Three architects. Narrow urban lot. 2,300 square feet.
These were the key ingredients in a challenge for three new houses in a “challenge” to design three homes for buyers who want to live in existing or redeveloping neighborhoods so they can walk to shops, schools and community events.
This housing equivalent of a “bake-off” by leading chefs was one of the highlights of the recent 2005 International Builders’ Show here.
The three-bedroom, two-bath homes are about the average size of most new homes built in the U.S. They illustrate how radically different architecture, designed for buyers of varying ages and needs, can be compatible even in densely packed neighborhoods.
And if some of the home features were expensive–as ingredients are in most fancy recipes–the show homes had enough good ideas to justify the time of those who toured them during the four-day trade show.
“Building on small lots is a challenge,” admitted Houston-based David Weekley, whose firm has constructed about 40,000 homes mostly in the Southern tier of the U.S.
“They are very saleable houses,” he said, adding that ideas or features no doubt will “creep” into production housing though there are no plans to reproduce these houses because they are custom designs.
With lavish use of interior details, gourmet kitchens and fancy baths, these homes will sell for $800,000 to $950,000 compared to same-size production neighbors which sell for $500,000 to $650,000.
Dubbed the New Urban Challenge, the project was constructed by Builder and Home magazines teamed up with builder Weekley and three architecture firms — Mithum Architects Designers Planners, Studio for Civil Architecture and Geoffrey Mouen Architects. It gave the architects and a number of product suppliers a chance to strut their stuff during the annual trade show that drew an estimated 100,000 attendees.
Weekley is one of the largest builders specializing in traditional neighborhood development, also known as TND, which advocates such features “traditional” neighborhood features such as front porches, sidewalks, and garages on alleys behind the house. The TND rationale is that such features promote neighborhood interaction and community.
Whether the theory is true or not, the reality is that much production housing is being built on smaller lots than a decade ago. Yet many new home buyers want bigger houses even as prices continue to climb; so builders are looking for designs that “live large” on ever-tighter lot sizes and within a growing array of municipal guidelines.
The Urban Challenge homes, built on 45-by-120-foot lots, fulfilled the “live large” requirement, especially with space in the bonus rooms above the two-car garages at the back of the lots.
They also illustrate three striking trends in contemporary housing:
– The demise of the formal living room, which one expert at the IBS declared would disappear, except from high-end homes, within five years.
– Increasing sophistication in integrating outdoor space with the interior of homes; and
– The sometimes schizophrenic effort to design housing that is both high-tech and high touch.
Designers and builders in these and other show homes in Orlando couldn’t seem to decide whether to show more old-fashioned window seats or flat-screen televisions.
Tucked into one of two rows of residences sharing a common green space, the Urban Challenge houses are part of an 1,100-acre development on the site of the former Orlando Naval Training Center.
The development is about two miles from downtown Orlando. It is bordered by established housing, some quite modest, and is not far from a bustling Asian commercial district.
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For downsizing empty-nesters, Bill Kreager, principal of Seattle-based Mithun Architects Designers Planners, designed a shingled house with cottage details, a first-floor master suite and attached garage.
“This is not a pretentious home,” said the 50-ish Kreager, whose four daughters are grown. This is a plan for people who no longer need to impress and no longer have a need for a stairway for a dramatic entrance on prom night, he said.
The interior floor plan of the home is roughly in the shape of a C, with the entry and a formal dining room at the front of the house.
The family/living room is behind the entry and opens to a kitchen and breakfast area behind the dining room.
The master bedroom suite at the back of the house, the living room, kitchen and breakfast room open onto a covered side courtyard with a tiny garden.
The courtyard is an island of serenity and privacy, but might not have worked nearly as well if the blank wall of the house next door had any windows.
Behind the dramatic high-ceilinged living/family room is a spacious master suite with a large bathroom, walk-in closet and access to the courtyard.
A narrow laundry room/mud room to the left of the master suite opens into the two-car garage. Atop the garage, with a private entrance on the alley, is a charming one-bedroom apartment with a small kitchen in a corner of the light-filled living room.
