Next week decides my fate. I find out whether or not I will qualify to buy a prefab in this planned net-zero energy community. Please pray for me, cross your fingers, do a rain dance, send me good energy, or whatever it is that you do.
Love that choice
very similar in concept to ideas hubby and I have had for our home in SFe. The courtyard layout is very good for high solar exposure regions! Smart choice, also adds a nice private outdoors space in thiis high density neighborhood.
I'm thinking goodgoodgoodgoodgood thoughts for you!
Thanks everyone.
I have...
Thanks everyone.
I have always envisioned myself in a dense area (city, close to things). Therefore, I have always favored courtyard plans. I have loads of them that I have drawn in illustrator from the past several years. So this might be perfect for my fam.
There are two things I might want to change:
1. The house comes standard with concrete floors, but I am going to check and see if I can get bamboo for an upcharge rolled into the loan. This isn't for aesthetics, rather my wife is leary of concrete with a baby learning to walk. In addition our four legged friend has severe hip problems and wood + rugs would be easier on the ol' fella.
2. Because the yards are small, we think we don't want the courtyard to be decked, like it shows in the plans. Perhaps losing the deck could finance bamboo floors? At least in the public areas...
Thoughts on decked vs grass and concrete with babies???
Thoughts
Certainly the bounce factor would be better with bamboo over concrete. And environmentally speaking unless high flyash and recycled aggregate is used for the concrete or 6-8 year plus growth bamboo is used, the impact is similar. However, I'd recommend you consider one very very important thing. Babies are only babies for a couple of years....after that you still have to live with your choice. If it we me I'd pick what I really wanted and set up contingencies for the munchkin. So if bamboo is what you really want then fine, if it's concrete, a few inexpensive area rugs will tie you over until the baby and beastie get beyond the wobbly stage.
As for the courtyard, one of my absolute favorite design style is the square grid with grass or low growing herbs or moss between them. this can be done VERY cheaply if you use concrete squares, which you can buy of even make yourself with a frame. Lay down a sandbed, the concrete squares, some loam, the plants and tada!
Like this only with grass in between:
Sweet !
Congrats, Whitespike. The model you are looking at reminded me of a vintage Philip Johnson residence that was featured last week in the New York Times Sunday Magazine. Note that the open-air courtyard is both an intimate part of the interior, and a way for the interior space to "escape" to the surrounding landscape. The reflections of all that glass can even create an expansion of this melding, from certain perspectives (see photo).
The new owners report that they like to dine on the limited paved portion of the court (under a roof overhang). The rest is given over to planting, separated from the patio by a water feature.
The linked page has the rest of the photos.
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/real-estate/philip-johnsons-other-gla...
babies
What the person above said about babies only being babies for a few years.
But that said, it depends on the baby, too. Some are really cautious types who learn quickly to be careful on hard surfaces.
Also, bamboo can be slippery. My daughter put in bamboo floors and I'm not sure what the finish is but it is very slippery. It's not glossy, just slippery. The baby tended to flop down on his belly whenever he tried to crawl on it at first, but now he seems to have figured it out. They'll just have to make sure he's either barefoot or wearing good non-skid footwear when he's walking.
So I'd say it's a toss-up. Go for the bamboo.
Good luck!
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