Terram Amoenam House

Financing

I'm willing to use a decent amount of my Vanguard account on this project, but I want to keep the initial spending down. The whole thing is probably going to cost $200K. But I'd like to get the workshop setup for $100K; half for land, half for building materials.

Modular Layout

The front of the house will be a large open area with 2ft of planters and a 3ft hallway. Like an Earthship, this 5 feet back is where the front load bearing columns are rather than the front wall. Also like an Earthship, this will mostly be glass. On the exterior will be an overhang to limit light in the summer but allow it in the winter.

The rest of the document will layout rooms so that I can size the interior correctly, but I actually want the design to be modular. The kitchen and bathrooms are fixed, but the other rooms can be resized with a small amount of work.

Rooms

• Bedroom (~15x20)
• Kitchen (~15x15)
• full bath
• half bath
• library (~15x30)
• systems room ??
• laundry (??)
• Adam's office

Bedroom is based on the size of a queen mattress. It's the size of 6 laid out in a 2x3 pattern.

Kitchen is open so it will feel larger.

Library is the main room.

I'm going to have a small dedicated office so I can have an electronics work bench and keep the automation controls there.

Floor Plan

The back will be

• 1.5ft closet
• 12ft bedroom
• 5ft bathroom
• 16ft office/library
• 16ft kitchen/dining room
• 5ft bathroom
• 12ft bedroom
• 1.5ft closet

Access

I want everything to be accessible for maintenance. I like the idea of the walls being panels on French cleats that actually hang on the frames.

The floor boards should be floating, also in groups so that they can be pulled up if necessary.