Stillwater Craftsman - Ridiculously Good!

We have had a flurry of interest and activity for our Stillwater Craftsman recently.  Seems to me it might be appropriate timing to discuss what makes this home design so darn good.  Here are a few highlights:

• It's smart and efficient.  A really great new floor plan at just under 2100 square feet.
• It's darn cute
• It's adaptable
• Great mudroom
• Open but intimate living spaces
• It's 3d

The proof is in the pudding.  Take a look below.

An open and efficient main level floor plan with well organized circulation patterns.   Great connection with the outdoors, both front and rear. If desired the plan could also be adapted to incorporate a main floor owners suite.

Three right sized bedrooms including Owners Suite.

You can't say this is not cute!  Just the right amount of ornament - not too spare and not over the top decorative.

Open floor plan while remaining intimate.  Ingenious!

If you want to see more of this home design just go ahead and visit the following link at Simply Elegant Home Designs:   Stillwater Craftsman

New Unique Small House Plan!

Simply Elegant Home Designs is introducing a new unique small house plan - "The Willernie Cottage" as illustrated below.  Architect Ron Brenner had this to say about the home:  "The design is definitely eclectic.  We combined farmhouse, shingle style, cottage and modern elements into a carefully composed exterior envelope. The interior layout is smart.  Like all of our designs we pay much attention to circulation patterns and potential furniture arrangements to ensure functional yet efficient use of space." 

Image from front

Main Level Floor Plan

Upper Level Floor Plan - Three bedrooms with two baths.

Front Elevation

Right Side Elevation

For more information on the home design you can follow this link:  Willernie Cottage

Worlds Best Small House Plan Introduced!

The Worlds Best Small House Plan has just been introduced at Simply Elegant Home Designs!
The home design - the Scandia Modern Cottage is actually a plan that Simply Elegant has had on the market, but has taken on a complete remodeling.  The result is the worlds best small house plan.  See images below and be sure to check out the videos.

A modest interior, but with abundant natural light and a carefully designed open floor plan it fills large.  Check the interior video out at small modern cottage interior 

The exterior is simple and unique.  A modern cottage design.  Check out the exterior video at small modern cottage exterior

The Scandia Modern Cottage was designed by Minnesota Architect Ron Brenner.  He had this to say about the project.

“Is the claim that this is the worlds best small house plan a little much? Perhaps; but I am very excited about the design.  To me the design if fresh and the floor plan functions beautifully.  Let me list just a few things that I think make this a special home design.

1. At 1349 square feet the home is on the small side, but it feels large. Take a look at the interior images and video and I think you will agree. We opened up the floor plan and looked carefully at circulation patterns and furniture arrangements to make the spaces highly functional. Windows filter the public spaces with natural light from every direction.
2. It is a small house plan with plenty of storage. Because of it's size we made sure we packed it with storage possibilities in creative ways. A custom buffet cabinet floats between the living and dining areas. A continuous window seat with storage below is placed alongside the entry path. Media cabinets flank the fireplace.
3. The house is “comfortable”. Both inside and out, it evokes a casual kind of elegance that makes you feel at home.
4. The floor plan is adaptable. We have designed the home to be expandable with a main floor master bedroom. Or on a walkout or lookout lot, kids bedrooms could be placed on the lower level and the second floor converted into an amazing Master Suite.
5. The exterior is adaptable. We like the clean lines and uncluttered look of it's Scandinavian influenced exterior. But the design can easily be adapted to a more traditional or rustic aesthetic without altering the massing in any way.”
   
   

View from rear yard showing the trellis covered patio area.

View from right side.  The tower makes a dramatic statement.

Custom cabinetry is featured throughout the home design providing for ample storage in a small house plan.  Also, notice the exposed stair stringers.

Green House Plans Gone Wild!

Green is the big thing now in the design world and the house plans business.  I recently ran across these images of Icelandic houses that definitely take green to the next level of meaning.  Check them out below.

I love the repeating simple gable roof forms.

Grass grows nicely in Iceland.  Remember Iceland is green and Greenland is white.

The details exhibit a strong Scandinavian design influence.

Wow!

Architects Have Great Tools - Color Visualizer

Every once in a while I like to give you an example of the tools I use in my business.  One of these tools is the
Sherwin Williams Color Visualizer.  I use it to perform quick color studies; which helps me to narrow concepts down pretty quickly.

The tool is pretty simple to use.  You just choose from one of their preloaded exterior architectural styles; then you paint the scene with colors that you choose from the Sherwin Williams palette.  Below is one set of color studies I performed in less than five minutes.

