this approach rather than having it 'wraparound'? My estimate is that it must be substantial, at least $10,000, but am I way off?

A few things to say about the verandah that might help you in coming up with this estimate.

1) you can assume the roofing sheets you've already bought will be the right length. We are happy to raise the height of the outside edge of the verandah roof by the same amount as whatever we raise it by on the edge that joins the house (ie: the slope will remain the same, and thus the length of sheeting will also remain the same). We will probably be putting some kind of fretwork edging on it (like in this picture http://www.flickr.com/photos/lynetter/278274662/in/set-969191/ ) so having the outside edge higher will be good to allow that.

2) as shown in this picture http://www.flickr.com/photos/lynetter/278274662/in/set-969191/ we want to have the inside of the verandah roof lined to at least give an effect of being tongue & grooved, even if it isn't really. (eg: maybe it is a thin MDF sheet that has grooves carved into it, you can advise us on what you think most cost efficient to achieve the look we want). We will be painting the verandah lining sky blue as in the picture. In between the corrugated iron and the lining we will have insulation (and also do you think we would we need some form of water protection in case the corrugated iron leaks so it doesn't mess up the lining?).

3) we would really like to have a tongue & groove verandah floor, with the boards running with the joins in the opposite way to the way you've laid the decking. ie: like in this picture http://www.flickr.com/photos/lynetter/278271065/in/set-969191/ This means you'll need to do the foundations for the verandah floor differently. As well, be aware that not all tongue&groove boards will be cut to the exact length, so you'll need to have supports to allow for 'joining' mid floor. Again this might seem a lot of extra work vs getting them cut the exact lengths to begin, but it's traditional and it's the way Sam & John did theirs. As well, to ensure greatest longevity for the tongue & groove, we want it to be very solidly supported underneath so that there is no sense of 'bounce' as you walk on it. So, please err on the side of allowing for more supports underneath than less. The decking as you laid it currently has too much bounce for our liking. Overall, this will mean I suspect that a lot more wood will need to be used as supports for the floor than you may have been originally envisaging.

If it turns out that tongue and groove is going to be just way too expensive, there is an alternative that we'd consider. Today I came across another photo of an old verandah on a Queensland house, which seems to have a different kind of floor:



We don't like it anywhere near as much as tongue & groove, but it's a type of floor that is OK and is in keeping with the era. So if it turned out to be substantially cheaper for the materials & labour to build than tongue & groove, then it is something we'd consider.

Whenever you're doing the estimates (and as I said, there's no rush), if a floor like this would be cheaper, can you cost it up as an alternative so we can see the difference in price & then make our decision based on that?


4) if there is a way of using up the wood you were envisaging as being for the verandah pillars elsewhere (eg: as part of the foundation) then please do. I would rather buy nice verandah posts readymade in a lovely shape than use the square beams you've been using currently. I know we could carve the beams to make them look nicer than they already are, but to be honest, I would much prefer just to get the right thing to begin with as it will make such a difference to the look.

eg: I like the verandah pillars in this picture (except for the bit at the bottom which is obviously missing but could be simply a block of carved wood).



I know you said it is possible to buy lovely verandah posts ready made for you guessed $250 each? Maybe you could get a catalogue, or visit a shop that sells such posts and take some photos for us (with corresponding prices) and I will pick out specifically which shape I want.

5) just in case you were concerned, do not worry about the sun coming into the windows on the side without the verandah... we will charmingly solve that by creating a little canopy thing over the windows akin to in this picture



____________________________________________________________

DAD'S REPLY... in email November 10th

"I have suspected from the time you were here that the portion of veranda deck that has been begun should simply be removed. For one reason, it is too low and the posts have been cut already for the beams to rest which are not going to be of any help with the design of veranda you are envisioning. Also it has only been started. The row of bearer which goes through roughly where the table sits now has not been placed, and nearly half of the deck boards are just sitting there for me to have access to the area underneath to place this bearer. This accounts for the spring. Also the posts are not set in concrete, but merely sitting on pads.

The deck boards can be removed easily as the wood is still green, and can be used to good advantage on the upwey house, which is rotting away and will need replacing soon, and merbau deck is the cheapest available since treated pine is no longer acceptable and neither is cypress for an open deck.

The posts are not acceptable, only inexpensive, so these could be used elsewhere as fencing or something else with good effect. Tooling these is not worthwhile as they are green material, not kiln-dried. Buying ready turned veranda posts is the way to go and with plans for the fancy fretwork to be fitted appropriately. There are suppliers for such finishes.

The framing of the veranda as you want the flooring to run at right angles to the house is needing to be changed, using rows of bearers which run in the direction of the flooring boards. This will enable the placement of the floorjoists at intervals of 450mm along the direction of the side of the house. This is opposite to the way I have begun, and so it is most intelligent to remove the present structure rather than try to incorporate it with this other design. It is just not going to be worth it.

I have worked on several such verandas as you envision in my time as a carpenter. I am not unfamiliar with how to build them, and to build them solidly. The only way you can get the lining board look you see is most probably with lining boards, but pehaps there are some alternative sheets around. I have installed lining boards just so to coves of ceilings.

Your idea of putting verandas around only half of the house is a good one. It is most likely that from an expense point of view the only place you will end up with a veranda in just in front of the front door extending to the edge of the house only. That would be adequate to achieve an outdoors area, though not protect the house from heat much overall. We still need to achieve the necessary five-star rating required under laws passed in the past few years, and all-round verandas are a big help for achieving energy saving ratings. I like the idea of having just the area you have planned in yellow, of course, but the cost may prove far too great. I will make some estimate when you are sure just what you want me to estimate".

__________________________________________________________

I REPLIED... in email November 10th

"In terms of the verandah, yes probably ultimately we will remove the portion of verandah deck that is begun, but we don't want to make a final decision on it yet. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not do it now as we have not made our final decision and I hate the feeling of things going backwards. So leave it as it is, it will not be stolen, and it is useful as a resting place for while working up there.

Yes please, I would like you to cost the verandah to the area shaded in yellow & the description, as per my other email. From a design perspective, that's the minimum area I think we can have verandah on as it would look stupid otherwise. I just need to be told the costs so that we can make plans for financing.

I'm not saying we will be going ahead with the verandah as the immediate next project; that is still for discussion with Dave, as he still thinks that it will get in the way of the painting. But I would like to have the verandah cost at least as a ballpark so I know, as I do not want to do anything further up there until I get some rough costs".

Day four - modifying old house verandah

This morning we continued a somewhat difficult conversation we'd started yesterday, about the verandah for the old house aka 'the cottage'.

There were three areas of contention - the flooring material, the alignment of the verandah posts, and the roof configuration.

Let's start with the floor.

Dad had bought some decking to use for the verandah floor which was nice... but... not exactly in keeping with the spirit of the house. Instead what we'd been expecting to see was traditional tongue-and-groove. Luckily he's only put it on around part of the front, so with Sam & John's help (friends visiting) we came up with an alternative which should be fine.

We're going to leave the decking he's already installed in situ. Instead of using the leftovers as verandah, however, we're instead going to put a step down and extend the decking forward, so that there's a section in the open too. It should look really nice, we could put a little table out there, surround it by garden, etc.

For the rest of the verandah we're now planning to get Jarrah tongue-and-groove, 80mm wide, 19mm thick, from the same place as Sam & John just got theirs ("Australian Choice Timbers" in Kilsyth). It'll work out a little more expensive perhaps than modern decking, but it'll be worth it.

To help cut the costs further, we've decided that even though the verandah roof will go all the way around the house, we will not have a floor for it on the uphill side. There's not a nice view there, so instead we'll make a kind of mini -garden to look out over, just under the windows.




Now, onto the verandah posts.

Dad had only installed a few posts, evenly spaced. But when you looked at the house it seemed odd, akin to someone wearing their spectacles askew, because the posts weren't symmetrical around the windows/doors.

We've come up with a way to salvage it though. We're going to install an extra post, to make it seem symmetrical, on the front right... and then to give it a reason for existing, use it as the point from where the step down to the deck extension happens. I might even put trellis between the two posts and grow a climber up it, which will help disguise it even more.

Luckily Dad hadn't progressed too far with the verandah so we've carefully marked out where we think the other posts should go on the plans... so fingers crossed it will be smooth sailing from now on.


Finally, the verandah roof.

Dad had been planning to have the verandah roof about 5m deep in front of the door, so it covered the steps. We have changed this back to where the verandah would ordinarily be, so now it's only half as deep, because it will look more in keeping and allow light to get into the hall which would otherwise be quite dark.

As well, we've decided to raise the verandah roofline to put it where it was in its original incarnation. Where Dad has put it so far is a bit too low, but again we have a cunning salvage plan... which is to leave the verandah over the deck as is, but to build it higher everywhere else. This should look OK we hope as, because the other part is set back it'll make it appear in line with the diagonal roof slope.

Day one - exploring

On our first afternoon we didn't do much work - instead too busy exploring! After the trees (see previous post), the house was next on our list to look around.

