Selected Newsletters: Vol. 7 No. 1, Vol 8. No. 1, Vol. 9 No. 1, Vol 9 No. 2

Newsletter: Vol. 9, No. 1

French Country
In our continuing series on the triumphs and sorrows of our students in building their own homes and in becoming professional builders, we want to introduce you to the French Country Style of architecture and one of our most successful student/builders.

This popular style of residential architecture with its steeply pitched roofs, subtle flare at the eaves ("coyaux" to the French), stair towers and randomly-applied stone or stucco exteriors persists as a continuing love affair with the countryside of France. As opposed to the more grandiose classicism of the more formal forms, the country version is simple, practical, warm and friendly...looking good and living well.

The style was brought home by artists, writers and, largely, by thousands of our soldiers...all of whom fell in love with the rural beauty of France and the elegantly simple homes of the countryside. While we try to pin a label on the various examples, denoting a specific place and type, the basic houses are quite similar...differentiated by one or two details, alternative exterior treatment and/or use of color. All share common bonds and represent well the simple beauty and comfort of the French country style.

Let's Do One

A few years ago, a student, Dave Stromquist, came to us with a French country dream house he planned to build for his wife, Marcia. They had worked up a "home architect" plan and amassed a three ring binder that contained all the details regarding materials, components, colors and styles. It was all there...I just needed to convert the plan from concept to "buildable" and we were on our way!!!

Their French Country home was to be a "farmhouse" with a steep roof (16/12 pitch with a coyaux of 10/12), gables, shed dormers and porches. Quality, architectural coherence and the use of naturally beautiful materials formed the paradigm for the project.

The house was quite large, with about 4,000 sf on the main floor and about 2,200 on the second...and it was a monster to frame, due to the scale and complexity of the roof structure. But build it we did...with move in about 11 months after we started.

The only roofing material that transmitted the desired natural beauty was cedar and CCA treated heavy cedar shakes from Canada were installed...we just can't get quality cedar in the lower 48. Not an inexpensive roof, but a real beauty and one that will stand the test of time (it has a fifty-year warranty).

The siding was a custom color "old world" three-coat masonry stucco with a heavy "knock-down" troweled finish. Used brick (cultured) highlights were incorporated as "eyebrows" for the radius windows and lintels for the doors. The walks, porches and veranda were of tumbled concrete pavers and the whole picture was highlighted by clay chimney pots, cedar shutters in a French blue-gray and a massive mahogany front door.

The interior incorporated hand carved and stained beams in the main rooms, carved limestone masonry fireplaces, warm yellow walls, granite in the kitchen, marble and tile in the baths and 5" character plank ash floors finished with a warm brown stain. The floating panel bead and batten pine doors, hand built in a small shop in the Teton mountains, were highlighted by wide traditional base trim and casings and given a soft white finish in satin enamel. The period hardware was black forged wrought iron and all light fixtures were finished to match.

In sum, the style was studied and religiously adhered to and the result was a new home... with all the modern high-end conveniences and materials... that looked and felt as though it had been there forever.

How About Another?

One day, while perusing the Oregonian, Dave saw a picture of Josephine Bonaparte's stone cottage in Martinique...absolutely charming!!! Within a month, Marcia consented to the creation of a French Country Cottage...IF the essence of the interior of the farmhouse could be duplicated. That's all it took. Dave promptly purchased a used drafting table and some mechanical pencils, hand-drawing the plans. With our help on the foundation plan, the roof plan and structural design, we tried to simplify the "buildable" nature of the house. If the first house was a bear to build, this one was designed to be the opposite...and it was. Comprised of three rectangles and incorporating roof trusses, the cottage was framed in one-fourth the time...despite its 4,500 sf size.

Josephine's cottage was a partial hip roof with about an 8/12 pitch. Dave used the same look but increased the pitch to 12/12 to attain the desired interior volume on the second story. The eight dormers had full hip roofs and the roof's cedar shakes were upgraded from "heavy 3/4 inch" to "jumbo 1+ inch".

While the interior elements remained essentially the same, a key change was made. A remarkable type of limestone replaced the travertine marble, granite and aosta verde marble used in the first house...even in the kitchen!!! Limestone's beauty is unsurpassed and its porosity can be overcome with the liberal use of a very good (expensive) sealer.

Ideally, the exterior would be of local stone but, unfortunately, Camas gray and our climate can make things look pretty dismal. An alternative was needed. After buying numerous "handy-paks" (they're not) and laying up as many test panels, cultured stone was selected for the exterior. To save cost (it's relatively expensive) the upper elevations were to be done in "cedar board and batt". When the stone went up it became very clear...it had to be all stone. Budget be damned!!!...and it was worth it! The type of stone selected allowed the mason to lay it in a random rubble style...exactly what you find in the rural homes of France.

