0862 XHouse1 - solving a puzzle laid out years ago

Currently in production in the studio are the Construction Prints for the 0862 XHouse1. I see this house design as a puzzle I laid out 5 years ago, and now I am finally getting a chance to solve it.

The XHouse1 was the first design in what was a new Collection of designs - the XHouse Collection. This was the first move to expand our plan offerings into different collections, and this was the first house design to deviate widely from the design themes of the original collection of plans. So this is, and has been an important design for us, a turning point.

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New Arkansas Plat House - interior framing up

With the shell of the house complete, the carpenters have moved on to framing up the interior of the Plat House and we can see some familiar spaces beginning to emerge!

More shots of the interior framing are posted in the Flickr set for this house.

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Plat House influence in Arkansas - amazing!

The Arkansas contractor who built the second Plat House in Arkansas has built a spec house that is modern and clearly influenced by his work on the Plat House! It is currently for sale now.

Well, I have to hand it to him after all - if I did not know the influence, it would just seem a contemporary house. Look what has happened here: Its likely this house would have never been built in this style if he did not know of the first Arkansas Plat House and had built the second one. This is exactly the kind of influence we wanted to create with the house plans. This is how tastes are influenced. I take it as a victory!

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Spring has sprung at the Maine Plat House

Spring has come and Summer has begun at the Maine Plat House. Those of you following our customer builds will remember this house finished up in the fall. The owner has spent the first winter in the house, and now is starting the first summer.

The landscaping is new and fresh, and the Plat House looks completely at home in its Maine waterway setting. Wide decks overlooking water in the distance - sounds just like the illustrations in our catalog!

Please go enjoy more photos of the house in our Flickr photo album. And thank you to our terrific home owners who share the pictures of their beautiful homes!

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Row House Concept - the case for 2, 2.5, & 3 story

So far in our documentation of our Row House design process we've discussed the overriding organizing type that results from the transverse or longitudinal stair. At the same time we've been developing three different versions of each type - a 2 story house, a 2.5 story house, and a 3 story house.

These three house sizes allow a range of accommodations even as the footprint remains the same. The basic 2 story house yields a 2 bedroom house design with a low slope roof. The roof however slopes at greater rate in the front bedroom creating a higher ceiling and a loft like feel. But even this most compact version of the house can be had with the expanded floor plate, yielding a 3 bedroom plan with additional living space on the ground floor.

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