View out our back/front door
I'm aware several designers, architects, developers and creative types stop here periodically. It's to them I write today. Like the architect for our last house who failed to include HVAC in his building plans, some things should be self evident, but often are not. A pleasant reminder, while unwelcome, is occasionally necessary. Consider our present house, a mid century brick farmhouse with several subsequent additions.
The most recent addition was an extension of the kitchen and family room. The designer had a clean slate to work with, as the owners brief was simple. Make a room. Put it there. Make it fit with the rest of the house, make it usable. Save my favorite tree. The owner liked the tree, what can I say? Looking at the photo above guess the favorite tree.
I'll grant it sounds simple enough, but execution is what earns the big bucks. So how did he do? The back door is THE entry to the house. Our front is a facade with no foot or automobile access. While custom says put the door in the middle, a creative mind understands problem solving involves getting the questions right. To the right of the door is the kitchen, left is the family room.
Building that door 2 Topsiders to the right would have made a world of difference.
The distance straight out the door to the all important tree is 4 Topsiders. About the same as your reach across a double bed. Perfectly positioned to aid furniture movers, Christmas tree haulers...
Building that door 2 Topsiders to the right would have made a world of difference.Toad
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12 comments:
Oh. Ohhhh.
Alright then, of course all can be fixed by a few architectural changes. That is, if Fix It is what you seek, I mean if your visual and logistical discomfort has peaked to the point of a furrowed brow, then consider putting out a formal call for entries, a local design/build group would be just the ticket.
I can't see that well around the side of your house, but am curious about the effects of moving the entry around to the side. I see a utility panel nearby, and it would mean your built-in office would have to get sacrificed; the cozy seating under that window would be affected, but what you lose there could be made up by the newly-closed entry area. Just brainstorming.
But. But if this post is a lamentation, then you have my sincerest sympathies.
"The back door is THE entry to the house. Our front is a facade with no foot or automobile access."
Might we connect the FRONT door to the driveway by putting in a lovely pathway connecting the two?
You said this was your favorite view, just imagine the joy you'd have every time you got out of the car and walked up to the door through this favorite view:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ENrSV0RtCyA/TesAJ9pTlOI/AAAAAAAAYIE/jRk3ybmAgz0/s1600/DSC02475.JPG
Flo, me thinks a saw at this point may be the answer
The best manors always have a bit of quirk...I say leave it lay where Jesus flung it. I love the fact that you've introduced a new standard of measurement—we can call it the TTSSUM (or "Teesum"): The Toad Top-Sider Standard Unit of Measure.
You're a GD genius, guv.
"leave it lay where Jesus flung it."
Lord in Heaven, I have not heard that expression in ages, it was one of my mother's favorites, and then she'd duck her head down and wave her arms up over her head. I miss my Momma!
As a trained Interior Designer, I might say, smart don't mean intelligent. I deal with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on a daily basis, and believe me, I have no idea how we have ever survived a war. I offer as an example the flooding of New Orleans, Minot, and anyplace else where they have built dams,structures, or other efforts of simple engineering.
Living not far from the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi, Corps caused flooding is a real issue locally
"Save my favorite tree. The owner liked the tree, what can I say?"
I read the above thinking you and Mrs. T were "the owner" who put the addition on the house, declaring the tree non-negotiable. If you're considering a saw, then I do believe I made an incorrect inference!
I always wondered why a house would be build right up to a tree like that!
I say move the door.
If you move the door, the tree will die within a year. Maybe six months.
The fact that the "front" door is built directly behind the favorite tree is all the evidence I need to conclude that no architect was involved in this addition. Rather, it's what we would call a builder's special, where the owner directed the builder and the builder merely did what he was told. It's not at all uncommon. Sadly, many jurisdictions in Missouri, my own included, do not require sealed drawings for residential additions. They ought to, but they don't. Here is the perfect example of why architects still matter.
There is a solution, however. Take down the tree.
I've long favored the saw solution.
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