This time the windows were rectangular with wide cedar lintels, chiseled stone sills and the same blue-gray shutters...and, yes, the front door is massive...this time a blue-gray bead and batten monster made of recycled old growth fir (complete with a "speakeasy door"). Nine months later, they moved in.could have easily been eight.


The Forgotten Laundry Room

Too often, laundry areas are given little thought in the design of a house. The washer, dryer, and sink, if there is one, are just lined up against the wall of a mudroom or relegated to the basement because the homeowners don't want to lose precious floor space upstairs. But for those of us with lots of kids or bad backs a well-designed laundry, placed conveniently can be a real help.

So, there you are. . .with five baskets of laundry culled from everywhere, because your little darling drop it all wherever they're standing. What do you do now? You haul it all down a flight of narrow stairs to the basement and dump it on the floor because there is no counter space. You take your daughters $100 sweater out of the delicate wash and you are certainly not going to put it in the dryer. So what do you do with it? Then there is the problem of what do you do with the stuff that can go in the dryer when it comes out? You haul it back upstairs, clean but unfolded, and dump it on your bed until you've got enough to fold. Then, when you go to get into bed you remember. . .. To solve all these little problems you may want to do a little remodeling project, or incorporate a decent laundry into your new home design.

Design Considerations

There are no established guidelines to follow like there are in designing a kitchen, but here are some tips for laying out an efficient laundry room. Frequently, the requests for a laundry are simple: provide counter space for sorting and folding clothes, a hanging rod for clothes to drip dry, a small storage area for detergents, good lighting, and a small wastebasket for cleaning the dryer vents. You can also expand on these requests to include amenities like a pull-out spray faucet, a built-in ironing board, a laundry chute and dirty clothes hamper, and recycling type bins for sorting the laundry.

Appliance specs. Always verify the dimensions, clearance and hookup requirements for the appliances, whether you are buying all new or using your old machines. Remember that the dryer will most likely need to be vented to the outside, which may affect the exterior aesthetics. Also, try to keep the duct as short and straight as possible, to remove moisture effectively and maximize dryer efficiency.

Watch the dryer door. Remember that the dryer door may be left open while clothes are being folded. Try to avoid conflict with passage doors and leave enough floor space for the user to walk around the open door. Top-loading machines should also be checked for clearance: Measure the door in its highest open position, and then add at least 6 inches for hand room.

Wet Zone. It's a good idea to place the sink next to the washer so that all the plumbing and water sources are contained in one wet zone. For washers on an upper floor, an increasingly popular option since that's where your clothes frequently are, except when the kids strew them all over the house, you need to put the washer in a metal tray. This tray then has a drain that leads to the outside of the house with a ½" plastic tube. One of the advantages of this system is that if your washer leaks slightly in the back you will be able to see it dripping, whereas you might have missed it otherwise.

Cabinets

Even the smallest design should include wall cabinets or open shelving over the washer and dryer, and a base cabinet for the sink. Some higher-end washers and dryers fit under a countertop-which saves space by providing the counter area above for sorting and folding.

There are a host of built-in fold-down or pullout ironing boards available. When placing the ironing board, make sure that there is enough floor space to walk around both sides and the end of the board when it's open. Another option is to provide a tall cabinet to store a freestanding board.

Extra base cabinets are always welcomed because they can house a pull-out wastebasket for cleaning the dryer vent trap and disposing of dryer sheets, a hamper for storing dirty clothes, or bins for sorting loads of laundry. Additionally, these base cabinets will increase counter area, which is always welcome in a laundry.

Lighting

Finally, good lighting is critical to a successful laundry room design. General lighting should be supplemented with task lighting in at least two areas: at the sink, to help treat soiled clothes, and at the folding area, so that dark socks can be matched correctly.

The Small Plan

A workable laundry doesn't necessarily require a lot of floor space. The laundry in Figure 1 incorporates the washer and dryer, a sink, some counter space, an ironing board, and several shelves and cabinets-al in less than 20 square feet. This design can easily be incorporated into one end of a kitchen. Using a stacked washer/dryer in its own closet allows the unit to be hidden behind doors when it's not in use. A 36-inch-wide base cabinet includes a sink for hand washables, while the 12-inch-high cabinet above leaves space to hang a laundry pole. The 15-inch-wide by 24-inch-deep cabinet at right opens to reveal a fold-down ironing board and storage.