Even though only a little work had been done to it, Dad had rearranged things to give the effect of a room at the front. It really started to let you see how it might feel:



There's also the beginnings of the wraparound verandah at the front, which has been a wonderful place to sit during the hot days:



Dad has also managed to take down a lot of the collapsed extension at the back to reveal the original shape of the house:




The dam was looking particularly nice, albeit less full than I would have liked. It's not really low yet though as you can't see the 'humps' in the middle. We saw lots of sheep go down to the dam for a drink which was lovely to watch. We also saw two egrets wading, getting yabbies no doubt.



I'm more relaxed about getting the dam to look like a lake now than I was. Hopefully the waterlilies will take, but even if not provided we can get the big clay bank covered with reeds and other green stuff, the dam will take on the appearance of a lake. It's the dam wall that makes it look muddy (although the darn yabbies have something to do with it too).


To cap off the day, on the way back to our rented Avoca cottage, we explored some new roads too... driving along Lillicur Road up the side of our property all the way up to the Sunraysia Highway. There was a fantastic sunset as we came over a ridge:

paint colours for Cottage

Dad is going to start preparing for painting the weatherboards on the old cottage at Amherst, so they have greater protection.

He emailed a few days ago while we were still in Savannah to ask us about paint colours:
"I have bought primer undercoat but want to buy the
wattyl solarguard. Talked to the rep at Hudsons and
colours need to be mixed at the point of sale, but
with a volume order he can give a better price than in
dribs and drabs. Your call to tell me the colour of
the weatherboards, and trim".

Dave and I hadn't discussed it but luckily while in Savannah we saw a lovely shade of deep blue that we both liked. So, given the need for a speedy decision, blue it is going to be! The colour we were told was called "haunt blue" and was made originally by mixing indigo with buttermilk. It was used back in the voodoo days to discourage ghosts, something to do with them getting confused with the sky?!? Anyway, it's a lovely colour.

Here's the mix of colours we've settled on:



The deep blue is for the weather boards and the very slightly off-white is for the trim. We also picked out two other colours - a deep grey that could work well for accenting with the trim, or for things like shutters, and a sky blue. The sky blue could possibly work as an accent too, but mainly we picked it out to be the colour underneath the verandah.

Here's a picture of a house with similar colours (except the trim is a bit too white), and showing the verandah roof that's our inspiration for using the blue underneath:

diggers and decks

It's been a while since I've updated this, so thought I'd catch up on a few developments while I have a spare minute.

We have decking!



This is for the verandah for the Cottage. Dad saw it on sale at a special knock-down trade price so bought it even though we don't need it for a little while yet. The decking is made of Merbau Kwila, and according to Dad "makes a very good and longlasting deck, much better than treated pine and cypress when exposed to the weather".

We also have some big holes. Dad hired an excavator to level out an area around where he wants to build the hobbit hole. Here's some pictures, which also show the caravan he's set up as a place to stay on-site.

cottage: bedroom and verandah

Here's the email conversation with Dad about the bedroom and verandah areas of the cottage plans.


Dad's commentary (Feb 26):

Go now to the left thru the doorway into the master bedroom and you see a door to the veranda and the second old Healesville window. Look towards the front of the house and through the magnificent old windows, with curtains either side.

The all around veranda was Alan's idea to balance the overall appearance. We can stop the veranda as you wished, and can also leave in the plan, but not do this portion yet. I like the all around veranda and it will be of some help with the 5-star rating. I think all else is clear enough. Had to tweek the bath 300 ml into the masterbedroom to accomodate walkway around the stairs.

The rest is pretty clear. The two windows obtained from the guy in Collingwood that got me the glass will be used as a pair in the study. The laundry will be enclosed and soundproofed as to begin with the generator will be there. Or I may make a soundproof room under this laundry and put it there. I haven't worked the details of this yet. There are probably building regulations that will place firewall and sprinkler restriction on me so I will simply put the generator in a small building detached and about 50 feet from the house. We will see. But the battery storage area could be here. Or you may just go on the grid and to hang these other inconveniences.



My reply (Feb 26):

We both really like the wrap around verandah extending and I especially think it adds to the charm of it, so let's do that as it's drawn. And now we have verandah there it is doubly nice to have the doorway.

In the bedroom, as already discussed, let's bring the closet forward a little so that it is in line with the bathroom wall. Then there can be extra space - not in the bedroom closet, but in the linen press adjoining it. That way I can stack things in it two deep in the linen press if I need. It's wasted space having it in the bedroom.

This will be a lovely bedroom I think. Not a lot of storage as only the one wardrobe, but we can get creative, eg: maybe built a platform for the bed that has big drawers built in underneath, etc. Not that that matters for the house design stage.

The generator would only ever be a temporary solution, until we go on the grid. We will be doing this for the new house (as well as supplementing it by solar/wind power etc)... but probably won't invest in putting electricity on until near tail end as no point paying monthly rental costs for line if no-one is living there. So, probably better to plan the house as if it has power (solar system 100% definite; 90% electricity as depends on how much they quote to connect...this price varies all the time)

cottage: bathroom

Here's the email conversation with Dad about the bathroom area of the cottage plans.


Dad's commentary (Feb 26):

Alan has shown a bifold door to the bathroom, but I ruled it out of hand and want a door opening to the wall opposite the linen press or a cavity slider going into the space of linen press. I much prefer the leaf opening door for regular use and display of leadlights at this very busy area: With the light of the baywindow behind it and the relative gloom of the linen press passage (if the light is not turned on) the door will be glorious. Especially if it is one with a high and low leadlight like the one between Dawn's kitchen and lounge.

Open this door and look towards the bathroom. You will see steps leading upstairs. These are apx 700 mm wide, and there are 3 steps before the winders start. You then wind up to 6 steps, encircling a central pole so you are now facing the opposit direction and take 3 steps further up and arrive on the leve where a bath awaits you (providing Dave has heated the water overnight by stoking the old stove to keep it ticking over during the night.)

Alan has casually drawn in a handbasin in the loft. This is a good idea, but not where he drew it, but on your left as you stand at the top of the stairs. Or just a series of shelves could be put here or a small piece of furniture. Someplace to keep towels etc. And a radio!!

In front of you is the old clawfoot bath rescued from oblivion and given the prospects of many years of comfort-giving. Turn to the right and go to the towards the big windows in the gable, trailing your hand along the 1 m high balustrade and handrail that prevents you falling when sleepy into the stairwell below. As you approach the end of the loft you will come to a wall only 1100 mm high and peering over this little wall you can look at the shower below and the handbasin. This open area can be populated with ferns and potted plants of various descriptions. Air rising as it will naturally from the cool areas below will come upstairs with warmth and moisture (if shower is used). This air will be able to be left to circulate upstairs or vented by a ridge vent. This vent will be operated simply by a screwing mechanism and can be left open to varying degrees, of closed in winter when warmth is needed for comfortable bathing.

Going back downstairs turn to your right and stand beside the stairs facing the baywindow. To your left there is a short section of wall which encloses the toilet area. This toilet area has a wc which faces towards the baywindow. No door on it, but it could have a door, or concertina wooden door set. I actually have salvaged from the roadside such a set of doors.

There is a handbasin, or vanity or whatever comes to hand for washing hands, that is under the bay window to the left, and a showering area to the right. This area will be open, not enclosed. One can have a rice paper blind standing for some added privacy, or not as one likes on the day.


My reply (Feb 26):

I most definitely do not want a sliding door on the bathroom, I'm guessing this is what you mean by cavity slider? I don't know what a bi-fold door is, but it sounds like something equally flimsy, with hinges in it. I am really fussy, I want it to be a solid proper door, opening inward perhaps so that if someone is on the toilet having entered from the bedroom it provides a big of a privacy shield if someone accidentally starts to barge in from the hallway. (nb: I'm not fussed about whether it opens inward or outward though... I just realised further down you had a reason for it to open into linen press space)

I love your idea of having the stained glass window in the door to catch the light. I already have one that could work; I was going to use this in the new house but can always keep an eye out for another.

In terms of the bathroom layout itself, I am OK with it as you have it drawn provided that there is enough space to walk to the toilet without having to squeeze past stairs. I guess this is why you were suggesting the door open into the linen press area rather than into the bathroom. I like the shape of the steps, part straight, part winding, they are lovely.

My only slight worry with this layout is that entering the room from the hallway near linen press might feel like quite a zigzaggy path to get to the toilet? But I can't think of an alternative. I was thinking about it being maybe with the stairs to loft starting running along the loft wall side (ie: rotated 90 degrees), but then realised that would mess up the shape of the loft. Unless the loft had a kind of U shape, with sticking out bits at either end? Hmmm.

I don't think the toilet needs a door on it. What are concertina wooden doors? Are they like the door between Gran's kitchen and lounge, except in wood not plastic? If so, they sound really nice, but not for the toilet... would be better suited I tink to the door between the kitchen and pantry in the new house?

I love the idea of the showering area being open. We stayed in a hotel in Sri Lanka that had an area like this, it was wonderful.

