Cohousing-L Mailing List: guest rooms

[Hungerford, David (dghungerford]

On 8/1 Judy wrote

>Am I correct in interpreting this as you wish you had 2 guest spaces (or one
>plus a space that could be used as a guest space?  I.e. the demand is there? 
>You wouldn't abandon the current one, I assume.
Yes, we wish we had two guest spaces/ the demand is there sometimes.  Right 
now there is someone in the guest room at least half the time.

RE: 
="the guest don't really have a place to go to have privacy.  Trust me, when
=your parents visit for 3 weeks, you and they both NEED a place for them to go
=sometimes."

>Interesting question, what would you like to provide?
Our current guest room is about 8x10, with a queen futon and a bedroom-size 
desk and chair.  With the futon folded out, there is no place to sit except 
in the desk chair.  While a suite would be ideal (i.e. a small sleeping area 
and a separate sitting area), simply having room for a couple of comfortable 
reading chairs, along with a closet/wardrobe space where clothes could be 
hung/put away and suitcases could be stored or layed open would be 
sufficient.  The second space could be less specifically designed for guests, 
more like our current guest room.  These sound like design solutions. From 
the programming perspective, the room should allow guests to have their own 
space, much like a dedicated guest room in a private home.  Specifically, it 
should allow enough space and privacy to sleep, dress, toilet, bathe, 
retire for at least short periods, say to read a book or take a nap, and even 
come back to in the evening for a while before bedtime *so the guests don't 
HAVE to be in their host's home all the time*.  I suppose the bathroom could 
be one of the regular common house bathrooms, as long as there was a lockable 
door in the hall separating the bath/guest room from the rest of the common 
house. 
 
David