Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: [C-L] Common house design, rooms, and room sizes?

[Peter Goldstein (peterhansgoldstein]

There is some appeal in the idea of roughing in extra space that we could
finish after the fact. If anyone has tried this idea:
- Does it save a lot of money up front?
- How did you finance finishing it later on?
- General feelings?

- Peter

On Sun, Feb 8, 2015 at 4:01 PM, Jerry McIntire <jerry.mcintire [at] gmail.com>
wrote:

>
> Thanks Sharon, nice summary of some of your important observations on
> common houses.
>
> Jerry
>
> Jerry McIntire
> Stone's Throw Ecovillage, in the heart of Wisconsin's beautiful Driftless
> region
> http://stonesthrowcommunity.wordpress.com/
> 1-608-637-6620
>
> On Sun, Feb 8, 2015 at 8:31 AM, Sharon Villines <sharon [at] 
> sharonvillines.com
> >
> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > > On Feb 8, 2015, at 8:25 AM, Douglas McCarroll <
> > list.cohousing-l.001 [at] brightworks.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Then we learned that other aspects of our project (site infrastructure
> in
> > > particular) are going to cost more than we'd estimated, and are facing
> > the
> > > prospect of unit prices going up ~10% on average. So now we're trying
> to
> > be
> > > creative and look at all possible avenues for cost reduction.
> >
> > I would say don't skimp on quality and storage. Storage saves a lot of
> > floor and surface space. At Blueberry Hill I was envious of wall of
> shelves
> > behind folding doors that opened all the way - and with floor space in
> > front of the shelves for a stepping stool and things that don't fit on
> > shelves.
> >
> > I just found this one this morning -- drawers in the stairs risers. It
> > makes me wish I had stairs.
> >
> >
> >
> http://www.houselogic.com/photos/home-improvement/7-storage-solutions-you-didnt-know-you-had/slide/stairway-to-storage-heaven/
> >
> > Don't build for "I would love to have" unless the people are currently
> > participating in what they love to do. A yoga room for people who have
> > never done yoga but always wanted to, for example.
> >
> > Remember that you have to clean all that space. Any effort saved in
> > housekeeping in a smaller unit will be doubled by maintenance of more CH
> > and grounds space. Living in cohousing is not like living in an
> apartment;
> > it's like living in a house with all the weekend work and annual costs to
> > maintain it.
> >
> > I was impressed by a recent visit to Cornerstone by the sense of
> > spaciousness in their stairways and entrance halls. This can be more
> > important on a daily basis than extra square footage in a dining room
> that
> > then looses it sense of intimacy to become a dining hall the size of a
> > small food court. On the rare occasions when you have half again as many
> > people as seats, people will spread out in the CH. This is even more
> > pleasant actually because it also spread the noise of conversation.
> >
> > Last, once you have a facility, people will be loath to give it up--even
> > if only 3 people ever use it.
> >
> > And next to last, don't skimp on acoustics. We forget this because in
> > homes we don't need special treatments. We have rugs. In common spaces
> used
> > by many people, rugs are not usually cost effective. Annual cleaning, and
> > often semi-annual cleaning, is not cost effective.
> >
> > Sharon
> > ----
> > Sharon Villines
> > Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
> > http://www.takomavillage.org
> >
> >
> >
> >
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