And thank you, you've also just given me an excuse to think about planning a screen!... one of those lovely ones that is 3 panels and hinges. I wouldn't have it being rice paper as that would not do well in the wet, but I could get some lovely fabric that wouldn't get wrecked by water splashes, and use that instead of the rice paper. It's the kind of thing that is a lovely ornament too, and you can always fold it up flat and stand against a wall when not needed.

I don't think I need a handbasin in the loft. I can just use the tap on the bath if I need to get water. I'm not going to be brushing my teeth up there. I love the idea of having shelves, space for music, candles, plants... This will become a real sanctuary, I can see it now.

It is good that there is the balustrade. We will have to think carefully about what we make it out of. Perhaps that is the place where we should use the antique copper/iron bits we bought last year? This link has pictures and measurements. I don't think we should use the oak railings there, as want to keep them for the new house and they'd get damaged by water, but there isn't really a place in the new house for the metalparts, and they seem like they'd be well suited to a bathroom, similar vintage to the clawfoot bath too. What do you think? These are already in Australia, they're packed in those old luggage trunks that were in the first batch of stuff we sent back.

I love the idea of having ferns etc in the open area. Basically I love how spacious this area feels, it will be wonderful. If we make sure there is a powerplug up here (need it for radio/CD player anyway) but also near this open area, then in winter we could also have a small fan heater standing there if it was cold... it'll be well out of the way of wetness if we put it way back against the edge. You can get some lovely ones here, like the one we have in our conservatory, that look like they are real fires (I mean really they do... ours has fooled several people!). We could even have a comfy chair up there, like one of the Lloyd Loom nursing chairs I've got. It's small, low, and surprisingly comfortable.

Having some kind of vent / opening window / way to keep heat from blasting in during summer will be very important. Also, I think it needs careful venting somewhere so that we don't end up with a mildew problem from the shower, up high on walls like in Gran's kitchen. I don't want to block it off at loft level though (as Mum suggested), that would spoil the view and the whole feeling of the place. We can always invest in proper fitted conservatory blinds for it if it was a real problem, or rig up some kind of sail effect, but hopefully if heat rises and we can open the windows then it should still be OK at ground floor level even on the hottest days, so you can just avoid having a bath then if needs be! Most often I have baths in winter rather than summer anyway.


Dad's reply (Feb 27):

We agree on the door opening into the passage for the linen press onto the wall opposite. And stained glass!!!!

The wall portion beside the toilet will be left without a door, but will be the storage place for the free-standing blinds you are going to have to shield from the shower when you need them. This wall will keep barging eyes from surprising the toilet user, and the master bedroom door will serve from the other direction.

There will not be any sense of zig zag in entering the bathroom as there is plenty of walkway. The stairs are going to be built by a loving father as a present for a loving daughter and son-in-law, and no cost for labour will be recorded. I will scan some spiral stairs I built for Ailsa years ago. But also I will do some sketches of my ideas for these stairs. Talk more about this when you have the sketches. But the stairs will be open backed, that is will have only the tread to walk upon in the right place as all stairs. But you can see through them to the bay window. This is to achieve a sense of openspace. The ceiling, over the passage of the linen press and toilet is only 7 ft high, and the stairwell and baywindow area ceiling is the roof over the loft.

I will be making the treads out of half a log, flat up to make the stepping surface. All polished and attached to steel support by straps and screws painted black. All will be seen and as a feature. The handrails will be of whole saplings with the same style of support. The lining of the walls in the stairwell will have palings to dado height and then plaster. In the wet areas of the shower will have miniorb colourbond, and tiles over the handbasin. The wall above the window and up to the hand rail will be miniorb, and the top of this wall will have a large shelf for placing potplants.

Your balustrade bits will be perfect. I will add extra steel or wooden balustrades to make it legal as the spacing is regulated.

There will be plenty of power whereever. I think a computer up in the loft would be a nice effect, as you can listen on line, or work there if you want. It will not be a hot area when finished. The side walls are 1700mm high and the height to the peak of the ceiling will be over 8 ft I think, without taking out the scale rule.

I even toyed with the idea of having an outside deck to retreat to which could be access easily from the portion of loft floor that goes towards the gable end window. I would just have to cut into the roof about 1 metre, and provide a small deck and doorway to get to it and presto we have a little fresh air outlook. This can be done anytime, and need not involve the council now if you like. But it is not an expensive idea to implement. It could be the way to gain an easy access to a platform atop the house that would be priceless as a lookout over the valley below, but all unnecessary as the veranda will be quite high enough until trees grow up around the house. I do get carried away with my ideas and forget there are 30 acres to buffer you from someone building up and blocking your view from the veranda.


My reply (Feb 27):

Thank you so much Dad, it sounds fantastic...the bits I understand anyway, I don't know what miniorb is! I especially love the idea of the handrails being made of saplings, and the steps themselves being parts of logs.

Not sure about having a permanent computer up in the loft area, but certainly power will let us take up a laptop for playing music etc. We could also have it propped on a table playing TV or something if you wanted to watch (I can see Dave in there having his long soaks, watching Collingwood!)

I love your idea of the little roof-deck, just as a little private tucked away area. Yes it is a luxury but if it doesn't cost too much then why not. I would have more plants up here, of course, and the telescope could be there too sometimes. It'd also be a good place for hanging out wet towels from the bath to let them air. Most important though, I don't want it to ruin the line of the roof.

cottage: kitchen and hall

Here's the email conversation with Dad about the kitchen and hall areas of the cottage plans.


Dad's commentary (Feb 26):

Stand where Alan has printed the word Meals and look towards the kitchen. To the right are the two patio doors opening out and folding out of the way to sit flat against the wall either side to not obstruct the veranda. To the left is the combustion stove, with a wall beside it to enclose it and give hiding place for the water pipes. This wall is not shown, but Alan will draw it in. I mentioned it to him when he pointed out his reasons for arranging the kitchen as he has. I think we ought to move it to the corner on the left, and create some visual separation with a short wall with a wide shelf at about mid chest height the width of the room, leaving only the opening for entry that will be over near the right wall where the fridge will be. Or the stove can be place in this corner, but there could be conflict with overhead framing members. Your input as to this kitchen design is needed here.

Turn left and pass thru the space between the stove as figured, but which will probably not be there. ( It is a good place for it if we have the divider just beyond the edge of the patio doorway and stretching uninterrupted the width of the room until stopping to leave a gap to access the kitchen just in front of the stove. I perhaps like this best as it give the old stove a more central place, and is therefore more effective for heating the room. A hob beside the stove, with the pipes exposed is an option too. Pardon this aside.) Now for the confusing bits: You see the opening that leads to the linen press. The linen press will be huge, as we have given it the 300 mm that is now shown on the master bedroom side, as you have already suggested. This can have a door on it if you wish, opening into the old passage to either side, but probably best hinged on the side of the linen press so coming out of the bedroom door you see on your left you have only to grab the door handle and push.


My reply (Feb 26):

I like the patio doors. I like the idea of having a wall, or at least partial enclosure, to cover the water pipes from stove.

I don't mind your idea to move the stove to the corner on the left (ie: with its back to the verandah wall) rather than the L shape it is now, because that way the entrance to the kitchen area is not quite so opposite the mini-hallway to the bathroom, so bathroom will feel a bit more private. Then again, toilet is well tucked away and actually if the door to bathroom has stained glass in it as you suggest it will be lovely to look at, so maybe you do want to be able to see it! I think I just talked myself into leaving the stove where it is in the drawing!

I like your idea of having a short wall with wide shelf the width of the room. Especially if we left it open above for a bit, it would be useful extra bench space if we needed for cooking. I'm interpreting this as being joined on the hallway wall side and running say about 2/3 of the way across towards patio door side. ie: the walkway between lounge and kitchen is on the side near patio doors.

Are you suggesting here that we instead have the divider between lounge/kitchen joining the wall on the verandah side and then stopping short and not joining onto the hallway wall? If so, then I don't want that. I'd rather have it so that the opening is on the patio door side. That way it'll feel more like the patio doors are part of the lounge too, almost. But the stove could still stay where it is, couldn't it?

I don't want to have a door on the opening leading to the linen press, I think it will help to make the passage way feel more interesting but having it this slightly different shape to usual.

I'd like to have the option of hot water that is heated by other means too (solar, electric powered, whatever) - not sure if they can share the same tank? Because in the summer, I most definitely do not want to have to be lighting woodfires to get hot water.

I'd like space in the kitchen for a small normal hob (can be electric powered) and a microwave (built into a cupboard higher up maybe so it doesn't use up benchspace ... or maybe even it could be built into the short wall area?).

In the kitchen there needs to be room for a table with chairs without it feeling too cramped. I'm envisaging this as being a table about the size of the old formica table in Gran's kitchen, ie: comfortable for 2 people, but can fit 4 at a squish.



