Wish List In New Home

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allrightscud

Tenderfoot
Feb 13, 2013
84
1
Central Belt, Scotland
I would have a HUF house and I'd probably want it to be in Germany which aught to take care of my power and infrastructure needs, near a large forest and within an hour of a decent sized town. A private water supply, growing land and nice neighbours.

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That'll do it for me.

:)

Try a www.fjordhus.com They are a Scottish company who specalise in Scandanavian builds. I would love one of their houses. I have one of their double 2 story garages. Fantastic buildings.
 

Clouston98

Woodsman & Beekeeper
Aug 19, 2013
4,364
2
25
Cumbria
That is my nightmare to be honest, I'd sooner buy a yurt or a caravan. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
That is my nightmare to be honest, I'd sooner buy a yurt or a caravan. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.

I've seen your thread on your current home and I envy you indeed. That said, tell us what you'd add in the way of design features if you were building that same farmstead from scratch? Please remember, I'm trying to get realistic ideas, not unattainable fantasies (so far the only unlikely fantasy I've seen is the ratating gun turret Imagedude wanted. Gotta admit, I'd like that too but it's beyond possibility given common budgets.
 

Clouston98

Woodsman & Beekeeper
Aug 19, 2013
4,364
2
25
Cumbria
Aye, kind of blows all those freezing cold stone cottages out of the water doesn't it.

Think I would like some curtains though, never been blown away by that architects dream of minimalist.

I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure all that glass is worse for insulation than three foot thick stone. And I have to say I think they look hideous. Maybe I'm out of date - but that's my opinion.
 

Clouston98

Woodsman & Beekeeper
Aug 19, 2013
4,364
2
25
Cumbria
I've seen your thread on your current home and I envy you indeed. That said, tell us what you'd add in the way of design features if you were building that same farmstead from scratch? Please remember, I'm trying to get realistic ideas, not unattainable fantasies (so far the only unlikely fantasy I've seen is the ratating gun turret Imagedude wanted. Gotta admit, I'd like that too but it's beyond possibility given common budgets.

We've got a small un lavish boot room, large kitchen, dairy, 'library' (second reception room), four bedrooms, three bathrooms and five barns. To be honest I would ideally like to have a proper upstairs attic room- as a sort of storage come tinkering room and I'd love to have an 'orangery' built in the traditional manner - but I doubt I'd add one on to an old house apart from that- more land reall- maybe some pigs too :).
 
Nov 29, 2004
7,808
22
Scotland
I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure all that glass is worse for insulation than three foot thick stone. And I have to say I think they look hideous. Maybe I'm out of date - but that's my opinion.

No, glass (this glass anyway) is superior, stone holds the temperature if you keep your home warm, but it holds the cold if you do not (or cannot) I speak with some authority having lived in stone built Scottish cottages and farmhouses for half my days. The look fits into the German/Central European landscape better as they resemble the traditional large roofed timber framed buildings they have been building here for centuries.

All the windows can have blinds, they can be opened an closed electrically so you don't have to wander around the house pulling cords.

If I could afford this then I could afford to spend most of the year wandering around various parts of the world. This would be the place to come home to to meet with family members and warm my old bones in front of the fire.

:)
 
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Clouston98

Woodsman & Beekeeper
Aug 19, 2013
4,364
2
25
Cumbria
No, glass (this glass anyway) is superior, stone holds the temperature if you keep your home warm, but it holds the cold if you do not (or cannot) I speak with some authority having lived in stone built Scottish cottages and farmhouses for half my days. The look fits into the German/Central European landscape better as they resemble the traditional large roofed timber framed buildings they have been building here for centuries.

All the windows have blinds, they can be open an closed electrically so you don't have to wander around the house pulling cords.

If I could afford this then I could afford to spend most of the year wandering around various parts of the world. This would be the place to come home to to meet with family members and warm my old bones in front of the fire.

:)

Interesting, although is it not more costly to heat glass in the winter as it would escape easier whereas the stone would hold it?