When it's time to repaint your house you might give this tool a try.  You can find it at Sherwin Williams Color Visualizer.  


One important note:  Please put a good size sample up on your wall before you make a final commitment to your colors.  One additional step I do at Ron Brenner Architects and Simply Elegant Home Designs is to take my colors and apply them to my 3d house model.  You can see an example of that at Architects Have Great Tools!

Ron Brenner Design to be Featured in New Book

An In-Law Apartment I designed a few years ago is to be featured in an upcoming book by Michael Litchfield.  The book is called in-laws, outlaws and granny flats; and is slated to be available in bookstores and online by late February / early March.

the book can be pre-ordered at the taunton store - in-laws-outlaws-and-granny-flats

The book features a number of case studies that illustrate ways in which homeowners are creating in-law suites.  In our case study - called "Billys Place" we converted an existing garage attic space into a beautiful live able one room studio for Grandpa.

We used the volumes created by the shape of the roof and dormers to zone distinct spaces within.

The living, sitting and entry zones lie underneath the main gable.

The kitchen zone is carved into the northern dormer.

The bed zone lies within the southern dormer.

We at Simply Elegant Home Designs have created a couple of Garage / Studio Apartment designs inspired by "Billys Place".  If interested you can check them out with the links below:

Minnetonka Garage Apartment

Marine Garage Apartment

New Simple Yet Dramatic Home Design

I just completed a new home design for a client that will be built in "Tapestry at Charlotte's Grove"; a new community in Lake Elmo, Minnesota.  This modern cottage house plan is a classic example of the kind of work I love to do.  Simple yet dramatic in form.  Clean detailing inside and out.  Open and connected spaces.  Efficient in it's use of space and relatively affordable to construct.  Here is a sneak peek at the exteriors.

Look for a variation of this design to be offered soon at  Simply Elegant Home Designs.

Home Design Ideas - Split the Garage!

At Ron Brenner Architects, I am currently working with a client on a new home design to be constructed in Rochester, MN.  Here we have run into a very common dilemma.  What to do with 3 1/2 cars worth of garage?   

If you put all of that garage to the side of the house you get one very wide plan.  If you put all of that garage forward of the house you get one very deep plan.  Many lots cannot accommodate either one of those plan arrangements.  So what I have proposed to do here is to split the garages into two separate structures.  The main two car garage is directly connected to the house via the mudroom zone.  The additional 1 1/2 car garage is placed on the opposite side of the lot; resulting in a nifty little entry court.  See sketches below.

Here you can see a birds eye view of the layout.  Notice the roof between the garage and house is low.  This helps to reduce the mass of the house.  Pulling the garages a bit forward of the front porch creates a nifty little courtyard.

view from street

view approaching courtyard

nice little composition

So when you develop your next house plan - please think about the impact of that garage and look for creative solutions.

Home Design Ideas - Funky Fireplace

You can learn much from studying rooms that you love. Below I have attached a living room picture from a home I designed a few years ago. This turned out to be a very calm and soothing space. I wish I were sitting there now!

A few key points:

• Windows were placed on both of the outside walls of the space. I always try to have natural lighting feeding into a space from more than one direction.
• Fireplace wall design was asymmetrical. Here form followed function. We needed a hideaway for the flat screen on one side, but not both. That left space for a cozy bench on the other side of the fireplace.
• A funky half oval shaped fireplace was used. This adds a very unique detail to an element that is normally very predictable (the rectangular fireplace box).
• Yellow walls with cream trim; natural wood floors and leather - the materials and colors are comforting.
• Dark ebony stained trim is used sparingly to cap off the fireplace and media cabinet and at the stair railing. This adds richness and sophistication to the space.
• Recessed lighting above highlights the details of the composition.

The moral of this story is - if you are looking to remodel a space in your home; find pictures of similar spaces that you love. Then study them to discover what it is about that space that makes it work so well.

Rambler Redux

I ran across some photos of a 1970's era rambler that was for sale in the San Francisco area. This reminds me that there is an awful lot of housing product that can be re-inspired.

I have seen so many try to turn a contemporary rambler into an arts and crafts home or some other more decorative architectural style. In this case the remodeling does not try to make the house into something that it is not. They simply build on the strengths of the design. Below are some pictures of the renovation.

nice fresh exterior

cabinets are a little traditional, but the overall aesthetic is still contemporary

simple space with contemporary furnishings. the dark wood floors contrasted with the light walls adds drama

Compare this house to so many 1950's through 1970's ramblers that you have seen. It makes you realize there is much potential in those old homes.