Dad's reply (Feb 27):

I much prefer the wall dividing the kitchen from the rest of this large room to originate from the passage side, so it will effectively be the wall that hides the pipes of the stove. But will bring it only part way, to the line of the window over the sink. We put a lovely door that can be closed when hiding the kitchen, and opened onto the short wall beside the stove on the meals side. We then proceed with the divider as I proposed, with a bulkhead overhead for pictures. You will see parts of the kitchen, but a closing arrangement might be worked if needed, or you may simply have a wall here as you can have a pantry on the otherside like I built for Dawn. Remember that the goal is to minimize the kitchen in favor of the other living spaces.

You must have an alternative cooking arrangement. I bought for Peter a ministove/oven for use in flats, and we will use this in the hobbithole. You can have the old gas cooker I sent (oops, still need to send) pics of. This is like the old Kooka stoves, and has a lovely oven. It stands as a freestanding unit and would fit well beside the fridge. It is in immaculate condition. I will send the pic asap.

When I say hob you thought I meant a cooking plate arrangement. I merely meant a wall area that doesn't go to the ceiling, but is built as a blind for the end of things like baths and stoves, etc which are not finished properly. Or a little space is needed, as beside mum's bakers oven where it was necessary to have a place to put hot pan, and to cover over the unfinished sides of the other stove that was there. That is the term for a structural entity, nothing to do with cooking appliance, although I know this term is used overseas as I have read it in books.

The patio doors will be to the meals side of the divider or wall. Agree to not place a door on passage of linen press. Makes it unnecessarily stuffy and dark.



My reply (Feb 27):

I am a bit confused. Do you mean that the wall that hides the stove is not in line with the divider between lounge and kitchen on the other side? I'm not sure about having a door there but perhaps it's just that I am not envisioning it properly. A problem with it opening out onto the wall might be that it would stop us from having shelves on that wall?

Look forward to seeing pictures of the old Kooka stove thing, but we don't need it to be something this big so maybe that could be saved for the new house. I was just thinking of having a hob (ie: cooking plates that you put saucepans on), no need for a separate oven area. This way we would have storage space underneath the hob area. We can always use the BBQ if we want to roast things in summer, and most of the time Dave cooks pasta and things anyway so can get by without an oven.


Dad's reply (Feb 27):

I have sketched a plan for the kitchen with the door and divider and pantry on the kitchen side as envisioned. The little gas stove is cute, and as I said needs only to be converted by changing the jets.




My reply (Feb 27):

Thanks a lot for drawing this up, but in short, we don't like it.

I'm not sure about the microwave position. Maybe we will put that where you show it except up high in a cupboard, as there is very little benchspace and that would give us extra space (as we will have to put things like kettle, toaster, etc somewhere and corner is usually good for them. Or, Dave suggests it might be even better to have it on a shelf over the fridge (assuming the fridge is about the size of our fridge here in London rather than a giant one like Mum's).

But the worst thing is, there's no space for a table!!!

There must be space for a table in the kitchen. I don't want it to be the other side of the divider as then it can't serve as overflow benchspace and is encroaching on the loungeroom. You think we want to minimise the space in the kitchen, but only within reason, it still needs to be functional and this wouldn't be. There is so little storage.

Maybe should revert back to having two sections of divider roughly where the wall is at the moment?... One starting on the hallside going to about 1/3 of the way across. One starting on the verandah side, directly opposite, also going to about 1/3 of the way across, with a gap in the middle for walking through. This gap can be an open entrance just like on the entrance to the lounge from the hall. It does not need a door.

Each of these dividers might need to be fatter than you have drawn as they need to have more space for storing things. I don't think you should call them a pantry. They are not a pantry, they are for storing dinner sets and crockery, not food. Think of it as being like the bottom part of a kitchen dresser. I don't want them narrow only for storing cans, I want them deep enough to easily store a full size dinner plate. We will have extra storage for cans, etc on the hallway walls eg: on the wall adjoining the study, and on the little wall (or hob or whatever you want to call it) that is next to the woodstove, hidden by little doors, but that doesn't necessarily need to be drawn in on the plan, we'll just get them from Ikea or something later.

The sink is way too big. We have such a teensy kitchen, we don't need a double sink. I would rather have a single sink, like our butlers sink we have here, and we'll just stand the dishes to drain on a teatowel on the bench, no need for it to be a stainless steel bit necessarily.

I don't think we can afford to have so much window in the kitchen above the sink area as having window means we can't have cupboards on the wall. I think that by moving the divider back so the patio doors are back to being part of the kitchen area (with table near them but still so you can move around) there will be enough light, so we should just have an opening window over the (smaller) sink area, about the size of the window you have drawn as being fixed in this current plan, and that is all... I would rather have a solid wall in the other places so we can have cupboards.

I am also wondering, considering how teensy this kitchen is, maybe we are better off not attempting to squeeze the Rayburn into it as it seems to be taking up a huge amount of space. Instead we could keep it for the new house and just put the little Kooka stove in and save the space... we could use a solar system for water heating.


Dad's reply (Feb 28):

OK, I'll assume you do not want a galley kitchen such as was originally suggested, and go with no divider behind the bench, including the meals area on the plan as part of the kitchen and the patio doors as part of the kitchen. That leaves the other dividers to create the separation you were asking for last night, and so can create these another time, or draw them into the present plan. If you are using portable furniture to create this sense of separateness of kitchen and lounge, ikea stuff, there is no reason to worry about it now. I will put the windows along the side as planned, and a small window over the sink. You only need a little sink, the drawn one was merely a suggestion. You don't need the Rayburn if you don't want it. Since we are planning to have solar and electric and gas there is no need to fill the space with something that may not be needed by yourselves or guests.


My reply (Feb 28):

No, we don't want a galley kitchen. Sorry, I thought that the divider thing you'd drawn in on the plan WAS the divider I was talking about. I think otherwise we will have so many dividers that it will become cluttered, as the rooms aren't that big. I would like to draw the dividers into the plan as I am not planning to use furniture to get that sense of separateness. They are what separates the lounge from the kitchen. The Ikea stuff, if used at all, would be only for the shelves in the hall, possibly, depending on what else we can get (ie: nothing to do with the dividers). I just know they often do very clever things for storing kitchen stuff away, that sometimes is amazingly cheap (at least here). But for the dividers between lounge and kitchen it will be better to build to our own specifications.

OK about the sink too, sorry I was misunderstanding. Yes, lets have the smaller sink. I'll talk to Dave about the Rayburn, don't want to dismiss it out of hand so quickly, but just as we play around with placements of things in the kitchen which is very small, it seems to take up a giant amount of space... which we have the luxury of in the new house, but not this one.

I had a play around with floorplans in lounge/kitchen, this time overlaying furniture, and came up with a version that I like a lot better. See what you think.



In terms of kitchen layout, the microwave would be on a shelf above the fridge (assuming fridge is approx shoulder height like the one we have here). The sink is as we discussed (ie: single sink) with bench to either side with cupboards below. Perhaps the rubbish bin lives hidden behind the cupboard door on one side of the sink. In the corner (where you originally drew the microwave) perhaps we could even have a teensy full height pantry, with opening door on the diagonal? Just thinking of how to avoid a situation like we have in London with a corner cupboard that is hard to get into the back of" Next to this is another bit of bench (with cupboard underneath) and then the stove... whatever type it may be, slow combustion or normal, still need to talk to Dave about it. Beside the stove there is a short wall with a narrow shelves for storage on the outer side. For consistency, I think this should be the same height as the room dividers (ie: halfway between hip and shoulder height) and if it is the combustion stove and pipes need hiding then part of it would continue up to the ceiling.

cottage: lounge & entry

Here's the email conversation with Dad about the entry and lounge areas of the cottage plans.


Dad's commentary (Feb 26):

Look at proposed extension plan. Enter house at front door. Door to lounge has been replaced with a wall and you enter the open plan of kitchen, passage, lounge area by just going forward and turning right and go past the open bookshelves that are part of the stud network supporting the roof.

Stand beside these shelves and look towards the dam. You will look through the "new" old window which I bought at Healesville. To the right of this window you see an offset portion like a box. This is actually the floor to ceiling housing for the little stove, with the mantlepiece in front.This offset from the wall allows the distance from wooden burnable objects which are needed by the stove and flue. The flue exits the house thru the roof and can be seen in elevation on the plan just above this plan. The idea of the lounge is to allow a twoseater against the wall where the old entry door was and the telly in the corner opposite. The large front window that exist there now remains proudly in place, but restored to its former grandueur. Curtains to draw to either side.


My reply (Feb 26):

I ummed and ahhed about moving the doorway as you propose, started out saying leave it where it was, but then talked myself around to your version! I like how there is a feeling of a mini-hallway when you enter the house before you reach the open entrance to lounge.

As we're moving the door, if there is room I would err on the side of allowing space for a 2.5 seater sofa, just so that there is no risk of it being crammed.

