So i'm building a house.

I wanted to build a house for a long time on my grandparents land, they had given it to me a long time ago when I was around 11. The land is in Georgia and it is quite close to a small town, the land itself is on a large hill. It is about 20 Acres of land and I wanted to build a home for them myself and my future family to stay in. So I decided to build a hybrid house of Old/New-Japanese and American culture. I have a few years to build the house since I'm just a senior in Highschool. But as of now This project comes down to me. I thought it would be nice to ask the Southperricans what should be built into the house.

Being literal here this is a house that I want to build on 20 acres of land. This is land we've had for ages that no one has used. I'm going to be leveling the land so I can build the House on top of it. I'm also going to clear the tress around the hill and up to the road. Most of this will be done by me and my cousins.

So getting back on topic here, I wanted some ideas into the house planning. The house will be two stories high, with a small building in the back. W/C's will be European style, and the actual bath area will be Japanese style. I'm going to be saving money up to get it done. The rest of my family will help financially and physically. My uncle will help design the house with me.

With this I'm going to own the house, pay the bills and run everything that happens. Basically it's a summer home for my family, but an actual home for me, my grandparents and my girlfriend. This is a secret to her of course.

Now back to you guys. (which I've gone off about twice now) What should I add to this two story, house? I mean it's in planning stages now and I have the go ahead to add ideas. (The W/C's and Bathrooms already got greenlit).

So go ahead Southperry. Give me your ideas.

You have to decide on how big you want to build it...the bigger you make it the more taxes you have to pay...I think.

Also I'm really in love with "modern" houses, they have windows everywhere and are usually rectangular...no shingles n stuff...like that house you see in Modern Family!

Make sure to go crazy with the lighting. I love lighting.

Is your uncle an architect or something related, or are you going to study that?
If not, consult a professional. You can work with them until their design matches your dreams, or you can just take the important "engineering" bits from their design and use your imagination over that.

Some things off the top of my head:

- If this is going to be your grandparents' home too, make sure they can keep living in it even if or when their mobility becomes restricted. This means: make it possible to live for years in the house without ever going upstairs or down into the basement (if you have one). All hallways and doorways to be wide enough for wheelchairs. Don't forget details such as the island in the kitchen, if you have one: leave enough room around it for a wheelchair.
- Also, I don't know if this is done where you live, but around here it's customary to keep old people at home even when they get to the point where they need assistance doing the most basic things. Instead of sending them to a nursing home, we bring a live-in nurse in the house. If that's a possibility with you, you might want to have an extra small bedroom and bath on the ground floor, in addition to the master bedroom and bath your grandparents will be using.

- At the other extreme, make the house fit for children to live in. This means, for example, at least one of the bathrooms should have a relatively low sink or a built-in step for them to reach the regular sink. Have light switches relatively low on the wall. Have a handheld showerhead in the bath, you won't believe how much easier it is to wash a small child's hair with that without getting soap in their eyes. Read guides on childproofing, and make sure the house is childproof-ready (for example, rails on the stairs within the parameters). Also, don't use carpeting or furniture that is sensitive to dirt or rough handling...

- You don't want to waste energy cooling or heating rooms that are not in use. I don't know whether the most efficient way to do this would be a sophisticated central-air system, or individual units for each room. Consult a professional.

OK, that's enough rambling from me for now. Good luck and have fun.

1) Plan out your outlets

2) What is the signal strength/availability of phone/internet providers

3) City water or well, and if well is there any place for them to dig for water (will run you close to 6-8K easy)

4) Consider erosion because you're on a hill

5) Get an underground garage because that's just bad ass.

Don't make the driveway too long. Pain in the arse to walk to the mailbox.

Consider a Wind-turbine/solar panels to help cut down on electricity costs? City/well water is also a big thing, espically if your going to use Well-water, be sure you have a really good filtering system in place for that.

For the longest time, I considered being an architect myself, but that kinda fell apart and I never got to the specific training for it, so I don't really have the best advice, but here goes nothing. Check what others have said regarding the utilities and have a decent grasp of how the basic lines are going to reach where the house will be. Try making a basic layout in some free CAD program, and if you have difficulty with that, have a professional do it for you (you really need to do so anyway to make sure things will be up to code). Be aware of potential disasters for the area and prepare accordingly.

Seconding underground garage. In fact, you may not want to level the entire surface to do so (other than laying the foundation of course). Have say, 2 sides 1 floor lower access and the other 2 another above and level with the ground there. The second side that isn't the garage at the lower level could have a deck of some description.

Also, I'd like to see pics every couple of months of development if it's OK. Just because I dropped the major, doesn't mean I don't like seeing creative things done, and your theme does sound creative.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Moonlapse

Make sure to go crazy with the lighting. I love lighting.

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I read that as lightning. Build a tesla coil on top of your house, it's like a lightning rod but backwards!

Make sure you have enough bedrooms for an estimated amount of people.

Irrelevant:

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VePks5E3QD4

Slightly serious: Secret passageways and hidden rooms!

Serious: Don't cut corners on the kitchen.

Ever heard about self-sustaining houses?
Worth reading about it before building one, it could give you some fresh and good ideas.