Been re-thinking the appropriate size of a house I want. The more I think about it, the smaller house I actually want. Cleaning, utilities, maintenance and overall cost are on my mind. I'd much rather have a smaller but better appointed house than a big house..... especially when I have a good bit of unfinished space in the basement to expand to later. Would like to have enough space to do a private in-law suite should the need arise.
Latest list:
Ideas:
* 1.5 story w/ partially finished walk-out basement. At minimum, I'd like a bonus room over the garage.
* Minimum 2000sq ft finished. 3000sq ft max. Dropped this a bit... I'd like the main floor to be a max of 1700sq ft and I want a finished office/study/gun room isolated in a corner of the basement without windows. Main goal is security for the guns. Secondary goal is good air flow and cooling and no distractions when working. Extra credit if I can soundproof it and have enough room to use it as a man cave too.
* Must have large front porch (
)
* Deck or patio in the back of house
* Main level master bedroom
* 3 car attached garage (ideally, but I could live with 2-car if I get the shop too)
* Detached shop (2 bay, 2 vehicles deep, tall enough for lift)
* 3br 2.5ba (minimum) 4br 3.5ba (maximum) bedrooms don't include the basement office/study/gun room.
* "Bonus" room over garage, but no bedrooms above the garage
* Buried LP tank
* Gas fired heat, water heaters (multiple tankless?), cook top, logs, standby generator, dryer, oven (maybe)
* Wood stoves in basement & detached shop
* Electric service designed around automatic failover for standby generator
* Electric service panels properly laid out and labeled (not like the mess at the compound)
* Electric sub-panels in garage and shop with space for additional circuits as needed
* No heat pumps unless it's geothermal. This is up for some debate as I'd like to investigate the efficiency of a heat pump in addition to gas heat for times when heating needs aren't as great (fall/spring).
* Heat & AC systems that are compatible with Nest thermostats and properly arranged to make it possible to condition the air in a portion of the house differently than the rest. (The Compound has the worst layout possible as I have to heat/cool 1500sq ft of unused space to condition the air for the few rooms we use)
* Equipment room / closet for home office computer stuff (small rack, etc)
* Cat 5 pulled to multiple locations in each room and terminated in equipment room / closet (including ceiling and exterior mounting points for Wifi equipment & security cameras)
* LED lighting everywhere possible. No florescent lighting.
* Hardwood & tile. No carpet, no vinyl flooring.
* Brick or stone exterior.
* Acreage appropriate for back yard shooting range
* Would like to explore the idea of a hardened vault / gun room in the basement. Cinder block filled with rebar and concrete (or poured with the foundation) with a stout door would be nice. Not talking about bank vault security, but something that would take your average thief a while to get through. Not willing to devote a ton of money towards this though as it's going to be very utilitarian. Work bench, tool box, shelves, and a gun safe or two inside. Extra credit if it's done in a way that I could conceal it after the fact by "finishing" the basement and hiding the door with a false wall.
* Geothermal heating/cooling if possible.... not optimistic that we can afford it.
* Main floor laundry
* Audio wiring for home theater
* Residential fire sprinklers
* Integrated security system.... not a bolt on after-thought like ADT.
* Butler's pantry (as opposed to a simple mud room) and possibly garage access from the master bedroom. This really is key for me as I think a lot about the normal flow in and out of the house. In my experience, I typically come in the garage and drop my shit on the kitchen island. As a result the kitchen island is always full of junk. I like the idea of a butler's pantry both for entertaining/cooking/prepping and as a landing zone for junk as you come into the house. Figure on a small refrigerator here as well.