• Susan
  July 7, 2023, 8:51 am

  It’s a really odd layout… the spaces in the living room under the lofts are not utilized well… the designers had very little imagination… some built-in there would have been one good idea… the kitchen back behind the bedrooms is so weird… swap the bathroom and kitchen locations … put the living room there over the or just above the kitchen and the sleeping areas at one end of the unit… or do what is mostly done and put the main sleeping area in the gooseneck… i think this design is all wrong…

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  • James D.
    July 8, 2023, 12:53 pm

    It may not seem like it but it’s actually a very advance design that goes above and beyond what most do. There are just always trade offs and it something to be understood that other people are not all going to share the same preferences and priorities.

    For example, not everyone likes the kitchen to be part of the main living space and want clearer separation, especially when that shared space may include the bathroom, which this layout does provide that separation. A separation that also makes it easier to keep messes and odors from the rest of the home, the vent hood, for example, only has a short run up and through the roof and that’s less visible from the exterior than having the vent go through the side wall.

    Another example, is not everyone wants to crawl through a loft and the gooseneck only provides an 8×8 space at most and would not help with the space of any actual lofts placed anywhere else in the home. So there has to be a more advance layout to provide the ability to stand in or by the loft, which this layout provides.

    Providing these features just means there has to be a trade off for other spaces to make these layout features possible but there’s always other options for how the other spaces can be used to optimize their usage.

    While, another thing to understand, is not everything is just as it seems. In this case, these are photos from the builder, before they delivered the home to the owner, which means everything is only staged and not how it will be when the owner actually moves into it.

    For example, in the bathroom, the photo showing the sink and the alcove space to the right of it only has some small bits of furniture and plants there but that’s actually where the washing machine and dryer units will go, side by side. Similarly, the living room can have a lot more there than is shown and is probably what the owner intends.

    Hopefully, that helps better understand this design and layout. It’s okay if you still think it’s all wrong, that’s going to be the case for custom builds because what’s someones dream home can be what someone else considers a nightmare and vice versa. I’m just pointing out why someone would choose this design and layout, not trying to convince you to like it, but the nice thing about custom is someone else can just choose an up to completely different design and layout for themselves…

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    • Susan
      July 8, 2023, 6:55 pm

      Hi James. I see your posts around most of the listings; are you affiliated with the Tiny House Talk?

      This is not an ‘advance’ design in any way. It’s a ‘custom’ design. As for your explanation and defense of the design, it’s not really necessary.

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      • James D.
        July 8, 2023, 9:47 pm

        I just help out, mostly doing research and providing information. While I mainly comment to correct misinformation and promote understanding, which is I believe important to promote.

        You don’t have to agree but like I said before, you don’t have to like it or consider it a good design, but make no mistake that it is an advance design and I’m simply stating this to be accurate for what actually went into creating this design and separate that from what the owner’s preferences and priorities did with it.

        Features like having the split loft, for example, so you can actually stand and walk around the loft is in no way simple or easy to do. It requires the ability to do some engineering and a fairly high level of craftsmanship, which is why it’s so rarely seen in most other tiny houses.

        Understand, the loft is structural and splitting it up, with platforms at 2 or more different levels, has to account for that or it’ll compromise the structure of not only the loft but of the house as well.

        While this also requires more detailed considerations of how this effects the lower space. Since, you can’t have standing height in both the loft and the space below it when the entire height of the structure is less than 2 stories.

        So the design has to arrange non-standing height space usage below, where the standing height is provided for the loft, but still arrange it to allow the space below to be usable and easy to access and often at the same time make those considerations for the loft as well.

        This takes careful considerations of all trade offs, as you can’t always simply place things wherever you may wish without it negatively effecting something else in the design. Along with understanding what limitations design options may impose. Like I already pointed out the gooseneck only provides up to a 8×8 space and that can be considered too small depending on how that space will be utilized, versus options like the standing loft that can be as large or as small as the utilization requires.

        Being more advance just doesn’t mean it will be used like how you may prefer by someone else, which is the primary issue with custom builds as it’s only ideal for the person it is built for but others may not like it at all.

        While, again, you’re only seeing it staged and not how the owner will actually use it. There’s a lot of ways the living room and other spaces can be utilized. Built-ins aren’t the only way and the owner may just want the ability to change things around later, which built-ins would prevent or make very difficult.

        Point being, there’s a difference between whether you agree or disagree with the owner’s choices from what it took to actually build it and how much went into creating it.

        Also, just because details like the builder’s staging not utilizing all of the space doesn’t mean the owner won’t be when they finally move into it and just seeing the home before this doesn’t provide all the details and reasons behind the owner’s choices.

        So, it’s also the point that you’re not seeing it in the actual context of what the owner intends and context is very important to understanding why other people made the choices they did, which in turn is important to actually judge it fairly and accurately…

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• Susan
  July 9, 2023, 12:49 am

  Hahahaha, James I wrote pretty clearly how I “see” this unit. And it is just my opinion,  I have a good understanding of TH… I’m learning lots all the time, too. Your thought of how you’re perceived as ‘helpful’ may be a stretch and incorrect.  The beauty of this Tiny House Talk publication for me is that I can see what other people are building… how other people are making use of different spaces… and what new and different ideas, makes, models, etc. are out there! 
  Anyway, it’s sort of a whatever, really. And James, no need to reply to me here, 🙂 Thanks anyway.

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• Christina
  December 20, 2023, 6:40 pm

  Hi! This house was designed around several large pieces of heirloom furniture & some artwork that is important to the homeowner. So the alcoves under the loft landings (and all the various spaces in the house really) are allocated to specific furniture/usage.

  The homeowner is still getting settled but when her “lived in” photos & video are ready I will be sure to share them on our page for this house.

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  • Natalie C. McKee
    December 21, 2023, 5:19 am

    We would love to see them! It was a great home.

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