Revisit –– new photos of North Carolina Tray House

The Tray House built in North Carolina recently came on the market, and so many recent photos of the house were posted. I have re-posted several of them to the Flikr gallery of this house.

While the owners finished the house with a distinct craftsman feel, the dynamic character of the spaces still shine through. Make sure to click over to Flickr and look at the rest of the photos, especially if you are interested in this house you will enjoy seeing a lived in version of the house.

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0385 Tray House in the kitchen

Here is the casual relationship between the kitchen work area and the dining space of the Tray House. This can work for you if you like a large formal dining table and a kitchen table in the kitchen proper, or with a daily table in the dining area, and stools at the island in the kitchen for less formal meals. Continue reading "0385 Tray House in the kitchen"

0385 Tray House living room clerestory windows

The past couple of images from the Tray House have been from the upstairs hall, which has a view out this triangular side clerestory window. Its a great feature of the living room, letting in a lot of light, but still providing privacy to the side of the house facing neighbors. And as you can see in the upstairs hall images its a big part of the second floor environment as well. Continue reading "0385 Tray House living room clerestory windows"

0385 Tray House upstairs hall - on the tray

Our last post was from the upstairs hall of the Tray House, and again we have another image from here, at the top of the stair looking out the triangular clerestory window at the end of the house. I love the place at the jamb of the basement door where the big window is right there! Its like the two worlds - the living room, and the upstairs hall - coming together! Continue reading "0385 Tray House upstairs hall - on the tray"

0385 Tray House over the rail

The upstairs hall of the Tray House is open to the living space below, and if you peak over the railing this is what you'll see. The dining room to one side, the living room to the other. A bedroom at the end of the hall, and bedroom and bath out of frame to the left, behind us the master bedroom. A huge lofty living space communicating between ground floor and upstairs. Continue reading "0385 Tray House over the rail"

0385 Tray House look at all the layers.

Layers of space is what you see here, from the Tray House living room, to the circulation zone behind that stretches from the kitchen out of frame to the left to the study at the right, and the entry foyer beyond, and a front porch beyond that. Upstairs is the hallway, and the bedrooms beyond. And on the stair you see through the high windows to the outside wall. Layers, layers... Continue reading "0385 Tray House look at all the layers."

0385 Tray House in the backyard

What's in a backyard, what do you need here. Well with the Tray House first you get a nice spot for a deck off the living area. This is your outdoor living spot, social place, extension of your living area in your own great outdoors. But you also get a nice patio between the carport and the living spaces, and a door straight in to the mud room. For what? Well, all I can tell you is that's where I'm putting my grill, and when friends are over the cooler with the beverages is going here too. So me and my pals can mind the grill and stay hydrated. And the car port is not bad next time you want to work on your car without standing out in the sun! Continue reading "0385 Tray House in the backyard"

0385 Tray House the whole living space

Here's the whole Tray House, the kitchen and dining room, the living room and the entry foyer, the study behind that, the bedrooms upstairs, and bath too, the master bedroom closest to us. The only thing we can't see here is the mud room which is out of frame to the left. Look at the plan on the catalog page, and it will help you relate how all these places are arranged. Continue reading "0385 Tray House the whole living space"

0385 Tray House - welcome to our home

The Tray House greets you with a living room with a soaring ceiling, a dramatic stair, and a plan that is both open and discrete. The kitchen sits in its own space so its not in your face full time, and the dining area can be repurposed if you wish for another sitting area if formal eating is not your things. But the were not done accommodating you here. The plan includes a generous mud room, so those soccer cleats and golf clubs don't have to take another step into your home. And if some alone time in the cards for you the study is there right off the living room with a door you can close behind you. Continue reading "0385 Tray House - welcome to our home"

0385 Tray House is taking modern to the streets

Well more specifically the Tray House is taking modern to the cul-de-sacs! Sometimes you have no choice - the only places to live are the typical subdivision neighborhoods with a maze of streets all ending in a cup-de-sac. Just because that's the only thing being served up in your region that does not mean you have to settle for the cookie cutter starter McMansions that typically populate these neighborhoods. The Tray House is made to fit in these neighborhoods and offers a no compromise alternative to the status quo. Modern house is your dream? Come and get it. Continue reading "0385 Tray House is taking modern to the streets"