I still think I'd like to have some kind of thing to divide the space between lounge and kitchen, with the bottom part (eg to hip height) as an enclosed cupboard with doors opening onto the kitchen side to provide space for putting the dinner set, etc. Maybe this could also have shallow shelves for CD's / DVD's etc too on the lounge side From hip height up to door height it could just be open (useful extra benchspace for the kitchen if cooking a big meal), or tall spaced shelves without back, so we could display ornaments, etc. And maybe also there could be a divide up high, eg: solid wall from say 20cm above door height up to the tall roof so that we have place to hang pictures and also to reinforce the sense of divide. I really dislike open plan living arrangements, I hate the idea of sitting on the sofa trying to relax and still seeing dishes in the sink!

What if instead of using up extra space in the lounge to make the housing for the woodstove, it instead jutted out onto the verandah, kind of like an old fashioned chimney? This would give us a little extra space inside and it's not like there won't be plenty of verandah... Or, would this mean we lost some heat? I'm not convinced whether I would want this even if it was a possibility, it might ruin the look, and there's something appealing about it jutting out, gives a different shape to the room. But curious to know what you think about it.


Dad's reply (Feb 27):

Will move the door to allow a large lounge to fit on that wall. This wall is supporting the hot water storage tank above it so I will be having larger beams above the present ceiling. I must buy a new tank as the plumber was not happy to use the old one. This tank will also be for the solar heater.( and the gas heater as well if you get one.) The other place where you bought the stove from had LP gas heater outside on the wall to be used when the hot weather precluded the use of the wood stove.

Love your idea of the divide. Will have as you described it. Why not put the divider for the lounge where the old wall was and so avoid the flooring repairs that are needed otherwise? I will be planning to have the lovely baltic pine floors polished (by myself or both of us if it is done when you are here) Obviously I cannot have the divider where the new window goes,but that place is also flexible at present. So get out the scale ruler and make some pieces of paper to represent some furniture you want in the two spaces on each side of the divider and get back to me when you have decided where the divider must go to accommodate your furniture ideas.

I had originally drawn the stove to have the little box outside on the veranda, but the reason you suggested is precisely why I brought in back inside. With the box inside, and no ceiling on the box and it going only about 7 ft high, the air around the flue will be naturally convected up to the ceiling and around the room. Since the woodfire is small, and designed to go into a brick fireplace, it has convection pipes for this very purpose, but which have a little vent above the stove under the mantle to direct heat back into the room. Some of these pipes need replacing, but that is not a huge job. But we can eliminate the little vent, and let the air just go up the box and out the top to the ceiling. As you will have the TV in the corner there shouldn't be a loss of efficiency. You can still arrange the lounge chairs and couchs to back on the divider and face the large front window, and consequently the TV and firestove. The bulkhead over may not be a good idea as it will close the space even more. But that is up to you.


My reply (Feb 27):

I'm not sure what you mean by "open fabric stud walls" We're not planning to have totally open walls between the passage and the lounge, it will still be divided. Remember, the plan is to have something like this:


ie: cupboards down below to say about hip height, then shelves above. So it won't feel totally open-plan but you will be able to see through into the hallway, in the gaps in the shelves. This is partly for light purposes, and partly so the hallway itself can become more of a usable place, not only a passing through area. eg: I would envisage that the phone would live on one of those shelves, with a little chair in the hallway. So you could answer it on the lounge side, or the hallway side depending on where you were when it rang. I don't like totally open-plan, but that doesn't mean it has to be entirely closed up.

In principle, I'm happy to have the divider where the old wall was. But it's hard for me to say for certain because I don't know what the measurements are for those rooms, and I've never been able to stand inside them and get a sense of the space as every time I've visited they've been full of stuff and dark! That is why I'm so sad I never got to see it properly when it was first bought.

What I want is for there to be enough space in the lounge area for there to be an armchair next to the fire, forming a kind of circle with the sofa, and for you to be able to walk BEHIND the armchair comfortably to get to the opening to the kitchen.

I'm happy to leave the fireplace bulkhead as you envisaged, ie: with it being open above. I would like to be able to have a mantlepiece though, so can this be strong enough to support eg: hanging a mirror above it and a small shelf?

I like the idea of the polished floors too.


Dad's reply (Feb 27):

Of course you will have the mantle and shelf and mirror. Why else to use this little stove? And absolutely must have chair to form cosy circle about the fire.
When bought the place the lounge area was 6ft high with lathe debris. You would never have stood anywhere in the room. The room will have the fabric studs as always planned, and there was never a problem with this idea. Alan has drawn as faithfully as he could to your intentions, and my explanations.


My reply (Feb 28):

I had a play around with floorplans in lounge/kitchen, this time overlaying furniture, and came up with an alternative that I like a lot better. See what you think.



I've still got the same kind of wall in the hallways, just playing around with where the openings in it are. Now it is two symmetrical halves, either side of an open area that leads to either the kitchen, if you turn diagonally left, or the lounge, if you turn diagonally right. This seems to work to me as it is similar to our London house in allowing for diagonal entrances to lounge / kitchen areas which thus take up less room. It also might make that little central part, sort of like a hub, into a more usable space as a bit more open.

The window in lounge on fireplace wall has moved up closer to the fireplace. The patio doors have moved down closer to the fridge. (We are not going to be able to put anything in front of fridge area where door needs to open, so may as well have them for the patio door area. That way the patio doors are not obstructed by the table.

The divider between lounge and kitchen is a little higher perhaps than I envisaged before.. maybe it can be inbetween hip and shoulder height, so that it hides the sink a little better from view. I'm seeing it as having shallow shelves for CDs/DVDs etc on the lounge side, and shelves with doors (or rolling covers kind of like rollerblinds but more solid?) deep enough to comfortably fit a dinner plate on the kitchen side. After talking to some friends at work, I'm seriously considering that this could be a freestanding unit, on lockable low castor wheels, so we could shunt it around on the odd occasion we needed (eg: to move big furniture in and out). If that's the case then obviously it doesn't need to go in the plan to council as it'll be a piece of furniture EXCEPT it is important to mark where it will live so as to get the positions of the windows and door openings right.

I am thinking that it might be OK, now the room divider is slightly higher, to forget the idea of a ceiling divider strip (ie; the bit I talked about that would give me places to hang pictures). It would also give us more flexibility in terms of positioning the rolling divider, as it would look odd for that to be out of line with the ceiling divider strip.

Cottage plans have arrived

We're still working on restoring the old cottage, in parallel with developing plans for the "dream house". Last mention of this was in December, when Dad came up with the idea of a 2 storey bathroom.

Now we have some more floorplans for the cottage to comment on, drawn up by Dad's local draftsman.

This is the full A3 page view (click to make it bigger):


This is a close-up of the new floorplan section:


There's been much conversation around the plans; too much to include in one post. Here's links to discussion of various elements:
Lounge and entry
Kitchen and hall
Bathroom
Bedroom and verandah

now it's a 2 storey bathroom

Dad came up with an interesting idea for the bathroom in the old cottage. I still find it a little hard to imagine, so am looking forward to seeing the drawings, but I think it will be really good.

Just to recap, this is where things stood, as of end-October, for the old cottage floorplan. Note the bathroom on the right hand side with the bay window:


Then on Nov 10th we got an email from Dad:
"I want you to consider if you would allow me to build the bathroom
below with a baywindow, but rectangular bay as you described, and along
one wall below create wooden steps winding around to a lofe that rests
on the built-in robes below, with an all glass roof above. Bathroom
below has the vanity set in the bay, the toilet (one of the toilets),
and the shower with surround of some description. If you have seen
the colourbond lined bathrooms with stain-wooden trim and plaster,
painted above the dado line, you would know the look I would like to
create, using a small ripple colourbond. The high ceiling space lends
itself well to this creation. I have the glass for the roofspace I
think".

After discussing with Dave, I replied saying, basically, to go ahead!
"We haven't seen the colourbond lined bathrooms you talk about, but
from your description I imagine it could look really nice... not too
modern, still heritage, but interesting. I can imagine perhaps using
a section of colourbond for a showerscreen too... Assuming that the
bath is in a loft space on top of the wardrobe (in the other room)
that you access via steps... the more I think about it, the more I
can see this could be lovely. The only thing is I think it would be
safest to have some space around it to stand, dry off, etc before you
went down the steps. Otherwise I can imagine it might be quite
slippery & dangerous climbing down as you'll be pretty high up if
it's on top of the BIR's. I love the idea of it having a glass roof
over, it'll create a similar effect to what I was envisioning with
having the bath in the bay window".

On Nov 12th Dad replied:
"will sketch the loft bath, which will have a rather large area of
decking and have hand rails all the way up the stairs and around the
landing. The deck will grand a portion of the bathroom below with a 7'
ceiling bulkhead, but the atrium of the stairs will afford a complet use
of the overhead glass roof. I have a 1200x1200 piece of table glass 1/2"
thick that will be the edge of the shower base with two walls of
colourbond for the other. In the areas not affected by wet, the cladding
below the daddo trim will be selected old palings, with plaster painted
wall above the daddo trim. Will look great if you like the heritage
look. Tiles over the handbasin in the bay window of course, and
tiles on the floor. Or slate. You can input that as I don't have
anything except some cream sandstone tiles that I could use, but which
could clash with the overall look. Will photo these and let you
decide".

