Lower Level Floorplan and Rainwater Collection

This is the lower level. Since you probably can't read the annotations, the largest room is a media room with space for a 7' pool table. The two guest bedrooms are at the top. The outdoor living space is covered by the deck above it, which will also help shade the windows.

The two round circles to the left are for rain water collection. Water is short here in Texas and last year was extremely dry. However, when it rains--it pours. We're estimating that we will be able to collect from approximately 1000 square feet of the roof. That should produce 550 gallons of water for every inch of rain. The average rainfall in our area is about 32 inches, which would yield 17,600 gallons.

The average family of two uses 20,000 gallons a year. However, our fixtures will all be water savers and we are installing a Brac greywater system that reuses the water from the shower and laundry to flush toilets. We could always have water trucked in if necessary, and it is possible to add gutters to the garage in the future.

Street Level Floorplan

This is the street level floorplan. We only have a scanned image, so it may be difficult to see the details, but hopefully you can make out the main layout. As you can see from the elevations we posted previously, the house steps down with the hillside. The main living area is over the smaller bottom level. We tried to incorporate all of our needs in a "not-so-big" house, using some of the principles outlined by Susanne Susanka. The total conditioned/heated square footage is about 1380 for the top floor and 863 downstairs. We probably wouldn't have needed the space downstairs, but most of our family and many friends live elsewhere and we hope they will visit often. The downstairs will function as a private suite when we do have guests--sound inviting?

We went with a custom design for our home because we weren't able to find all of the following characteristics in existing houses or in one stock plan:

• One entry for us and our guests.
• An ample closet in the entry for coats with shelves for shoes, purses, a charging station for electronics, and all of the things that usually end up on the top of a table near the entry. Significant environmental pollutants can enter the home on the bottom of shoes. We plan to have separate footwear for inside and outside.
• An open floorplan with lots of windows facing the view.
• A small office. After years of working in cubicles, this space is more than ample. It will have double doors with glass to close for privacy, while enabling us to still see the view through the living space.
• A powder room that does not open off the main living area. You enter it through the office.
• A large pantry.
• A kitchen with separate areas (and sinks) for cooking and cleanup. No longer should we be bumping into each other.
• A Japanese soaking tub. I've never been able to get comfortable in a normal tub. This one has a seat and requires less water to cover you up to the neck. It's more like a personal jacuzzi than a tub, but without jets. See a description on the Americh site.
  
• A large walk-in shower.
  
• Laundry in the walk-in closet. Why transport dirty and clean clothes back and forth when you can simply throw them in the washer and hang them up when clean?