0385 Tray House serves good living' on a silver tray

The Tray House makes itself at home in the kind of neighborhoods we build today, but it does so without compromising our modern dreams. But what is this Tray thing it gets its name from? It refers to the way the second floor is open to the living space below, as if the bedrooms upstairs "sit in a tray" above the living and dining rooms. What does that look like? Stick with us - as we cycle back to the Tray House with our image show-&-Tell we'll see inside what that "tray" looks like. Continue reading "0385 Tray House serves good living' on a silver tray"

Ok Tray House - snow day

The owner of the Oklahoma Tray House sent along this wonderful video of a snowy day spent at home. Many of us have had one of these "snow days" this winter. It gives a wonderful glimpse of life in the house, and life in general.

snow day from ekul kclab on Vimeo.

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Ok Tray House - photos of complete house

Over this weekend I received a great batch of photos from the owner of the Oklahoma Tray House. The house is done, but for loose ends, they are moved in, somewhat settled, site work to finish, and some rooms begging some furniture. However they are in and enjoying the house which is the best news of all.

The owner seems clearly relieved that the trials of construction are over, well almost:

as far as landscape goes, our yard pretty much looks like something resembling the surface of the moon and afghanistan

more in a photo browser below the link:

The owner gave an account of their pleasure with the house that made me blush - so I'll share it with you here!

now allow me to comment on the house. we absolutely adore it. you've done such a great job designing a strikingly modern home that is practical, functional and relevant in today's world. the openness is superb. the sharp angles of the exterior stand out like a magnificent ship on the horizon. we love thIs house.......why on earth aren't at least 50% of homebuilders building LamiDesign homes? death to the mcmansions! ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY TRAY HOUSE!

I could not have said it better myself! Well, enough gloating, please enjoy some of their photos below. They have sent a nice group of photos of the living, dining, and kitchen areas of the ground floor, and a range of night photos all around the house - look at those stars!

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Ok Tray House - sneak peak inside

A shot of the corner of the living room today from the owners of the OK Tray House. They are moved in, but not unpacked, and they promise more photos to come once they are settled. So what do we have here. Well open up the catalog page so you can look at the floor plan. This photo is taken from the living room, looking into the study. We can see a stone wall which is flanking the fireplace, and above it we can see the gridded window wall which sits above the fireplace. I'm real excited about that since it looks like they did a really great job with that. Out the window we can see more of that nicely stained siding. To the left we can see the front door and the entry vestibule. In the study we see the side windows, and a couple of modern chairs? Man after my own heart! And upstairs some cable rail, and a glimpse of the bedroom ceiling. It looks awesome - can't wait to see the rest of the house! And don't forget the flickr set of photos of this project from start to finish.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Tray House

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OK Tray House - exterior complete

And from what I understand from the Owner the interior is largely finished as well. He send along a pair of photos from the Tray House from a few weeks ago.

I can't tell from the photo if the siding is cedar or doug fir, but it sure looks nice. The owner has promised a few more pictures soon and says its moved along quite a bit from here. The progress must be inside as the exterior looks quite complete. He said the construction debris from the site has all been removed. In the meantime visit the Flickr set for the house and re-live the progress!

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Tray House

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OK Tray House - framing done

The framing is all done and the roofing work has actually begun now. I think we will see the builder moving to make the shell weather tight now that the framing up is all but done. Roofing will go on, house wrap, and windows installed in the lead up to the siding of the house. Above we see the front of the house with just a little work to do on the last bay window, but the roofing felt is already down which means the roofer is on site now while the carpenters are finishing up. Here is the corner of the house next to the carport. Yup, that's a Tray house if I ever saw one. The house is turning out very well and the owner is taking some great process shots. A great fish-eye view of the overlook to the living spaces from the hallway above. These photos and more are posted to their Flickr page, and we have begun mirroring them as well on our own Flickr set as well. You can also find all the photos in the LamiDesign House Plan photo pool. Here is a photo stream of all the new shots.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Tray House