So, that's where it's at, to date. We're now waiting on the drawings to get a proper idea of what it will look like.

our temporary verandah

The old house now has a front verandah! It is only temporary but it's a start. Dad built it as a place for the dogs to stay when he's up there, while also giving some protection to the decorative features on the front until he can repair them.

In Dad's words: "I've built a great compound for them from the access scaffold. Scaffold must remain where it is for the duration of the project. Will use other scaffold to gain access to other parts of the building. Spent two days to build it, but it is roofed and walled, with windows and ventilation. The planks are protected from deteriation and yet safe for dogs to use. Can also store other planks on top of them so as to not suffer from termite damage or rot. Much of the timber stored on the ground last christmas has white ant infiltration. Not much damage yet, but given another few months and there would have been"

Here are some pictures:

progress on restoring existing house

So far, the only progress on restoring the existing house has been to tear down the rotting & caved-in extension from the back...



...exposing a wall that also looks in pretty bad shape. Thank goodness it's coming into summer now in Australia, so hopefully won't get too badly wet. Dad's first priority is to build on the verandah which will add protection, and give him a spot to work in wet weather when it comes to repairing the weatherboards.

This photo is also good at showing the wierd shape of the roof. See how it has this crossover bit in the middle? Apparently, almost the entire roof is supported by the hallway walls in the middle of the house. Which, as Murphy's law would have it, is also the section we were planning to knock out.

Now, it could still be done but we'd have to invest in buying heavy supporting beams etc, and we'd rather avoid the expense. So, we've come up with yet another iteration for the floorplan... largely designed on the plane flying back to London!

I'm fed up with designing floorplans (see here, here and here), but I think it was all worth it to get to this, because this is the first one that feels like it properly works, and isn't just a compromise.

Here is the "cottage" floorplan, click to make it bigger:



There are three key elements that distinguish this from earlier drafts.

First, the idea of extending the bathroom out beyond the confines of the existing house shape (an idea from Eric). We like it as not only does it give us extra space, it also adds to the charm of the old house. Dad likes it too, he suggests that it'd be nice to do the extension as a kind of bay window almost, which I can imagine working really well.

Second, the idea of putting a laundry area enclosed on the back verandah. This was often done in old houses, can't believe I didn't think of it before. It saves us a lot of space inside.

Third, and most subtle, is what I'm calling the "open plan compromise". Because we don't want to incur the expensive of buying new supporting beams, we can't knock down the hall walls. But, that doesn't mean we have to have them as solid walls. My idea is instead to leave all the supporting beams exposed and build open shelving around them, kind of like in this:



This will give us extra storage and an effect of open-ness while also preventing the feeling of the entrances opening straight into a room, which I don't like. I figure, if the existing beams are easily sanded we'll paint them. Otherwise I'll just wrap them in fabric or something, I'm sure there's a creative solution.

Dad is going to get some more precise measurements the next time he visits so we can work out exactly where doors are positioned, etc. Then, they need to get properly drawn up for submitting to get building approval.


For now we're focusing on the Cottage. But, just for the sake of completeness, let me also share a potential longer-term version, in which we convert it to be two large bedrooms if we were to ever run it as a B&B. It works, I think, and the only change is to the back corner:

floorplan rethink #2

We've got a totally different idea for the floorplan now. It isn't as economical as the first in that it would need some serious conversion to get from the cottage to the B&B layout. But, the cottage would be a whole lot nicer to live in. The previous one risked being a bit pokey.

This factors in the advice we got from Eric: "I have a real affinity to living areas on the sunny / view side as well as opening it up slightly. I believe that we want to keep the character of the old house, but wonder if we can do that while still opening it up a little. The separate rooms (ie for the dining and kitchen) make me a bit nervous"

Here's the new cottage floorplan layout. (To make it larger, click then select "see different sizes" in the right hand menu to view the original size)



It has a bigger verandah (Dad suggested this would be good to help protect the weatherboards). Also, the bedroom and bathroom are a lot larger, and the lounge is now at the front of the house with the best view. The kitchen is still tiny but better than the first version because it's got more space by virtue of being merged with the dining room. What's been sacrificed is the study (now just tiny); the laundry (now literally just in a cupboard in the corner of the kitchen); and storage.


This would be the longer-term B&B version. The most change happens to the back left side of the house.


The main changes are that all the bathrooms are bigger, and there is now a proper "kids room" (the former study) rather than just bunkbeds in a cupboard! Each room also has its own outside verandah area. The dining room is also bigger. What's been sacrificed is the lounge area - but I figure having the outside space makes up for that.

why the old house can't be the dream house

Greg from Petch House asked an interesting question: Why do we not just make the old house into our dream house?

In fact, this is where I started. Dave was more circumspect - more willing to countenance bulldozing and starting from scratch... which is what everyone suggested, but I refused to consider.

I've always loved old houses, especially wooden ones. I think you can sense when a house is a "good house" just by the feeling you get when you walk through it. This old house has that feeling for me, even though it's a wreck, so I thought it'd be a great "heart" to our dreamhouse if we restored it and built onto it.

But, the agreement Dave & I made was that we'd focus on the dream and not restrict it by insisting we had to incorporate the old house. If it did, great, if not, then we'd just build alongside.

When we got further in terms of working through all the details of the dream with Eric, it became clear we were going to have to make *so* many changes to the old house - making it much bigger, adding a second storey, adding chimneys, playing with the roofline, etc - that it risked swamping it and destroying the charm and character. It was also potentially quite limiting in terms of the design.

So, we've decided to build the dreamhouse from scratch, alongside the old house as if they were neighbouring houses in a village. (We have 30 acres so there's enough space). And separately, to restore the old house to be a cottage fitting to its era, retaining its "face" and keeping it as a distinct structure. This means we can be true-er to the old house's spirit, and it'll be a great guesthouse or something we can rent out if hard up for cash. Now that things have reversed and we're restoring the old house first, it'll also be a lovely place to live during the years we build the dreamhouse.

Lest you think the dreamhouse is a huge modern house... that's not it at all.

Most likely it's only going to have two bedrooms and be quite traditional in terms of the materials & styling. But, it'll include all those quirky things we've imagined. Like unusual seating nooks, a sweeping staircase, an entrance hall with room for a grandfather clock, a tower room, etc etc. (To read the full crazy list click here) and here)

If things go to plan, it won't even be a new house - it'll just be newly assembled. We're aiming for most of it to be made from salvaged materials - leftovers from demolition sites of old houses that Dad comes across; various architectural pieces that I find on Ebay, etc. The goal is to build something that has the soul of an old house, that feels like it could have been there for a century or more, but that fits our dream.

It's hugely ambitious and who knows if we'll ever fully get there. But, it's worth trying for and whatever happens it'll be an interesting experience!

seeking ideas for floorplan

Now we're beginning the repairs on the old house, we need to get the floorplan sorted. I have some ideas but would love to get your opinions and suggestions.

It's a bit complicated because we're designing it with two purposes in mind. It will start out as a self-contained cottage which - although small - will be comfortable for Dave & I, or anyone else to live in. Ultimately though, it will serve as an annex suitable for providing upmarket B&B accommodation.

We don't want to impinge on the design of the "dream house" which will be built on the other side of the cloister. We also want to minimise the cost, which means sticking to the current footprint of the house rather than extending it outwards or upwards. Here's the layout at the moment:

It is basically 3 rooms and a hallway. There used to be a lean-to extension at the back which housed the kitchen and bathroom but they weren't covered by the "new" roof and are beyond saving.

Dave and I played around with a few designs tonight. Here's what we've come up with so far. We're going to run them past Eric (our architect) too, just to make sure we haven't made any monstrous mistakes - but he's focusing on the "dream house" so I don't want to distract him! Any ideas and comments are welcome, please just add them below.

First, this would be the plan for it in the cottage mode (click and then select "original size" to get a bigger view). I've drawn in furniture to scale to give a rough idea of space:


Basically, it would have 1 bedroom with ensuite, study / guest bedroom alongside the laundry (reason for this will be clearer in next plan), cosy lounge, leading to dining area and small but functional galley style kitchen.

Second, this would be the conversion to make it suitable for upmarket B&B:

There's no change to the structural walls. The only changes are, the laundry converts to be the ensuite to what is now the second bedroom (formerly the study); the "linen cupboard" converts to a wardrobe; and the giant walk in wardrobe in the first bedroom converts to house built-in bunk beds, so that if we had anyone with kids staying there'd be somewhere for them to sleep. I've seen this "bed in a cupboard" trick done at a Californian B&B in Sonoma and it worked brilliantly. When you're using the bed you have the sliding door open; at other times you keep it shut and no-one's the wiser.

What do you think?

the devastation we're starting with

We're about to embark on doing up the old house at Amherst. Our original plan had been to keep it as a shed initially so we could focus first on building the new house on the other side of the "cloister garden" ( our new name for the secret garden courtyard which both houses will back onto).

