Branford Bike: Floor Plans and Elevations

On July 30th, 2006 a massive forest fire destroyed my business, home, greenhouse and garage. I decided to rebuild. Rich Spallone suggested that I design the house with Broderbund Home Architect 4.0. The program is easy to use but has a few limitations. My limitations are greater for I have no formal training in architecture. Lack of time and insurance money precluded hiring a professional. Thus I accepted the responsibility of designing my own home and resigned myself to living with my mistakes. Readers and eventually visitors can judge whether my attempt was noble and successful or misguided and shortsighted.

I endeavored to follow the teachings of Vitruvius and Andrea Palladio when designing this home. The front porch or portico should have fluted Ionic columns instead of wood timbers for supports. Column spacing will be offset and should frame the door. The porch sides are to be open like a Greek temple. Small, wide steps will lead to the driveway which is six feet lower in elevation and 20 feet away in distance. An open roof and balustraded balcony will sit on top of the porch. Pilasters and a small pediment might be nice looking surrounding the door and first floor window to your right. This will be the main entrance and opens with two eight foot tall doors into the central entry hall.
The ground floor turret windows on your left are 40 inches wide and 80 inches tall. On the second floor they are 40 inches wide and 60 inches tall. They have approximately 12 inches of clearance on either side for decorations. The ground floor window on your right is 48 inches wide by 80 inches tall. Above it, the window is 40 inches wide by 60 inches tall.

South is the direction at the TOP of all the plans. Thus east is on the LEFT side and west is on the RIGHT side.

The basement has eight inch rebar reinforced concrete walls, a full concrete floor and a nine foot ceiling. It will eventually house a workshop, kid's playroom, full bath, laundry room, spare bedroom, game room, utility room and a small storage room. The kid's playroom, game room and spare bedroom contain 48 by 48 inch windows that open to spacious wells. The windows provide some light, but more importantly, act as an emergency escape route in case of fire. The workshop also contains a 48 by 48 window for light, emergency escape and access to a fireproof, below ground, concrete storage vault.

The first floor has more symmetry than the basement. Note the X axis which goes through the front door and north portico, past the entranceway and stairs, through the kitchen and out through the veranda. The Y axis goes through the side porch or west portico and follows a hall where it meets the X axis.
I designed the windows to be symmetrical for the side of the house they are on. Second floor window centers align perfectly with first floor windows. The east side of the house is open to a 50 mile panoramic view of the snow capped Absaroka mountains. Emigrant Peak rises almost 11,000 feet into the heavens and is only eight miles away.
I would like to add a decorative cornice and frieze under the eaves. Perhaps I could divide the first floor from the second floor with a frieze also. Some sort of quarry cut stone block siding would look good for siding. Columns and pediments window surrounds would work best on the first floor. Perhaps arches with keystones and two corbels along the jamb will adorn the second floor windows.

A balcony sits on top of the veranda. I would like to put Ionic fluted columns in the veranda and then create a Palladian balcony with classic balusters. A gable above the balcony, and set in line with the back wall, was skillfully turned into a pediment by Aaron and Justin. The balcony has an open roof and is connected to the library via eight foot tall, double doors. Maybe I will place a few half columns or flatter, pilasters around the doors and a small pediment over them.
The hip style roof has a 6/12 pitch and will be covered with Vande Hey Raleigh Rivera style tile.

Visit the Vande Hey Raleigh site at vrmtile.com/ by clicking on the underlined text.

The east side has a panoramic view of the Absaroka mountains; thus big, wide and undivided windows. Note that the driveway circles the house and passes about six feet lower the house grade on the east side. All outside features here will draw the viewer's eye upward.

A flat, V shaped, piece of land extends about 250 feet away from the house on the east side. The wide part of the V is about 300 feet across and next to the house. Eventually I would like to turn this piece of land into a formal symmetrical garden with many pleasant walkways. Perhaps I will place a circular Greek Temple in the middle of the gardens with white gravel walkways emanating from it. On the front of the V a cliff drops for about 600 feet. Eventually I will place a balustrade along the cliff's edge and create a block paved patio behind it. It would make a wonderful place for a summer cook-out under the stars.

The south side has the afore mentioned veranda and balcony. I will change the veranda into a portico with ionic columns while creating an open roofed balcony with classic balusters above. Note the divided windows on the second floor. I added a pencil grid that divides the big panes into smaller ones which should fill the upstairs rooms with alternating patterns of warm sunlight and shadows.

The west side opens to a 75 foot expanse of flat yard, a curving, looped driveway and 60 foot carved hill beyond. This part of the yard gets the least sun because the steep 60 foot carved hill rises to the top of the mountain behind it. The porch I will turn into a portico with Ionic columns. The gable will be a small pediment. Basement doors open to the side of the porch. The west or backyard will be wide and flat.
During the spring and summer the sun peaks over the top of the western ridges until almost dusk. I added grids to the upstairs windows to catch the light and let it dance with shadows inside my home.