Turning a vacation home into a permanent residence

The owners of this home had been using it for vacations. Now that they were retiring, they would be moving here and they needed to make some big changes. The entire living area was upstairs over the garage. They wanted to make sure the new design would be accessible in case someone ended up in a wheelchair. They also wanted to be able to entertain large parties.

I measured the entire house and put together a design. The existing living area became a small guest apartment. The downstairs garage became the kitchen. I added two master suites on one side, and a dining room and large living room on the other side. All of this is on the ground level for accessibility. I encouraged them to discuss budgeting with a builder, and they realized the project would be too expensive. I was able to to reduce the budget by making some changes before the plans were done.

Early in the design I asked if the clients had any special artwork they wanted to feature. They had a large collection of native American arts and crafts. That became the theme of the new living room.

The first photo shows an overview of this living room with a lodge type ceiling. The second photo shows the view from the living room into the dining area. Notice the niches carved into the wall above. The other photo shows the entertainment center in the living room with a lighted art niche.

The clients were thrilled with their new home. At the open house they introduced me to some friends who own a large boarding house in Florida and want to turn it into a unique bed and breakfast. This project is further down on my list of remodeling projects.


New Homes I have Designed
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My Procedures for Designing and Planning


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