Friday, April 23, 2010

Olivia's Courtyard

When I was in 6th grade, I was invited to a birthday party at a really cool house. I had never seen a house with an outside on the inside. I was fascinated. Yesterday, my daughter and I were surfing the net looking at real estate when I noticed my classmate Olivia's house was up for sale so I decided to try to create a court yard house that had all my essential elements.


With 2831 square feet, this is one of my bigger houses. I chose to make the bedrooms fairly large so that intergenerational living would be fairly easy, but the bedroom wing of the house could easily be sectioned off to accommodate another bedroom or two. The master bedroom has direct access to the inner courtyard as do the family and living areas. The large laundry room opens into the master bath, featuring a garden tub and a large walk in shower. The family room can be opened to the kitchen with large double doors, or hidden from view if entertaining guests in the formal living and dining area. Of course there is a large pantry and plenty of closet space. The court yard itself has endless possibilities ... a hot tub, small pool or pond, enclosed with a skylight roof, or no roof at all ... Hope you like it!


God Bless You All! ~Grama Sue

10 comments:

  1. Nice one. I am from India and most of the Indian homes (Old) were like this.

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    1. How do you handle mosquitos at night?

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  2. Big House. When adult children move away they don't come home for years and then the big house is sold to downsize for the couple . Been there done that. Dream Houses are not other people's dream. I love floor plans. This one is beautiful. Pres. Nixon had a hose with a courtyard in the center. I always like it. Today, PINTREST.COM is fun to use for purpose and pleasure. I grew up in a large family. We all went our ways. My small family went their ways. Nude days if we want. LOL

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  3. Love the versatility versatility of the floor plan

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  4. In colder climates, the courtyard can be roofed with a double-glazed greenhouse roof. In hot climates the courtyard can be left open; but remember, you will need a closable exit to the outside just to get rid of garden waste. Hot tubs are actually ugly when you're not in them ; make a classic 4-square garden with benches and a small central fountain instead, you will enjoy it more. If you think carefully, you can have few or no windows on the outside perimeter for good "defensible" security; make all walls facing courtyard windows, with curtains for privacy, and you can "have the outside viewable from the inside". Alternatively, when you have the "empty nest" reconfigure one or two wings separate from your living quarters, and non-accessible to the courtyard (which you keep private for yourself) and rent them out for retirement income.

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  5. The idea is perfect. Would you be able to give the dimensions in metric terms ? We are selling our house and we will move to the Western cape Province (South Africa). Having been subjected to armed robbery we will relocate in shipping containers and I am doing plans in order to accommodate our furniture (mainly antiques). I will definitely consider your layout. Much safer for us than an ordinary house.

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  6. | look around and see much similar conditions in terms of security. Im in Kenya +254723559138.please share your container plans on watsapp. Im interested in a similar building in future.

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  7. My son had a project when he was young to create a floor plan and estimate the cost of building in a math class in jr. high. We created something similar in a model form but always wanted to put it down in a blue print style and build it. It had a long slightly narrower pond with trees in the middle of it and the floor plan was open. I still have it in my head and this plan is the closest I have seen to our vision. Really love the concept and your site. Thanks for sharing

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  8. What program did you used to do this? Family room can turn into another bedroom and sitting room into home officer? What do you think?

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