Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Victorian House Plans

A brightly painted exterior, welcoming covered or wrap-around front porch and detailed ornamental elements adorning the facade easily identify Victorian home designs. Turned posts, spindles, brackets under the eaves, detailed scrollwork, and gingerbread decorating are some of the ornate characteristics of Victorian home plans made possible by the introduction of mass production manufacturing techniques. Bay windows, wide verandas, turrets, and grand towers may be incorporated into a Victorian floor plan. Victorian house plans are composed of one or two levels having an asymmetrical layout and an irregular roofline in which gables face several directions and roof pitches vary. Victorian style front doors are generally four-paneled with no or narrow sidelights, while windows tend to be long and narrow and sometimes incorporate bays. Thanks to their irregular exterior shape, Victorian floor plans tend to be free form and rambling.





House Plans,House Plan ideas,Home Plans,Home Plans ideas: Farmhouse Plans,Farm House Plans

Living Room Decorating ideas

Farmhouse Plans,Farm House Plans

Our farmhouse plans are used to build homes in many rural settings, not just on farms. Farmhouse plans (or farm house plans, as many people prefer to spell it) are popular all over the U.S., and can be built to be suitable in just about any climate. Farmhouse floor plans have changed over the years to adjust to more modern and open uses of space, particularly in the common areas of the house. Country farmhouse house plans produce homes that seem to “fit” many rural settings. Most of our farmhouse plans were designed by architects who either grew up in the country, or moved there to enjoy a quieter and more peaceful life. If it’s a farmhouse you wish to build, we hope you find the perfect one within our ever-growing portfolio of farm house plans! Farmhouse Floor Plans Common Characteristics of Farmhouse House Plans: * Usually hipped roofed (sometimes gabled) * Often with hipped dormers * Traditionally roofed with split wood shingles * Clapboard siding * Typically two stories * "Cubic" shape main house with smallish footprint * Projecting eaves * Large porch with square supports * Typically with simple 1 over 1 double-hung windows.




Farmhouse Plans,Farm House Plans

Solar House Plans

We offer a wide array of solar house plans and energy efficient home plans. Our solar home plans were created by architects who are well known and respected in the passive solar community. Properly oriented to the sun, homes built from passive solar house plans require much less energy for heating and cooling.
Solar House Plans
Common Characteristics of Passive Solar Home Plans:

* Refers to both design (Passive) or construction (Active) features
* Passive Solar orients home to take advantage of site
* Takes advantage of clean, healthy and free solar energy
* Proper design is warm in winter and cool in summer
* Abundant windows on south side typical
* Operable windows to control heat gain.






Wheelchair Accessible House Plans


It's a rare occasion to be looking for a wheelchair accessible house and actually find one. It's much more realistic to buy a house that you love for its inherent qualities and invest the time and money necessary to customize your accessible dream home. Or better yet, how about building! Building a home from the ground up is the ultimate way to achieve the house you've always wanted, equipped with every feature you could possibly imagine. First things first, you're going to need a plan.

Innovative homeowners and builders are the masterminds behind the numerous plans available today that anticipate the limitations and needs of wheelchair users. As the population of North America ages, the demand for accessible housing will increase. This means the variety of home plans available will also get larger, underlining the enduring desire for independent living. By definition, accessible design basically refers to a dwelling that meets certain requirements to achieve accessibility and more plans are constantly in development.

You want comfort, a reflection of your personality, and functionality for your wheelchair accessible home, all without breaking the bank. People in wheelchairs face many of the same challenges in home design as anyone else, but with the added consideration of how to achieve the most independence. An 'accessible home' could include the addition of grab bars and widened doorways, to full-scale elevators. For an individual in a wheelchair, the goal is to be able to do whatever you want to do with little or no assistance from others, and this can mean something different for everyone.

An accessible home often includes larger doorways, fewer obstacles and modified bathrooms and kitchens. For wheelchair users, ramps are a must-have modification at home. This includes the consideration of entrance width (a minimum of 32-inches for a wheelchair), perhaps with swing clear, offset door hinges. Lower counter heights are also a good idea, and many consider installing a drop leaf shelf for extra workspace. Add easy to use hardware on drawers and cupboards, as well as custom made storage systems. These minor details will end up making major differences.