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OK Tray House - framing nearly complete

While we've been snoozing here the Oklahoma Tray house has been just booking! Never fast enough for an enthusiastic owner though. The second floor is framed up, and the roof is on. The framing looks right on and they are certainly doing the design justice - exciting to see. The owner is taking a series of fantastic panoramic photos which give you an expansive view of the framing - really the next best thing to being there. They are posted to their Flickr page, and we have begun mirroring them as well on our own Flickr set, and adding them to the LamiDesign House Plan photo pool. A great view of the back of the house - it really looks like a Tray House now! I love this house and its great to see it being executed so well. More photos after the fold. Here is a photo stream of the latest batch.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Tray House

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OK Tray House - second floor framing now

More photos posted to Flickr by the Owner of the 0385 Tray House under construction in Oklahoma. The second floor is framed up now and the roof should be following shortly. The garage walls are done, and the roof of the garage will no doubt be done with the carport. So far so good - the house looks sweet. The owner has been shooting a series of panoramic photos that he is stitching together from individual shots. Check them out in the slide show below - its worth clicking through to Flickr to look at them full size. Here is a close up of the floor trusses that were used for the second floor. These are great because they make it so much easier to run pipes and ducts. Its not as necessary for the first floor if you are over a crawlspace, but if you want a finished basement they are also good for saving your headroom from duct soffits. And for the second floor they are ideal. More photos after the jump. The owner's photos posted to the older entries are at this Flickr site. The new ones from this entry are at a different user name here. Good Dog!

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Tray House

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OK Tray House - Framing up

In typical fashion, once the carpenters get to work the house takes shape very quickly. The Oklahoma Tray House appears to be no exception as in the interval since the last photos were received the garage and half the ground floor framing is up. There is a lot of lumber staged on the site for the rest of the house as well. This view below is from the rear of the house, which if you reference the Tray House floor plan lays out with the garage at the left, and the kitchen in the middle, and living room to the right of the framing we see here. And from the front we can see the large window in the living room and the recess at the front porch and entry. The horizontal windows at the kitchen, and the taller window from the mud room at the far end, with the garage beyond. Here we can see the joining of the slab on grade at the front of the house with the basement construction at the rear, as their floor joists are just going in. Looking to the left you can see the kitchen which is open to the living spaces which will be over the basement, and the laundry and rest room that are between the kitchen and the entry to the house. The setting for the house looks great and they will enjoy a nice view of the woods out of the back of the house from all the living spaces. I'm sure the second floor framing will follow soon so keep watching. Remember, you can also follow the construction with all of the owner's photos at their Flickr site.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Tray House

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OK Tray House - Foundation complete

I was really happy to get an email with an update on the Oklahoma Tray House today. The work is progressing nicely at the wooded site. The foundation is complete and the owners have used some interesting building systems on their house. The greatest part is the unbridled enthusiasm of the owner. They are truly excited about their new house and its hard to not get infected with their excitement. Last time we posted photos from the owner we saw a nice hole for the basement. And now today the foundation is complete. The foundation wall is cast in place concrete, a great choice, and they have used an insulated form system marketed by Owens Corning. It uses specially formed plastic ties to hold together two layers of insulation, one on the inside and one on the outside while the concrete is poured between them. These plastic ties can also support reinforcing bars if they are included in the wall design - a clever design and different from the foam "lego" block style of ICFs. The result is a poured concrete wall between two layers of insulation. The best part is you can screw wall finishes directly to the ends of the plastic ties and no additional studding is needed. The Tray House design has a half basement, and a half crawlspace, but they have elected to use a slab on grade instead of the crawlspace section. One thing this does for you is it allows you to get the finish grade closer to the floor level at the front of the house. Fewer steps up into the house are required, and at the back where the grade falls away there is plenty of room for the floor joists over the basement. You can also see the floor slab of the garage and the preparation for the paving in the carport. You can see more photos in the owners flickr set. We have also created a LamiDesign flickr group with the hope of encouraging customers to share photos of their builds. Our thanks to the Owners for sharing their progress with us here.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Tray House

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