So much of designing our home has been framed around the creation of frames. Windows frame the view, but also provide necessary visual interruptions from within the home. Walls and doorways create voids that dictate movement and usage.
For much of the 21st century, the answer to the challenge of creating voids has been "make them bigger." Take out the doors, open up the walls, and go with an open floor plan concept. This idea was implemented across all scales, from $10M 8,000 sq ft houses in California to $300k 1700 sq ft houses in a suburb somewhere like where we live — the Hudson Valley. And it does create homes that, at a glance, appear larger. "Look how far I can see!" one might say, yelling across the entry, living area, dining area, and kitchen to a friend stirring something on the stove.
In our experience, though, these larger voids actually create smaller lives. Or, at least, more muddy ones. The spaces become carved up by furniture, toys tumble from dining table to coffee table as if the designated play area is the whole kit and caboodle, and there is no door to close on the mess when you really can't stomach picking up the Hot Wheels cars for the fifth time that day. The specificity of that example is illustrative of where we are ourselves right now with a 3.5 yr old.
This is to say that the livability of an open floor plan is, by our estimation, mostly a myth — especially if you have children and enjoy house guests.
When designing our home at Eden Hill, we knew the footprint wasn't going to be enormous, but that what would make just over 2000 sq ft work for us wasn't large voids, but carefully assigned ones. There is the library, with a door. The parlor, with a door. The kitchen, with a door. The bathrooms (1.5) and bedrooms (2) have doors too, but that shouldn't shock anyone.
To make the most of the space we have, many of these doors are pocket doors such that we don't look square footage to swing. Another is a swinging door, so we loose twice as much space to swing but gain the joy of calling out "door!" when passing through to avoid bonking anyone daring to come through the other way.
We are now at the point in the build when we get to see these smaller spaces begin to take form. The windows are in, and the stud walls are up. The electric and hvac are being put in, just that you can't just walk through a stud wall. You are required, for the first time in this process, to respect the authority of the door.
Below are some pictures that show the last few weeks, and suggest as to where we're going next.
Image Credits: Images 2 and 3 are from our builders, The Art of Building.