How about a Random HOUSE thread
 

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Joanna, my wife and I will be moving soon due to her MS causing safety issues with our two story house.

I've been looking at houses that I could build with hidden ramps that can't be seen from the street. If I bought a decent home and added some Craftsman style to it I could hide the ramp in the front porch. I would slope it sideways to the driveway and it wouldn't be seen from the street.

Some Craftsman front doors are 40"-44" wide and that would help with getting a scooter or wheelchair in and out.


Anyways... Let's see some stylish houses.

Yep, but somebody was going to....http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1316749767.jpg

and a local favoritehttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1316750238.jpg

What? Oh, OK, that kind of random house...
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and the most random house I have ever been in

The Sarah Winchester Mystery House.

I was introduced to a gentlemen once who collected architecture. Had two or three Frank Loyd Wright houses, etc.....http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1316750515.gif

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I'll get this one out of the way.

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You beat me to it.

That's the first thing I thought of when I read the subject.

lookie what I found in my last purchasehttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1316753458.jpg

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Guys, Can we get this back on track? This is a serious thing for me. I'll be selling my home that I've raised 4 sons in.

Joanna and I will be downsizing due to health reasons.

Yes, I put the "House" pic in only due to I knew that it would make it in.

Sounds like my kind of dude! :cool:

I built a completely accessible home for my son who is confined to a wheelchair. Most things that you will want are hard to add to an existing home ie: extra wide halls and doorways. Modified height for light switches etc. A roll in out shower with a main drain in the floor will be handy plus any supports you may need to put in for a sling and track system later
We hid the need for actual ramps by designing all the hardscapes to facilitate access to all the entrances and exits of the house by a wheelchair.I actually lifted the garage floor three feet so there could be level access to the house. Let me think about posting a picture of my house on the internet to show you what I mean.
I would be happy to talk to you about what we did. It's good you are doing this and thinking about this up front.
Steve

Scott,

THANK YOU! We did think of raising the garage floor. I was looking at one house that the garage was 14' away. When I was a kid my Dad used 4 floor jacks and lifted the garage and moved it 50' and turned it 90*

Jim, I'm sure you can just look at this house and see how that entry way can be modified to have an obscured ramp and wider door.

http://www.freshomedesign.com/2009/10/leavenworth-cabin-%E2%80%93-house-design-with-a-single-shed-roof/

I have always loved shed roof designs with lots of glass.

This is a 1700 sq ft house. Very nice, low budget. Gently-sloping ramp from driveway to front door.
Craftsman-style fence in front of ramp. The fence blends in with the lines of the house, and the
style is perfect for greenery/ flowers:

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I guess my first question would be do you intend to retrofit an existing home or build your own pre-planned handicap accessible home? If you build your own it would be much easier to design the ramp into the home so it is not as prominent. I think most people think a handicap ramp must be a rigid structure of concrete or wood. But what about the idea of grading or regrading the lot in the event of a retrofit so it gently slopes to the entrance? If the grade is gentle enough and the topography the lot rises with the ramp/walk you could eliminate the railings to make it less imposing structures.

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The mushroom house in Pittsford NY, it is for sale IIRC.

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The neighborhood that I'll most likely buy into will be raised foundation. I'll remodel and add onto. To do what I need to do I'll have to buy a house in a cheaper neighborhood than what I live in today. If I was going to slope the concrete lie the ones in the pics I would truck in a couple tons of dirt to blend in the ramp.


My current house has 3 small steps over 35 feet of lenght. I always fear a older person falling due to not seeing the steps.

When my folks had their 50th wedding anniversary we had a catered diner for 70 people in our home. I blocked off the walkway and had everyone head down the driveway!

Other ideas inside is motorized pocket doors that can be opened with a light switch.

