{"id":1476,"date":"2017-08-14T15:06:27","date_gmt":"2017-08-14T15:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/?p=1476"},"modified":"2024-10-08T13:01:29","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T13:01:29","slug":"choosing-the-house-location","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2017\/08\/choosing-the-house-location\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a New House \u2013 Choosing the House Location"},"content":{"rendered":"

The original house was going to be a ranch. We were looking at modulars and plans that were about 40\u2019 at the front and 27\u2019 or so deep. We had measured and laid it out on the land and it fit perfectly. The driveway would wind around to the garage. The bedroom would be on the left, with the view of the brook. The back porch would overlook the little woods. The garage would be on the side we are selling, so we wouldn\u2019t be as close there\u2026<\/p>\n

But now the house is going to be square. A few days before the contractor was coming out to give us a price on the grading and site prep, we went out with a tape measure to lay out where we wanted the house. We went to Lowes and bought some of the bright flags and started putting them out. And ran into a problem.<\/p>\n

\"Choosing<\/a>
The garage is easy to pull in to. But we\u2019ve lost the view.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The prettiest view is where the flood plain stripes are. That looks down toward the brook, which is near the word Comet on the map.<\/p>\n

\"Choosing<\/a>
You can still pull into the garage pretty easily, but the best view is in the guest room and Cliff\u2019s office, which will have so many boxes and things in the way he\u2019ll never appreciate it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We turned the house every way we could think of.<\/p>\n

\"Choosing<\/a>
I hate this. It is exactly in the center, but the only view is out the guestroom and my office window.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every way we did it, we had problems. The back porch no longer has a view of the woods because it is too close to the property line. We would have to cut the trees down. We would have a view of someone else\u2019s woods and who knows what they may do? We turned the house every which way and\u2026 well\u2026 there are only so many ways to turn a square house. If you put the house where the view is, you no longer have the view.<\/p>\n

\"Choosing<\/a>
The garage is all the way around the house. But the living room, dining room and porch have the view. Our bedroom will kinda have the view if we move the windows, but I won\u2019t be able to see the brook.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We came up with a compromise, but I wasn\u2019t really happy with it. I was really, really not happy with it.<\/p>\n

That night I couldn\u2019t sleep. I started playing with Photoshop (actually Fireworks). I made a copy of the house plans and made it to scale to the land survey. Then I started moving it around to find the options. I printed them all up to discuss with Cliff when he woke up. (The pictures above are some of what I made.)<\/p>\n

\"Choosing<\/a>
This will work! The view is perfect!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And I had an epiphany! We had not considered building in the front of the land. But if we put the house there, we have the view! The whole view. With no house on it!<\/p>\n

AND it would make everything else cheaper. Less expensive to put in the driveway. Less expensive to run water, power and gas. No issue with getting snowed in. (It doesn\u2019t happen often, but it won\u2019t happen at all if we are on the paved road.)<\/p>\n

We can move the windows. We don\u2019t need windows to look at the neighbors. Just open to the back to look out over the field toward the brook.<\/p>\n

When Cliff woke up, I started selling him on it. He was less enthusiastic than I was. He really liked the idea of being in the exact center of the land. But when we went out with our little flags again and laid it out and stood in what would be our rooms, he was convinced. It works. It works great! The only problem is, this idea puts the house right in the flood plain. What does it take to build in a flood plain?<\/p>\n

Can you build in a flood plain? ><\/a>
\nGrading Above Flood Plain ><\/a>
\nProgress Report ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The original house was going to be a ranch. We were looking at modulars and plans that were about 40\u2019 at the front and 27\u2019 or so deep. We had measured and laid it out on the land and it fit perfectly. The driveway would …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[31],"tags":[84],"class_list":["post-1476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-house","tag-flood"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/featured_image-survey-house.jpg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4026,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/pouring-the-concrete-floor-in-the-garage\/","url_meta":{"origin":1476,"position":0},"title":"Pouring the Concrete Floor in the Garage","author":"Carla","date":"August 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Today they finished the concrete floor in the garage. Earlier they had built the form at the end of the garage and at the side door. Preparing to Pour the Concrete Garage Floor > They did not put in any metal. We used fiber reinforced concrete instead. The fibers can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Our New House"","block_context":{"text":"Our New House","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/new-house\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pouring the Concrete Floor in the Garage - Project Small House","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/featured_image-concrete-pour.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/featured_image-concrete-pour.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/featured_image-concrete-pour.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/featured_image-concrete-pour.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4028,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/finishing-the-concrete-in-the-garage\/","url_meta":{"origin":1476,"position":1},"title":"Finishing the Concrete in the Garage","author":"Carla","date":"August 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier they had built the form at the end of the garage and at the side door. Preparing to Pour the Concrete Garage Floor > Today the cement truck poured the concrete. This post is a continuation of Pouring the Concrete Floor in the Garage > They started working right\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Our New House"","block_context":{"text":"Our New House","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/new-house\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Finishing the Concrete in the Garage - Project Small House","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/featured_image-concrete-finish.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/featured_image-concrete-finish.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/featured_image-concrete-finish.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/featured_image-concrete-finish.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7155,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/covered-walkway-on-a-farmhouse-style-house\/","url_meta":{"origin":1476,"position":2},"title":"Covered Walkway on a Farmhouse Style House","author":"Carla","date":"September 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"When I first bought the log cabin, I wanted some kind of roof over the steps. I explained to my brother that I wanted some way to get from the house to the garage without being rained on. He brought me an umbrella. When we visited Hilton Head Island last\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Research"","block_context":{"text":"Research","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/research\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Covered walkway","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/featured-farmhouse_covered_walkway-HH.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/featured-farmhouse_covered_walkway-HH.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/featured-farmhouse_covered_walkway-HH.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/featured-farmhouse_covered_walkway-HH.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3862,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/preparing-to-pour-the-concrete-garage-floor\/","url_meta":{"origin":1476,"position":3},"title":"Preparing to Pour the Concrete Garage Floor","author":"Carla","date":"July 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier they poured in gravel. A lot of gravel. They framed the floor. They put wood at the doorways to act as a form. They smoothed out the gravel and laid down a vapor barrier. Just thick sheets of plastic. The garage floor will be sloped. They marked the slope\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Our New House"","block_context":{"text":"Our New House","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/new-house\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Preparing to Pour the Concrete Garage Floor - Project Small House","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/featured_image-concrete.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/featured_image-concrete.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/featured_image-concrete.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/featured_image-concrete.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5226,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/garage-door\/","url_meta":{"origin":1476,"position":4},"title":"Garage Door","author":"Carla","date":"November 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"When we drove to the new house on Monday, we saw a truck that said U Save Insulation and Fireplaces. Confusing. I thought the insulation was done and we are not having Schumacher put in our fireplaces. They were installing the garage door. 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