The traditional houses sound nice- I would be sorely tempted by a lovely log cabin in the woods- but with plumbing etc :).
 
Nov 29, 2004
7,808
22
Scotland
Interesting, although is it not more costly to heat glass in the winter as it would escape easier whereas the stone would hold it?

The traditional houses sound nice- I would be sorely tempted by a lovely log cabin in the woods- but with plumbing etc :).

There would be a huge amount of solar gain which even in cold rainy Scotland would make the place easier to keep warm. It would take less energy to heat the living space and to maintain your chosen temperature. (underfloor heating and much smarter room thermostats than are commonly seen in the UK)

If you were to turn the heating off in one of these and in an older stone built house and let them sit for a month or two during the colder months, I think the modern house would suffer less and recover faster when the heating came back on although that would depend on the stone house, if it was bright and airy it would suffer less, but small windows and darkened rooms, lath and plaster etc. if left unheated could turn damp and mouldy quite quickly.

I saw your post about your new place too, it looks fabulous. :)
 

Clouston98

Woodsman & Beekeeper
Aug 19, 2013
4,364
2
25
Cumbria
There would be a huge amount of solar gain which even in cold rainy Scotland would make the place easier to keep warm. It would take less energy to heat the living space and to maintain your chosen temperature. (underfloor heating and much smarter room thermostats than are commonly seen in the UK)

If you were to turn the heating off in one of these and in an older stone built house and let them sit for a month or two during the colder months, I think the modern house would suffer less and recover faster when the heating came back on although that would depend on the stone house, if it was bright and airy it would suffer less, but small windows and darkened rooms, lath and plaster etc. if left unheated could turn damp and mouldy quite quickly.

I saw your post about your new place too, it looks fabulous. :)

Ah, I get that now- it does make sense. I'm still loving the stone though :D. And glad you like mate :).
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
Interesting, although is it not more costly to heat glass in the winter as it would escape easier whereas the stone would hold it?....

There would be a huge amount of solar gain which even in cold rainy Scotland would make the place easier to keep warm......

Think of it as a green house. They're not so great in warm or hot climates though; for the same reason.
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,709
1,947
Mercia
I'm personally not convinced that old houses are damper than new ones - new ones when all sealed up seem to suffer from far more mould and the like. Older houses can have damp proof courses and insulation added (ours has). New neighbours popped over for a beer tonight and commented on how warm the cottage was (23 degrees). We remarked that we had used the gas oven for an hour today (baked tomatoes and gralic for tea) but that was it, no heating needed. Anyway - I'm with Cameron, I'll take some stone with decent windows and so forth over glass any day - but we all like different things - that's okay.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
I'm personally not convinced that old houses are damper than new ones - new ones when all sealed up seem to suffer from far more mould and the like. Older houses can have damp proof courses and insulation added (ours has). New neighbours popped over for a beer tonight and commented on how warm the cottage was (23 degrees). We remarked that we had used the gas oven for an hour today (baked tomatoes and gralic for tea) but that was it, no heating needed. Anyway - I'm with Cameron, I'll take some stone with decent windows and so forth over glass any day - but we all like different things - that's okay.


Exactly; on all points.

Everybody keep your ideas and dreams coming.
 

TeeDee

Full Member
Nov 6, 2008
10,447
3,652
50
Exeter
There would be a huge amount of solar gain which even in cold rainy Scotland would make the place easier to keep warm. It would take less energy to heat the living space and to maintain your chosen temperature. (underfloor heating and much smarter room thermostats than are commonly seen in the UK)

If you were to turn the heating off in one of these and in an older stone built house and let them sit for a month or two during the colder months, I think the modern house would suffer less and recover faster when the heating came back on although that would depend on the stone house, if it was bright and airy it would suffer less, but small windows and darkened rooms, lath and plaster etc. if left unheated could turn damp and mouldy quite quickly.

I saw your post about your new place too, it looks fabulous. :)

Passive Solar Gain ( South Facing windows ) combined with intergral large Thermal Mass ( Stone wall / Fire ) would be the best option wouldn't it?
 

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