The Medium-Size Laundry

The laundry area in Figure 2 works well when you have a little more space. This plan, which takes up to 36 square feet, might be used to replace a walk through mudroom. The utility sink is set in the center of three 24-inch-wide base cabinets, while two 18-inch-wide upper cabinets anchor two laundry poles. The washer, dryer, and shelves are on the opposite wall. Contrary to our tip above, the sink isn't on the same wall with the washer, necessitating plumbing in both walls. Ideal doesn't always work in reality.

A Large Laundry

The laundry in Figure 3 occupies 55 square feet. At the left end are 12-inch-wide curved base and wall cabinets, followed by 18-inch-wide cabinets. Three Plexiglas bins on the counter hold detergents; the base unit holds a pullout ironing board in its drawer. Next, the stacked washer/dryer fits snugly between two full height end panels, with a 12-inch-high wall cabinet, a 36-inch-corner sink cabinet, and another 36-inch cabinet. Above, the laundry pole hangs between the washer/dryer and the 24-inch-wide upper cabinet, which also has an 18-inch-high working door. If you didn't want the stacked washer/dryer, you could put a side-by-side on the left and use some of the cabinet space on the right for your detergent storage, also feeing up more counter space. Also, in an area this large, you could easily place a full-height ironing board storage at one end or the other, because you have the entire corner floor area to set the board up in for use.

I've tried to give you a few ideas for incorporating some of the most common labor saving features that you might want to incorporate in your new laundry room. Since we have to do this chore usually several times a week, a little planning to make it easier and more organized goes a long way.

Along Comes Michael

If one's good, two must be better. Not necessarily, but in this case, yes. Dave was approached by a young e-business "whiz kid" who was two weeks from breaking ground on his French Country "dream house"...he wanted to know who the cottage's designer was. A discussion and tour with his builder ensued. Two weeks later he returned, informing Dave that he had canceled his other project and wanted to build the cottage...with some modifications for his family. Now there's a guy who make's tough decisions.

Dave was not about to do another project hunched over a drafting table and he and I teamed together to create (clone) Michael and Kathleen's French Country Cottage. Dave's house was designed for "empty nesters"...Michael"bump out" to provide architectural interest and differentiate it from its sire. The huge guest suite was converted into "the girls wing"...substituting two large bedrooms with walk in closets and a large shared bath. The garage was rotated 180 degrees and extended slightly to facilitate egress. The back entry was extended four feet, providing room for stairs leading to a large office, bath and media room over the garage. Again, the same basic house with subtle changes...all of which enhanced its rural charm and livability.

The 5,400 sf house is on an idyllic site at the edge of a woods overlooking the Salmon Creek wildlife preserve. It should be ready for move-in mid-late summer...they can't wait!!!

Caution: French Country Can Be Habit Forming

In the process of selling the first house, numerous people became interested in the style Dave was creating. He was approached by a couple who had seen the first house and had subsequently purchased a beautiful but challenging lot on the Columbia...they wanted to begin creating their dream...French of course!

Given cutouts from three different study plans scotch taped together and the constraints of a 90 foot wide building envelope, the challenge was on. Months of exhausting design, review and modification...followed by intense scrutiny, tweaks, minor additions, et.al...we think a real French Country gem has emerged...this one is more upscale and would be considered a gentleman's country home or "gentilhommiere".

We plan to start construction about the first of March.

Getting Serious

Since others seemed to be getting seriously interested in what Dave loves to do and because he found the relationship with Owner Builder Homes beneficial and enjoyable, we sat down and created a partnership...Classic Custom Homes, LLC. Dave is the project manager, Jeanne is the financial manager and Garry provides engineering and technical support and structural design. Our objective with the Classic custom Homes partnership which stands as an addition to our original construction company, Owner Builder Homes still in place to serve the owner builder, is to concentrate on the French Country style. We have thus far done the planning for each of the four projects but would welcome an existing plan. While our research and focus has been on the French Country style, we do not feel restricted to one specific type within the rural style found throughout Europe for, as noted previously, almost all the houses share common bonds with subtle regional differences...all similar, all unique, all charming, and all are of interest.

This is a very special process. It would be nice to think that we could take credit for the enthusiasm and interest that has been shown. In reality, we all owe a debt of gratitude to the ingenuity, creativity and artistry of the people who knew and worked the land, using it simply, out of necessity, to create structures of enduring warmth, beauty and harmony...it's just nice to have a hand in recreating and preserving the essence of our past...creating Classic Custom Homes.