Now (for reasons explained here) the plan is to first repair the old house so that it is liveable as a small cottage. Depending on how long it takes, we'll then either move back and live in it ourselves while we work on building the dream house next door(!) - or we'll rent it out for a few years while we continue to save here.

It's going to take a long time. To give you an idea of the task ahead, here's some pictures of the state it was in when we bought it, about 18 months ago. It had been sitting empty for nearly 20 years! In the few months after we bought it we did some minor fixing up (eg: covering the windows) so it didn't deteriorate further, but it is pretty much still as it looks in these photos. We bought the property for the land; the old house was just the cherry on top.

Let me start with the worst first. This is the inside of the house, the view from the front door:


Basically it's a shell. See all the old lathes everywhere... we're unfortunately going to be replacing them with plasterboard, but I'm going to salvage all the parts and use them to make wooden venetian blinds and plant trellises - so they'll still be part of the house, just a different part! The wood flooring looks awful but according to my Dad it will polish up beautifully.

This is what it looks like from the outside. It has a lovely shiny "new" roof (ie: 20 years old but still in tip-top condition) and similarly "new" foundations. All is structurally sound and because it's so dry there is very little rot in the timbers, which I find amazing considering it's just been left to fend for itself.

We don't know a lot about the house's history, but the planning officer told us it had been moved from Williamstown, a suburb of Melbourne by the sea, and it certainly fits the style of the old houses round there.

Now, just the fact that it has a solid roof and foundations isn't enough to justify doing it up... for me, the real reason is the detailing, which you can see a glimpse of in the next photos. It still has all its original outside trim! Including the wood cut to look like bricks on the front. We'll have to do a lot of repairs but after having seen the transformations done by other housebloggers, I'm confident it can be resurrected.

we're starting

My Dad is a builder - he specialises in carpentry but can pretty much turn his hand to anything construction-related. In recent years though he's worked most of his time at other jobs. However, he's still a registered builder, and discovered last week that to keep his license he needs to have an active project underway. Hence, Dad has asked if he could work on repairing the old house at Amherst, and we've agreed.

We were always intending to involve Dad, but the plan had been to wait till we were living there so we could help and do a lot of it ourselves. Not just to cut down on the costs, but also for the emotional aspect of wanting to be involved. We were also thinking that repairing the old house would be a second phase project rather than the very first thing we do!

Progress will be gradual, at this stage it looks like Dad will spend around 1 weekend a month there. But it means that we'll be able to move faster on protecting the house from deteriorating further. And it's nice to be starting!

the 1st set of architect plans

The mail gods were kind to us... the first set of house plans which Eric prepared turned up yesterday. That's only about a week to get from Australia to London, which is pretty good. I'd thought we'd be lucky if they came before the weekend.

There are 3 options in total, each made up of several A3 pages. This made them a bit difficult to scan, but Dave painstakingly did it in sections and then pieced it all together into a slideshow. You can view them here.

Last night Dave and I spent several hours pouring over them. At this stage, the idea isn't to pick a particular plan, but rather to use them as a series of "what if's". We decided to do it by picking out all the things we liked and all the didn't like about each plan. Dave also went back to the original (incredibly detailed) brief we'd sent, just to remind himself of all the things we'd discussed.

Overall, we have a whole lot of comments on every plan, and some plans sparked ideas that weren't in any of them! Tonight, after we've had a night and a day to think them over, I'll try to write up our thoughts on each option. Right now, if you forced us to pick our favourite of the 3, we agreed it would be option A... but, there are lots of things about option B that we really like too, especially the outer appearance... what I call the "house's face"! In fact, option B is my favourite from the outside. Also, there are a lot of things about option A, as it stands, that we don't like. Anyway, no more commenting for now!.. I'll just finish with an extract from Eric's letter giving his explanation of each plan.

Eric says...

What to look for

"At this stage, I often like to look at very general aspects of the designs like the locations of certain rooms in relation to other rooms. Also, the general look and feel of the buldings. Note any specific features like storage or room sizes that work better than others.

Option A probably comes the closest to strictly answering the design brief. It has the main rooms discussed so far. I've added a walk through dining area because I reasoned that if 10-12 people are visiting for a big meal, it could be difficult to set up a table in a room normally used for something else (therefore losing the use of that room).

Option B would be my preferred direction for the house to take. I like that it is simple and ordered, but less rigid than option A. The form is asymmetrical and the internal spaces connect in more subtle ways than simply walls and doors.

Option C is the black sheep of these options. it is included as a contrast to the other two. Single storey and the courtyard configured differently. Spaces like the study and cooking/eating areas are quite different and shown for discussion purposes.

Siting. I've generally adopted the concept of the buildings being linked together by the private, inward looking garden space. I'll be interested in your thoughts about this"

Summary

"The goal of this early concept stage is to better understand the design problem. On the one hand, this includes understanding the site features which affect the design. On the other hand, a refined understanding of what we want out of the building. At the second design cycle, these can be put together into a good solid concept which suits both your brief and the site. Since I have been absorbed with these designs for the last few weeks, I naturally have some opinions about which options I think work the best, but also encourage you to form some independent opinions of your own."

This is my first experience working with an architect but so far, I am very happy. I would have struggled to get anywhere near to what Eric has done in translating my ideas of rooms and sense of what a space should "feel" like, into practical layouts. If anyone's looking for an architect I whole-heartedly recommend him. Even though he lives in a country town in Australia at the moment, as demonstrated by my experiences he isn't put off by the idea of working with someone on the other side of the world! He's from Oregon originally too, which is one of the things I liked... it means he knows a lot about older styles of building in America (many of which are influences for me), which your typical Australian architect probably wouldn't. So if anyone reading this is thinking about getting some architect input, especially if you're interested in sustainable, energy-efficient building, he might be your answer. Best of all, he charges a flat rate for the first two design cycles, which I found very reassuring compared to other architects where the prices felt open-ended.

email conversations with Eric

Eric is our architect, from Greenpoint design. Over the past week we've had a couple of interesting email conversations that I thought I'd include them here for posterity! I can imagine it will be quite amusing to look back on how we arrived at certain ideas for the design once we're at the other side and the thing is built! Right now, we're just about at the point of getting to see the first iteration of Eric's design, I can't wait.

Here is Eric's email to us from March 8th - and I've interspersed my comments on each point from my email reply:

"I am well and truly back in my office. It's amazing how quickly a week goes. I mentioned that I worked on some concepts for you while in the US. I've continued to developed a couple of ideas since getting back. (It's all on the drawing board and stuck all over the walls of my office right now.) A few themes have emerged which I thought it worthwhile to suggest sooner rather than later.

1. After visiting the site, I feel that the general location of the existing house is a very good one for the rest of the buildings. It is elevated and well drained, has good access and good aspect to both sun and the views to the east.
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Great. Totally sold on that. It felt good to me too instinctively, but I didn't want to insist on it in case there were better spots from an energy efficient point of view.
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2. The existing house seems to be in workable condition. Relatively new roof. The framing will need some repair work, but it is all exposed and easy to get to. Need new linings and finishes both inside and out, but that would give us the opportunity to consider it's appearance in relation to other buildings.
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Very glad to hear. Again, you would have had to work hard to convince me to knock it down, so I'm glad we can avoid that discussion! I'm afraid I get very sentimental about old houses, they have a soul to them far more than modern brick veneer boxes do, so I will always err on the side of saving them. I'm also happy to reconsider it's appearance, as I know it is in dire condition at the moment. But my only slight hesitation is that I do like its style and faded grace. Even though I guess it is a bit incongrous for that kind of house to be there, I like the fancy bits around the door and the lovely little mouldings and the fact that they have survived these past decades of neglect. I even like the fake brick moulded thing in wood at the front side. I suppose what I'm saying is that I'm happy to change but I want to be true to the spirit of the old house. e.g., if we are having a little collection of buildings, maybe that can be the old stately home of our mini-village. :-)
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3. One scenario is too hard to pass up. It is: use the house as a storage shed for the first stage of building, then once you are comfortable in the main house, fix up the old house into the extra bedrooms and accommodation. Most of my ideas so far have assumed something similar to this. It seems a waste not to use the old house.
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Happy with this too. I'm so glad you agree it's a waste not to use it! Most other people seem to think we should just raze it, I felt like I was being really stupid to insist on at least considering we keep it. However I must confess that my first reaction (given that I love old houses) was that the guests will get the best bit(!!), but I know that's just because I can't yet envisage what the new parts will look like. It is so annoying... I can envisage various rooms, even wander round them in my dreams sometimes, but I just cannot figure out how they're joined up.
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4. The new buildings can be either physically connected to the old house or separate. I tend to favour separate buildings for a variety of reasons, but am still very open to options.

