CONTEMPORARY HOUSE IN ZAGALETA SPAIN

This beautiful contemporary house design is located in La Zagaleta, Spain. Designed by British architect Peter Thomas de Cruz, with stunning contemporary design ideas. This house occupies a site on the hillside inland from the coast of southern Spain.

To get the most out of the place, this modern house uses the slope of the area with the core of the house, it is a double-height gallery with natural light that extends down the slope of the site. All facades made of full height crystals parallel to the slope must be fully open to allow airflow through building. Cross ventilation, along with large roof overhangs and cantilevered balconies that provide sun protection, reduces reliance on air conditioning and extends the opportunity for comfortable living outdoors. This modern contemporary house design is drastically cut in half perpendicular to the gallery with a glass floor (where dining room is located) to close the gap between the two halves and the linking of kitchen space for living space. The gallery sits astride parallel an indoor pool, and when all the windows retract fully, both in the gallery and the dining space bridges fully open to the atmosphere. The calm of the house is accentuated by the flowing water from the pool patio gallery finished down on a board below the waterfall room to meet the lowest of the two pools connected. Did you like this house? See pictures of the living and dining room, kitchen, swimming pool and terrace.

Sources: thomasdecruz.com, modresdes.com 
Via: House Facades and Home Interiors 

SWIMMING POOL DECKS AND A BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE

Pictures of a large, beautiful swimming pool with wooden decks from different angles, with a beautiful landscape view from La Zagaleta, Spain. Do you like this swimming pool? Look at the pictures of the rest of this contemporary house at HOUSE FACADES AND HOME INTERIORS

Sources: thomasdecruz.com, modresdes.com 
Via: Swimming Pools Design and Pictures

When in doubt - bid it out!

I am asked quite frequently the question - How much does it cost to build this house?

Unfortunately the only way to know how much a home costs to build is to have it bid.  This is because there are simply too many variables that have an effect on construction cost.  For instance:

• The construction climate (supply and demand) in your particular region
• Labor costs in your region
• Material costs in your region
• The quality of your builder
• The construction quality desired
• Level of service desired
• The complexity / sophistication of the design
• The quality level of the materials and finishes that you select
• Issues pertaining to your building site
• sloped or flat lot
• quality of soils
• proximity to utilities
• Proximity to suppliers / materials

To illustrate the complexity I used a free online construction cost calculator (from building-cost.net) and plugged in identical data for two separate locations - Chicago, Illinois and North Platte, Nebraska.  I assumed a custom designed 2500 square foot two story home with a 1000 square foot finished basement, two car attached garage, one fireplace and a pretty high level of custom design and construction quality.   The numbers I received were as follows:

• Chicago, Illinois - $871,000.
• North Platte, Nebraska - $672,000

Next I took the exact same specifications but just reduced the quality level by one category.  Here are those numbers:

• Chicago - $636,055
• North Platte, Nebraska - $491,800

Now the same house but reducing quality level by one more category resulted in the following:

• Chicago - $473,929
• North Platte, Nebraska - $367,513

A pretty brief glance at the numbers above illustrates my difficulty in answering the "how much does it cost?" question.  So how do I answer it?

If you want to know the construction cost of a specific home design you need to have it bid by one or several professional building contractors.  Go ahead and purchase the plans.  The dollar investment and time commitment are very minimal compared to starting a design process from scratch, and in the end you will have a realistic number you can work with.

If prior to purchasing a plan you want to gain a general idea how much construction costs are in your area; then you need to do some homework.  Visit the model homes in your area and talk with the builders.  Compare the level of design, the construction quality, size of home, amenities, exterior finishes, interior finishes, etc.  After a while you will begin to gain a better understanding of the costs for the kind of home you want.  In this process you'll also be narrowing down the builders to those that are best suited for you.

A White Farmhouse Plan

I just published a new exterior animation of our Hudson Farmhouse Plan on You Tube.  Check it out.

The design features a modern open floor plan and a main floor master suite within a classic farmhouse exterior.   You can see more at the following link:  Hudson Farmhouse

OFFICE DESKS UNDER THE STAIRS

Pictures of OFFICES UNDER THE STAIRWAYS.

Do not have space for a small office at home? This is an excellent idea to use the space below the stairs: Desktops under the stairs. See several pictures with ideas and designs of desks under the stairs and make your own home office.

Via: Desk Design and Office Decoration 

Modern Garden Concept

Modern Garden Concept

Like food | Rothko inspired cookies by Mimi O Chun

How great are these Rothko inspired cookies by Mimi O Chun

(via CMY Bacon)

Monet's House And Gardens

Monet's House and Gardens

Home Garden

home garden

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