Narrow Home Designs

When purchasing a lot on which to build a new home, many home buyers are distraught when they realize that two lots of identical square footage will have very different price tags as a result of the actual lot dimensions.

Because today neighborhoods are more crowded than even, and homes are being build on every available piece of land in some parts of the country, it is more likely that a new home builder will purchase a lot of unequal dimensions. Often times, the lot will be significantly wider than it deep, or vice versa. This presents a number of problems when choosing home plans or when a designer has been contracted to build a custom home.

Most new homebuilders come into the project with a list of requirements including multiple car garages, ample outdoor living space. They also desire large kitchens and bathrooms, wide hallways and thus present their designers and builders with quite a challenge.

In considering the style of narrow home to be built, a homeowner will want to consider the ideal view, and the rooms from which they will enjoy that view. Generally, if a lot is narrow it means that there will be neighbors located in close proximity on either side of their newly built home. So, most narrow homes or homes built on narrow lots will have the majority of their windows located on the front and back faces of the house.

Because this type of situation for building a new home and designing new home plans is not at all uncommon, architects and designers have moved in the direction of integrating outdoor living space into the footprint of the house plans. It is not uncommon to find a newly constructed home with a patio surrounded on two or more sides by the external wall of a house.

Other techniques used to maximize space efficiency within narrow home plans for new construction is to include vaulted or cathedral ceilings and lofts into the living space plans. Many pre-made house plans will include separate sets of plans for homeowners desiring the inclusion of these features into their new homes.

A traditionally used method for increasing the curb appeal of a house built on a narrow lot is to remove the garage entrance from the front of the home. Perhaps it could be placed under the house, if a daylight basement foundation or the like is used when building the house. Something that people have gotten away from is using external garages. This type of garage, located behind the house, perhaps with alley access is a great option because it also provides the possibility of building a carriage house or other type of additional storage space for the homeowner building their hope on a narrow lot.

This home building article by:
Michelle McClory with BuildingPlans.com

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