5. Siting generally. I'm looking at a matrix of options for how the main house, guest house and other misc outbuilding all relate. Will send some diagrams to help explain options.
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I don't have firm opinions on this yet, I think I'll get a better feel for it when I see some possible layouts. If the old house were to be joined fully, the only place I can envisage it being (so as not to destroy the symmetry) is on the back where the current extension is. I like the concept of keeping it separate though in the sense that it lets it retain its history/sense of identity.
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6. The English garden space. Just on sheer size of this area (10 x 6 or 9 x 5), it seems to be enclosed by several buildings (and/or garden walls) rather that simply enclosed by single U-shaped building. How this garden area relates to the cluster of buildings will, I'm sure, be the source of some good conversation.
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Hmmm... I'm open to suggestions but my instinct is that this should be enclosed by buildings rather than walls (or, at least walls that look like they're part of a building). Because, it isn't just a walled English garden, I want it to feel "secret" too, ie: for you not to be able to tell its there until you come upon it. So, for instance, I don't want you to be able to stand at the front door and
look inside and the first thing you see is a big window onto the secret garden. If one side of the garden perhaps ran alongside a hallway, I wouldn't want huge windows looking onto it along the full length... If the house has a personality, the secret garden is the introvert, private escape bit... other parts like the verandahs are
more extravert, outward looking and social.

I have also grown quite attached to Dave's suggestion that the secret garden should not be rectangular but instead L or T shaped - ie: so you have bits that are secluded and you have to walk around in able to see. This might allow it to be smaller. Or, at least make it easier to have trellis across the roof to support mosquito netting, etc.
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7. Upstairs / downstairs. Also looking at which rooms have ground
floor positions vs upper floor. Again, it should be the source of
conversation.
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I told you I sometimes dream about being in these rooms. Based on that, it feels like the bathroom should be on the ground floor, so it can open out onto the secret garden. Maybe even it could have a very large window that is almost the whole side of the bathroom wall looking onto it, but still private by being a mirror on the garden side?

The kitchen should also be on the ground floor because I envisage it opening onto a verandah.

That's all I know for sure.

If you forced me to say gut feel where the master bedroom should be, I'd say up the stairs above the bathroom, on the second floor, adjoining a little sleeping porch bit... in fact, if the second floor is not that big, maybe the large master bedroom is the only proper room up there? (I'm just musing here, I don't feel certain about
this.
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One of the main quests at this early stage is to determine general positions and orientations of various spaces, so that is very much what I am working on and will send to you. I'm hoping to have something to send very soon.

update on house planning

I haven't posted for ages, mainly because work has been so busy. But, we're at least one step forward on the house planning. Based on the mega brief I wrote back in December, Eric prepared a summarised version which was his own interpretation. Last week we spoke on the phone for about 3 hours (2 separate calls late at night!). Dave and I gave him our feedback and answered questions.... mostly it was all OK but there were a few things that we were worried had been misinterpreted or been given too much emphasis. Eric is now incorporating that into a revised version... and after that he starts drawing! Hopefully that means that in a month or two we'll have the first set of drawing ideas to look at, although there's no rush.

One of the most important things we discussed was the utilities. Here are Eric's comments from an email:
"Two things jumped out as issues to consider early on. One is the idea of
using solar power instead of mains. (We lived for five years out in the
bush with solar power.) Some of the things on the wish list look a bit
ambitious with solar power system unless it is a very big one. Big loads
like air conditioning and dryers are difficult, and small continuous
loads like recharging batteries are surprisingly troublesome. We can
discuss it more later.

Also, dry composting toilets need to be treated very kindly. They like
to be on the north side to get sun to heat the chambers. This starts to
set the location of the bath area. Also, whereas with flush toilet
systems, a second toilet is simply the cost of the toilet and some
plumbing, two composting toilets generally requires the set up of two
full systems. I really like the aerated treatment plant systems because
the water id reused, and there is very little tearing up the ground for
absorption trenches"

After our phone conversation we decided we'd look into wind power as well as solar, and also reconsider whether to connect to the mains or not. Apparently if you can connect to mains for less than about A$20-25,000 it will be cheaper than solar in the long run, once you take into account cost of replacing batteries in 10 years, etc. And of course, you can still have some things solar, eg solar hot water system. We also changed our mind on the toilets and are going to go with Eric's recommendation of an aerated treatment plant system. It means we use water to flush the toilet but it is all recycled so we'll be able to have the cleaned water to go on the garden (onto anything but vegetables apparently). Also it means that we can have more than one toilet... the problem with the dry composting toilet is that if you want to add another one it is the same cost as for the first; whereas with normal plumbing the incremental cost is a lot lower.

email minutiae: ideas of what to do with the house

This is in no particular order, but I came across them in the process of unearthing the other emails.

Mum's email with Dad's initial thoughts on how to renovate house - 22nd Jan 2004

Dad said to start thinking about what you want done with house at Amherst - he wants me to draw plan - he is thinking mezzanine floor, open up all along side facing dam - I am wary, thinking you may want to keep it looking as is for those four rooms both inside and out - and do two storey maybe on the back where you put kitchen,bathroom and laundry etc. and a bedroom ensuite and so on upstairs - could do two bedrooms.. whatever.

Two rooms on side of dam could be opened into one, lounge one end dining the other. Could reinstate fireplace int he middle between the two rooms as well - either keep the wall so you have two separate rroms rather than one open plan one. I am inclined, on a few seconds only reflection, to think if it was me I would want two separate rooms because it is easier to set the table in preparation for a special dinner and then shut the door on it. The lounge then looks out away from the road, ie across the land you have. on the dam side.. but there is nothing really to prevent you making the lounge dining on the other side ie uphill towards the forest away from dam. Either way you could have bigger window put in the sides of the house - and if you put a veranda all the way round, it would be very nice and still in keeping with the style and age of house - for big windows read french door style of thing. What do you think about fireplaces reinstated in the other two rooms, presumably bedrooms? They cost of course and about 10 years ago we added $2000 per fireplace. Presumably maybe Peter would build them but you still need to get the bricks etc and then you want fireplace surrounds.

My reply - 22nd Jan 2004

Re: house, can you send me a drawing of what it looks like at the moment? I'm thinking just something you can draw up by hand and scan in, or just draw up on Powerpoint. Not just with the rooms but where the doorways from the hall into each room are, and where the windows are, approximate measurements, etc. At least as best as you remember. That will help me get a better picture of it in my head. I am inclined to think of opening it out into one big room but still having room dividers, but the room dividers being shelving. Like the library shelves in the John Soames museum (which were like pillars) and also perhaps with room dividers like the painting walls. Dad will hopefully remember them from the museum, it was the one place I took him and specifically pointed these things out as I knew that one day would want to use the ideas. We will also do creative things with mirrors too, like having small mirrors in the panelling etc, it's a great way to make it feel light and even more spacious. Again, another John Soames idea that I will apply the next time I am redoing a house from scratch.

I had been thinking of keeping the 4 rooms intact just because seemed a shame to waste the nice roof that was there and I don't want to lose the height. Tall ceilings are wonderful and something that I miss in modern houses. Then extend out the back, and yes, probably double storey to get views. But I would like to think about it more when I have a sense of the plans. Regardless of what we do I think fireplaces, even if it's just those mock ones with those fake gas or electric fires that look real, in all the old rooms. But at least one real one would be good. I love fireplaces in rooms, they help give it a heart. I still vividly remember the lovely fireplaces in a house we looked at buying in Neasden, back before we bought Olive Road. It had all the original fireplaces in it, there were about 6 in total, all with lovely tile work. It was a wonderful house. Just in a terrible position, nowhere near transport and next to a car yard and not a safe area. But the house itself was wonderful.

Enough about the house anyway... don't want to get too carried away for another few weeks till it is all sorted.

The house

Continuing on... Yes, as of March this year we purchased the property without having seen it - but it's not as crazy as it sounds. We hadn't seen it ourselves in person, but my parents had visited it on our behalf and emailed us lots of photos.

My Dad in particular is a very good judge of the possibilities of land and buildings, as not only is he a carpenter but he grew up in the Alaskan outback. So, when he looked at this shell of a house which to anyone else would seem beyond saving, he noticed the good things. Like the fact that there was no rot in the timbers, and the building frame was all still solid and intact, at rightangles except for the tacky little extension that was thrown on the back . How the floorboards were the old original ones that even though they looked old and worn now would polish up brilliantly with a bit of effort. Even how the ornate old sash windowframes, long minus their glass, weren't beyond saving. And how, stored up in the rafters of the house were a lot of weatherboards and other things, many of the raw materials for restoring it.

I've always loved old houses, especially ones crafted in wood. They seem to have a soul and spirit that modern built houses lack. So this house, an old Victorian weatherboard that the Council later told us was moved there from Williamstown (a suburb by the sea in Melbourne) in the mid 1980's. It was given a new roof and new stump foundations on arrival, and then largely left alone for the next 20 years. Now we have an opportunity to bring it back to life. It's a mammoth task though, as you can see from these pictures. These are from the set taken by my parents on that very first visit. If it hadn't been for my Dad's building advice, we wouldn't have had the confidence to take it on.

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