Designed as a rental space, quarters for a caregiver, temporary living space for a returning adult child or even a guest apartment, the garage unit works well, but, unfortunately, the second floor above the front of the house does not.
Mindful of the storage required by active adults with years of family mementos, Kreager shoe-horned in a narrow storage room as well as a wall of cabinets in a hall at the expense of the guests relegated to two small bedrooms and a painfully narrow upstairs bath.
Next door, New York City’s Donald Rattner with Studio for Civil Architecture designed a Mediterranean-feel villa for a dual-income couple with no children.
Nathaniel Brooks who worked with Rattner on the project said the house was planned for those who like to entertain; so drama and flexibility were essential to the plan.
The result was a floor plan familiar to Midwestern home shoppers–with a couple of notable exceptions.
Instead of a front porch, there is a deep loggia at the front of the house. This covered open room can be used for front porch activities or as spillover space for a large party when the tall arched glass doors in the living room are opened. Two similar doors on the opposite side of the living room open to the courtyard with a fountain and narrow plunge pool at the back of the house, which can be opened so guests move from the front loggia to the pool.
Inside, a central hallway opens to the two-story living room on the right and, on the left, to a closet, powder room and study. Those walking to the back of the home go past the stairway before entering the kitchen, which opens onto the living room.
The dining room is behind the kitchen and has glass doors on two walls, one side opening to an outdoor barbecue and dining area, the other to the courtyard and pool. Behind the pool is a garage with an upstairs wood-paneled media room/entertaining room with a small bar and a bath.
The second floor of the main house has a gallery overlooking the living room. At the front of the house on the second floor is a bedroom and bath (but no clothes closet) and at the back of the second floor is a master bedroom with windows on two sides. They overlook the water and yard. The room has a large walk-in closet and master bath.
As designed this is essentially a two-bedroom house, although the above-garage media room could be guest quarters and the library by the front entrance could be a third bedroom in a pinch.
Unfortunately, this is a plan sorely lacking in closet space, although there is always the room above the garage–a traditional space for storage–if buyers can live without a media room.
Next door, Florida architect Geoffrey Mouen says the best thing about his “classic” residence for a young family is the 15-by-24-foot front porch, deep and wide enough for real outdoor activities. It also has enough room for a furniture grouping for conversation and a separate table and chairs for dining.
Mouen, like Kreager, eliminated the formal living room entirely in his plan. The front door opens into a two-story central hall with a dining room to the left, a stairway to the second level on the right and the main living/dining/kitchen straight ahead.
The plan is simple and elegant, but Mouen did not make it easy for visitors when he designed the dining room and the family/living area three steps down from the foyer. The stairway to the second level has three steps up to the landing before proceeding higher.
The best part of this house is the large kitchen and family living area with a breakfast nook in a bay overlooking a swimming pool.
This is an area with lots of natural light and distinct activity areas. A study to the right of the living area extends to the front of the house, but can be accessed only from the family living area.
The second floor is dominated by the master bedroom suite at the top of the stairs and stretching the width of the house. The master bedroom features generous his and her walk-in closets and his and her baths.
In point of fact, everyone in the family gets a personal bathroom in this home–there are six if the powder room under the stairway in the entry and the changing room in the garage by the pool are counted.
So many baths no doubt cuts the size of the two secondary bedrooms, also on the second floor, which are cozy for young children, but cramped for teenagers.
That would seem to be at odds with the pool, which takes up most of the space between the house and the garage at the back.
I would worry about toddlers and the pool just steps from the family room door, but a pool could be a definite asset for teens and their friends.
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But it was just small yard considerations as well as the bonus space above the garage that interested builders touring the homes such as Jean Neumann, chief marketing officer, for Warrenville-based Neumann Homes.
“As we consider moving into the active adult and urban market we are a looking at the outdoor spaces with the homes so close together and how they had carved a little private enclave out for each home,” she said.