Retirement/Dream Home Suggestions

[Hermit]

One thing that is very popular around my part of the Colorado mountains is a wood stove. They are really nice and cozy and fun to look at in the winter, but they are a lot of work to keep running with the soft woods available around here. It just takes a lot of stoking to keep the fire going. I am not talking about gathering, cutting, and splitting either. A lot of the homes around here are heated only with the wood stove. I would not recommend going that route, but a wood stove for enjoyment and emergency heat would be great.

[SnowBound]

I had a house built so all the tall windows faced south, and the long side of the house also faced south. The winter sun got into the house all day long. The dog loved it, I loved that dog. In the summer just the East and West ends of the house got sun (the short side of the house). No many windows on ends, so the house stayed cool in the summer.

Also had a large hill on the north west side of the house, kept the hot evening sun off west side of the house. The hill really protected the house from the winter storms! More than one tree on that hill took a direct lighting hit (house never did).

Back the the original post: Make sure the driveway is flat, but enough slope that rain water doesn't run into the garage! Lot of contractors building houses still get this wrong, repeatedly.

[jmp470]

My suggestions:

Build it with Solar in mind. I went all electric and love it. Electric fireplaces too.

Build the doors wider / taller than normal.

Build hallways wider than normal for wheel chairs.

Build the shower / tub with old age in mind.

[Bamaman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by COcheesehead If we don’t use an architect, we’ll probably have to find another builder and we really like the builder.

Many home builders simply do not like working with architects. Our builders next went to build an incredible house on a 3 acre island. They felt guilty taking a salary while waiting on a Hilton Head architect to produce another stage of blueprints. They did spend a winter building a 150' arch bridge to the island. I bet the house is $3.5 million.

I have another friend that is the top residential architect in his very large state. His homes start at 10,000 square feet. He designed one 28,000 square ft. house and the blue prints were over 210 pages. That is a little overkill for most folks.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hermit I am going to look seriously at this company's blinds through Costco: https://www.costco.com/Graber-Custom...100040959.html They have a line of blinds that are built with Somfy motors which are probably the best you can get. They are battery operated and I believe come with a controller that you click to lower or raise the blind. I don't have one yet, so I can't tell you how they actually work. I had one blind in my last house that worked like these only it was pretty cheap, the motor was very noisy and it only lasted about 3 years. It was great while it worked. That window was above the entry door and about 12 feet off the floor at the bottom.

Thanks! I'll take a look at that link, too. Battery operated would probably be fine in my case since nothing is up high like that.

[COcheesehead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamaman Many home builders simply do not like working with architects. Our builders next went to build an incredible house on a 3 acre island. They felt guilty taking a salary while waiting on a Hilton Head architect to produce another stage of blueprints. They did spend a winter building a 150' arch bridge to the island. I bet the house is $3.5 million. I have another friend that is the top residential architect in his very large state. His homes start at 10,000 square feet. He designed one 28,000 square ft. house and the blue prints were over 210 pages. That is a little overkill for most folks.

The builder and architect specialize in the style and size we want. Frank Lloyd Wright ish, smaller, organic/natural finishes with clean lines, long overhangs. I don’t think forgoing the architect is even an option at this point. Also the plans must be complete before we close on the lot. That’s the deal.

[COcheesehead]

Thank you to all who have posted. Lots of great suggestions. You all are invited over once it is done.

[Rksolid]

Me and the wife are also downsizing and building our final/ summer retirement home. I'm 53 she's 50. We close on our current home June 1, new home Oct 1. Reduced sq feet by half with a much smaller yard. Building a patio home with a bonus room above, for now it can be extra tv room with hideaway bed, main floor will be 2 br. This house will be a turnkey house. 3 Stall garage will be finished like a show room with epoxy flooring. The back yard will have a enclosed deck as well as stamped area for fire pit and hot tub. The home will be built on a small pond that cam be used for recreation. When we do retire we plan on wintering in AZ.

[RunningBum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmp470 My suggestions: ... Build the doors wider / taller than normal. ...

I get wider (for wheelchairs and gurneys), but why taller? I think you can still easily find a replacement door that is wider than typical, but I bet you'd run into trouble if it's higher.

[Nemo2]

We're not 'Dream House People', but a number of years back, waiting in a garage, we were talking to a guy, about 6'3", who had installed in his place a higher kitchen sink so that he could do dishes, etc, without screwing up his back.......at floor level was a pull out step that his wife could stand on so that neither would be uncomfortable using the sink.

Since there's an 11" height difference between DW and me, we thought that was a handy idea.

[COcheesehead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RunningBum I get wider (for wheelchairs and gurneys), but why taller? I think you can still easily find a replacement door that is wider than typical, but I bet you'd run into trouble if it's higher.

We have tall doors in our current house. I am not sure of a performance advantage, but they change the look especially if you have higher ceilings. It makes the interior appear a bit grander.

[jmp470]

We have 8 foot doors all around and arches are also 8 foot, with wider halls. Moving stuff is a breeze. The other nice feature is everything feels more open and grander, as COcheesehead stated.

[ivinsfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jabbahop Talk to people from there area/climate about lessons learned. This is our first year spending the winter in st. George Utah. Living in the desert calls for completely different home orientation than our summer home in vermont (protect from vs let in the sun for example). Where to put outdoor spaces depends on not just the view but seasonal sun. Some people here have homes where their patio have a great view are uncomfortably warm even in spring and fall - probably unusable in summer. Also pay attention to prevailing winds for those spaces. I would really focus on how to reduce exterior maintenance. this home was built with decorative pine awning that disintegrate after 10 years. Given you are likely to be in wildfire country, plan plantings and buffer to protect yourself. If you have significant snows, make sure architect plans for how snow leaves roof. We had a home in vermont that looked fantastic but metal roof funneled much of the snow right on the front walkway. Enjoy the process!

Fellow snowbird in St George. We use VRBO and tend to book different places in different areas. One of the first things we ask is the orientation of the patio and or back yard, so we get maximum seasonal sun. It's a deal breaker for us.

[Music Lover]

I tell this to everyone building a house and have suggested it on this site a couple times:

Take plenty of pictures just prior to the insulation and drywall stage. This will give you a future reference to where all the wiring and plumbing is located. Take it a step further and add some measurements to make it easier to locate studs...it's as easy as starting in a corner and writing on each stud with a Sharpie...16", 32", etc. If you want to hang something heavy on the wall later and you'll know exactly where the studs, wiring, and ducts are located.

[COcheesehead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Music Lover I tell this to everyone building a house and have suggested it on this site a couple times: Take plenty of pictures just prior to the insulation and drywall stage. This will give you a future reference to where all the wiring and plumbing is located. Take it a step further and add some measurements to make it easier to locate studs...it's as easy as starting in a corner and writing on each stud with a Sharpie...16", 32", etc. If you want to hang something heavy on the wall later and you'll know exactly where the studs, wiring, and ducts are located.

This is an awesome comment. Someone told us to this on our last build and it came in very handy when it came time to mount TV's and install Sonos speakers.

[kcowan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nemo2 We're not 'Dream House People', but a number of years back, waiting in a garage, we were talking to a guy, about 6'3", who had installed in his place a higher kitchen sink so that he could do dishes, etc, without screwing up his back.......at floor level was a pull out step that his wife could stand on so that neither would be uncomfortable using the sink. Since there's an 11" height difference between DW and me, we thought that was a handy idea.

We have friends who remodelled their cottage kitchen to do the same for their 6' daughter and 6'8" SIL. They had to raise the bay window as well so it was pricey ($30k).

[Out of Steam]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CitizenK Some random thoughts, not specific to aging: Besides views, consider the optimum solar orientation of each space. Do you light morning light in the master bedroom, or kitchen?

As someone with seasonal depression, having the master bedroom on the west side of our current house is a real negative.

As we're looking at already-built houses, it is not something that will be a veto for a future house, but I would add high-quality lighting into any future bedroom without good morning light.

[Starsky]

It's fun to make a house your own. My two favorite custom additions to our house have been:

1) Home automation - We have a couple of Alexas and front and back exterior cameras. All our interior and exterior lights are on Lutron wireless dimmer switches, so we can turn on and off the lights by voice inside the house or remotely via our phones. The sprinklers are automated and connected to the web too. It makes it a lot easier to leave the house when we know we can tell what's going on, and we can set all the lights to look like we're home. We went a little further and also added speakers throughout the house in the ceilings for a distributed music system.

2) Our double shower with rain-head and steam generator. It's not for everyone, but if you like a good steam bath, having one in your shower is pure heaven. (especially after a cold swim!) I use it every day. I've found it's also fantastic for getting rid of congestion and allergy symptoms. It added about $3.5-4K to the total cost of my shower including the generator, controller, dedicated electrical circuit, and extra work to create a fully enclosed shower space. It's not cheap, but it has been 1,000 times more useful than adding a Jacuzzi bath.

I also liked adding certain special and unique - what I call 'statement' - lighting fixtures inside our home. It really makes certain rooms pop. It can also add lots of functionality - especially in the bathroom (for example with makeup mirror lighting); and even in the kitchen when used for specific task areas. I usually will look in lighting specialty stores, not big boxes - for these special fixtures. There is much more to choose from than you typically see at Home Depot, and the fixtures are usually better quality overall, though more expensive.

[RunningBum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starsky 2) Our double shower with rain-head and steam generator. It's not for everyone, but if you like a good steam bath, having one in your shower is pure heaven. (especially after a cold swim!) I use it every day. I've found it's also fantastic for getting rid of congestion and allergy symptoms. It added about $3.5-4K to the total cost of my shower including the generator, controller, dedicated electrical circuit, and extra work to create a fully enclosed shower space. It's not cheap, but it has been 1,000 times more useful than adding a Jacuzzi bath.

All 3 of your features sound neat, but especially this one. What's the upkeep like, is it more work than normal shower cleaning? I have a walk in shower that I really like, but I really could get into a good steam bath. I like your comparison to the Jacuzzi bath usage.

[RunningBum]

One thing I did over the years was to tour high end homes, and look for features that I would really like. A multi million dollar house might have dozens of extras I'd never spend the money on, but then I'd see that one thing that I'd know I'd like. Take pictures and notes. Sometimes it's just a matter of thinking about the rooms you've felt comfortable in over your life, and why that is--perhaps wood work, stone, lighting, coziness in a nook, whatever--and incorporating that. I can remember as a kid thinking how neat a small glass block window in the bathroom was. I put a good sized one on my master bath over the tub and it gives a lot of light but keeps privacy.