"Looking forward to things" might be an under-appreciated gender difference.
My wife absolutely requires some future event to "look forward to." Doesn't matter how far in the future, or how likely the thing is to actually happen. She just loves the planning and anticipation. I am the opposite - I see these future events as potential disruptions to my otherwise smooth-flowing and predictable life that cause dread and anxiety rather than excitement.
Oof. I have no idea how to approach learning architecture this broadly... I've been interested in it as well but strictly from the angle of "I love touring traditional Japanese houses built 100+ years ago" & learning about their history & that style of architecture as I go. Maybe it's easier because I also treat it as a way of picking up Japanese vocabulary relevant to my interests. I guess connecting the book knowledge with something you actually see on your walks or travels is the best way to go!
This is kind of vague advice about a house, but if you decide to buy or build a house that is different than most of the houses in your area, be prepared to struggle to find people to repair or maintain the parts that are different.
In my case, we bought a house with a flat roof. We love the look of the house and it is architecturally fascinating, but almost no other house in the area has this kind of roof, and the commercial flat roofs are made differently.
So it has been a challenge with maintenance and repair, especially since the house was built in 1973 and the roof, while not at its end of life (it has been redone at least once), is old.
I did not realize that there was a difference between commercial flat roofs and residential flat roofs! Thinking about it, I'm not sure I've ever seen a residential house with a flat roof.
Your point about making sure that the local companies know how to deal with. Oddities is a good one, though. Stuff like heated floors are very common up in Canada, but it makes sense to be worried about maintenance help farther south.
There are not necessarily differences between residential and commercial, but there is a difference between the way our flat roof is built and what the commercial buildings around us have. I think there is also more emphasis in residential buildings on insulation and energy efficiency.
We recently moved into our custom home, one we designed ourselves. Based on our experience, I think the "perfect custom home" is the one that allows you and your family to live as you'd like.
I'll give you a couple of examples of what we did to make our custom home the "perfect custom home for us." This is based only on our experience, so your mileage will definitely vary.
Our house is just over 2,600 sq. ft. According to Claude, the average square footage for a house in America valued at $500k or less is around 2,500 sq ft (and yes, I simplified the query for that search because there are so many variables). While we didn't opt for a lot of area, we opted for high ceilings. The ceilings begin at 10 ft and slope to 25 ft. For us, volume is more of a luxury than area.
The east wall is over two-thirds windows. We wanted more ~ think storefront or auto dealer but our first builder couldn't make it happen ~ because we want as much indirect natural light as possible. We have a 12-foot porch roof that keeps all but the earliest morning direct sunlight out.
We placed the garage next to the kitchen so that it's easy to bring the groceries in from the car.
The kitchen is laid out and fitted out exactly as my wife, the family cook, wants. We included a beverage refrigerator to keep the sodas and wine from taking up space in the main fridge, and a beverage sink, so that I don't have to get drinking water from the main sink or fridge when she's cooking.
The entry hallway is extra wide so that the dogs have lots of room to play fetch indoors.
Our house is single-level with thresholds only on the exterior doors. That way, we can age in place.
Designing and building a home is not for the faint of heart. I don't know that I'd ever do it again. But now that we're living here, we do love it.
"Looking forward to things" might be an under-appreciated gender difference.
My wife absolutely requires some future event to "look forward to." Doesn't matter how far in the future, or how likely the thing is to actually happen. She just loves the planning and anticipation. I am the opposite - I see these future events as potential disruptions to my otherwise smooth-flowing and predictable life that cause dread and anxiety rather than excitement.
Interesting to know that this isn't unique to just us!
Oof. I have no idea how to approach learning architecture this broadly... I've been interested in it as well but strictly from the angle of "I love touring traditional Japanese houses built 100+ years ago" & learning about their history & that style of architecture as I go. Maybe it's easier because I also treat it as a way of picking up Japanese vocabulary relevant to my interests. I guess connecting the book knowledge with something you actually see on your walks or travels is the best way to go!
Yeah it's a surprisingly hard problem to tackle. I found a local architecture museum I want to check out, tho, hopefully they have resources!
Do be sure to look at Kate Wagner’s McMansion Hell. It’s both delightfully snarky and a painless education in modern (awful) residential architecture.
I think I remember reading one of her rants about garages, but I may be wrong. I'll check! Thanks for the reminder 🙂
This is kind of vague advice about a house, but if you decide to buy or build a house that is different than most of the houses in your area, be prepared to struggle to find people to repair or maintain the parts that are different.
In my case, we bought a house with a flat roof. We love the look of the house and it is architecturally fascinating, but almost no other house in the area has this kind of roof, and the commercial flat roofs are made differently.
So it has been a challenge with maintenance and repair, especially since the house was built in 1973 and the roof, while not at its end of life (it has been redone at least once), is old.
I did not realize that there was a difference between commercial flat roofs and residential flat roofs! Thinking about it, I'm not sure I've ever seen a residential house with a flat roof.
Your point about making sure that the local companies know how to deal with. Oddities is a good one, though. Stuff like heated floors are very common up in Canada, but it makes sense to be worried about maintenance help farther south.
There are not necessarily differences between residential and commercial, but there is a difference between the way our flat roof is built and what the commercial buildings around us have. I think there is also more emphasis in residential buildings on insulation and energy efficiency.
We recently moved into our custom home, one we designed ourselves. Based on our experience, I think the "perfect custom home" is the one that allows you and your family to live as you'd like.
I'll give you a couple of examples of what we did to make our custom home the "perfect custom home for us." This is based only on our experience, so your mileage will definitely vary.
Our house is just over 2,600 sq. ft. According to Claude, the average square footage for a house in America valued at $500k or less is around 2,500 sq ft (and yes, I simplified the query for that search because there are so many variables). While we didn't opt for a lot of area, we opted for high ceilings. The ceilings begin at 10 ft and slope to 25 ft. For us, volume is more of a luxury than area.
The east wall is over two-thirds windows. We wanted more ~ think storefront or auto dealer but our first builder couldn't make it happen ~ because we want as much indirect natural light as possible. We have a 12-foot porch roof that keeps all but the earliest morning direct sunlight out.
We placed the garage next to the kitchen so that it's easy to bring the groceries in from the car.
The kitchen is laid out and fitted out exactly as my wife, the family cook, wants. We included a beverage refrigerator to keep the sodas and wine from taking up space in the main fridge, and a beverage sink, so that I don't have to get drinking water from the main sink or fridge when she's cooking.
The entry hallway is extra wide so that the dogs have lots of room to play fetch indoors.
Our house is single-level with thresholds only on the exterior doors. That way, we can age in place.
Designing and building a home is not for the faint of heart. I don't know that I'd ever do it again. But now that we're living here, we do love it.
Hope this helps.