How about adding a trellis to the house either down the side or across the front with a small retaining wall that runs level. The retaining wall would only need to be slightly higher than the the rise of the ramp and could be hidden by landscaping. The retaining wall could also be designed as a planter. The trellis could have a vine that would create nice visual appeal. If a hand rail was needed it could be a simple rail similar to that attached to a wall on a stair case so it would have minimal visual impact.

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If you chose to stay in your current two story home you could also retrofit the home with a personal elevator. We have included elevators in some homes we built in the past. They start at around $20K and are about the size and look very similar to a small walk in closet. Could be an option to allow you to remain in your home.

If your current home has 3 steps with a 7" rise each that's only a 21" rise. It shouldn't be that difficult or expensive (unless lot restraints are an issue) to regrade the lot. Heck if you are going to remodel another house is it out of the question to retrofit your house? Don't forget the move alone could cost something so factor that in as well. Unless of course you don't want to stay in your current home?

Just thinking.:confused:

My house is two stories. When we designed it we planned for the option to add an elevator later. We designed two closets, one above the other, on both floors and poured a pad below, that way if we needed it later we would just cut the floor out between the stacked closets. Didn't actually end up doing that
Steve

An oldie
 

Here's an oldie in the Oregon high dessert.
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I mis read this originally. It should be very simple to regrade the lot to make this handicap accessible with a continuous walk. Of course I am unfamiliar with the rise of the lot and how difficult this would be for a wheel bound person to navigate the rise manually but I would think a scooter or powered wheel chair should be able to navigate a 21"-24" rise over 35' pretty easily. Making a a continuous walk would also eliminate the trip and fall hazard of your elderly guests as well.

Check out the outdoor home theater...

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The Skyline Residence by Belzberg Architects » CONTEMPORIST

This is the home my buddy Floyd was building until Cancer took him.
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The shop... Floyd cheated on this as his health was failing, the last home he build, he built a matching Cedar shop, 1,300sqf.
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It had a loft built to hold cars, but the lift was never installedhttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1316796346.jpg
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Sadly he never finished his dream home(at least this one) and he did almost all the work himself (other than the shop, and he felt bad about cheating there) and out of pocket..

Jim,
The thread is talking about house, not a building or hotel Jim. :lol:

Jim
Here are a couple of pictures of my house. We kept the original foundation and added to it so I did not have a complete blank state, kind of what you will be dealing with. I raised the garage and driveway with the hardscaping and tied it in around the house. There are no steps and the entrances are built with slopes to get over the door sills. There is no point building ramps if you don't take into account the door sills and the drainage requirements around the doors.
I also raised the yard so it would look proportional.

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Steve

Steve,

What you've done is what I'm thinking. I'm looking for a large cul de' sac corner lot. I've seen some in the area with 12,000 - 14,000 feet in a V shape. I want to push the house towards the front of the V so that there will be a large yard in the back. 2,000 ish sq foot home 4 car garage that is 2x2 in tandem Hide the ramping to the front door so that it blends in etc. Large backyard so that If my 4 sons each have 2 kids that there's plenty of room for grand kids. I'm 45 but I don't plan on moving anytime soon ( Unless Texas creates it's own country!)

Nice SC Steve.

Oh, nice house too.

LA $5mil to 7mil Detroit?

7861 Squaw Valley Way, Cerritos, CA 90703 MLS# P797369

Where I'm moving from.

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Any more?

I'd like to see some shipping container homes (not huts) as those are intriguing me these days.

Snapper,

Shipping container trade show booths are the new thing at show. Pretty cool.

I saw a barn for truck repair that was 80' by around 60' The guy set it up pretty cool. all of the 4'x8' plywood for the roof was done so that it was full sheet.. no cutting. the two long walls had been set up as two shipping containers in tandem.

Blu Homes Custom Prefab Eco-Friendly Homes
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mustn't snow much there!

Mine if the HOA ever approves my plans....

We will be moving from a 2 story to this single with an access ramp in the front.

Very hard to build anything that does not kinda follow Mizner's style down here.

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