This is a provisional floorplan. We expect to make some changes. I want to camp out a few times on the land to before we make a final decision. That way I'll know where the sun falls and the direction of the wind.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Floorplan
This is a provisional floorplan. We expect to make some changes. I want to camp out a few times on the land to before we make a final decision. That way I'll know where the sun falls and the direction of the wind.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Whittling down
After comparing estimates and plans from Fonte and Khome's, we decided to ask Khome's to continue planning.
Fonte make beautiful, solid houses with great attention to detail. Also their approach to customer care is very thorough and thoughtful. There are some complex matters to navigate and they are very helpful with that. However, these things necessarily come at a price, and even at the initial planning stage, Fonte's proposed house overran our budget and involved some very big compromises in terms of size and features. Ultimately we decided that we should forego some of the finer touches in favour of affordability and function.
The Khome's plan met most of our requirements for size, function, and price, with a design that fits the location well. We were very pleased to see something as well-thought out on the first draft.
Now we have to think carefully about what refinements will be necessary, and how important they are to us.
Fonte make beautiful, solid houses with great attention to detail. Also their approach to customer care is very thorough and thoughtful. There are some complex matters to navigate and they are very helpful with that. However, these things necessarily come at a price, and even at the initial planning stage, Fonte's proposed house overran our budget and involved some very big compromises in terms of size and features. Ultimately we decided that we should forego some of the finer touches in favour of affordability and function.
The Khome's plan met most of our requirements for size, function, and price, with a design that fits the location well. We were very pleased to see something as well-thought out on the first draft.
Now we have to think carefully about what refinements will be necessary, and how important they are to us.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Khome's plan
Today we went to visit Kadota-san at Khome's. He surprised us with a 3D mockup of the house and garden. The roof and second floor lifted off to show the floor plan, which makes it very easy to see what the plan would be like to live in.
More food for thought.
We won't be parking 4 cars there, so we can use that space to better effect. The south-facing roof will accomodate a big solar array.
Monday, July 03, 2006
From the other side
Having bought the land, we decided to have a look at the neighbourhood that it's located in (the wrong order I know). After checking that all the sasa grass and thorn bushes haven't grown back overnight, we followed the road in front of our hill to have a look at the land from the other side.
We're quite well satisfied with how it looks. We also had a look at some of the large ponds dotted about the area. Fishing looks like it might be good.
We're quite well satisfied with how it looks. We also had a look at some of the large ponds dotted about the area. Fishing looks like it might be good.
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