Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: ceiling heights

[James Kacki (jimkacki]

Jenny, -8' is very standard. Building materials come in 8' lengths 
economically.  It seems that the push for higher ceilings came about in 
the same way that the push for bigger cars, bigger garages, bigger 
houses etc. came about; i.e. material suppliers, developers, contractors 
etc. convincing people that they really need higher ceilings, bigger 
this, more of that, for a truly fulfilled life.
As an architect, my opinion is that if you have the money and want to 
spend it, go for 9' ceilings or 10' ceilings if it will make you happy. 
 However, my experience has been that 8' ceilings are perfectly fine 
and that spatial interplay, window/light manipulation, occasional high 
(even double height) spaces located for maximum effect will give you 
more 'bang for the buck' than an uninspired design with 9' ceilings.
That's just my opinion, others may disagree, -good luck with your home 
design, & keep dreaming!
James


Jenny Williams wrote:
> On a related note, I'd like people's input on ceiling height.  We're
> desgining and building our house at Manzanita Village in Prescott, AZ,
> and we have been planning 8' ceilings throughout.  Everyone is telling
> me that we'll regret it.  With 8' ceilings, though, we will manage a
> ~6-7' high attic, which we could finish at a later date for a cozy spot.
> We have height restrictions for building, so we can't go above that
> limit.  If we even change our regular floors to 9' ceilings, that
> changes the attic to 5-6', harder to do anything with.  Do you all feel
> it's worth the trade off, to have higher ceilings but an unusable attic
> space (for anything other than plain storage)?  Our house will be about
> 2200SF on two floors (not counting said attic).  On the upper level, we
> will have a fairly open area for kitchen, eating area, and living room.
> We plan on doing ceiling height changes, with some soffits in certain
> areas, to break up the 8' ceiling.  Ideas?
>
> I welcome all input.  Thanks!
>
> jenny williams
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Hyghroad [at] aol.com [mailto:Hyghroad [at] aol.com] 
> Sent: Saturday, February 04, 2006 6:45 AM
> To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
> Subject: Re: [C-L]_ very small/ compact housing
>
>
> My family of four is about to move into our 1200+- sq.ft. townhouse
> (plus 
> full unfinished basement) at Common Pastures in Charlotte, VT. One of
> the last 
> design changes made was to get rid of a cathedral ceiling living room,
> to add a 
> floor and add space on the second floor. I feel this is one of the best 
> decisions we've made. In a small house, catherdal ceilings seem to be an
> unnecessary 
> luxury, and I can just imagine all of heat that would have been trapped
> up 
> there in the winter.
>
> Two other things that, in my opinion, make small houses more livable
>
> 1) lots of windows
>
> 2) vaulted ceilings on second floor.
>
> Space/storage is always an issue is small homes. For us (we are coming
> from 
> an even smaller house) it has been a great incentive to reduce our
> consumption.
>
> Kelly Devine
> Common Pastures
> aka Champlain Valley Cohousing
> Charlotte, Vermont
> http://www.champlainvalleycohousing.org
> 802-425-5030
> hyghroad [at] aol.com
>
> In a message dated 2/3/2006 2:58:25 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
> pnichols [at] indigoarch.com writes:
>
>
>
> > We are family of four living in a 3-bedroom unit at Muir Commons. The
> > house,
> > at 1,170 sq ft, has some inherent space inefficiencies that bother me,
>
> like
>
> > a big u-shaped windowless stair cavity in the center of the house. It
>
> also
>
> > has some nice touches, like 10-foot ceilings in the living/ dining
>
> room.
>
> > Private garage/ utility space is non-existent. If we had some private
> > utility space combined with a more efficient layout, then that would
> > probably keep many folks here from remodeling or at least thinking
>
> about
>
> > remodeling when they could be thinking more pleasant, less expensive
> > thoughts. 
>
>
>
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