Wish List In New Home

[Goatboy]

Not here it isn't There have been gun rooms in houses for centuries here.

Trying to remember the name of the estate a mate worked at where they had a gun room in an old castle. Had walls like you wouldn't believe, huge solid door (with brilliant modern locks), and steel shuttered windows and a state of the art alarm system.
The local firearms officer told them they'd still have to put everything in cabinets (which would've been easier to break into) and that the firearms could no longer be kept on the walls! Thanks for that, I'll check them out.

Thanks for that, I'll check them out.

There's a nice Swiss house here in the village that the owners had shipped over a number of years ago, the strange thing I cant quite figure out is that the external doors all open outwards, rather than the usual inwards. Surely in a country with the potential for a lot of snow and drifts that's a wee bit strange? You could be trapped in there. (They seemingly are meant to be that way.)

 

[21st century pict]

I'm with Goatboy and Cloudston98 on this one, I'm old school here. Water would be my number one priority after that a great big open fire , had one most of my life. snowed in power cuts or just to poor at times to pay for coal my dad always managed to keep the house warm or boil a pan by just going to the woods and collecting sticks and bags of pine cones, cones were always great for a blazing fire , chuck on half a sack and retire to the far side of the room.
Sorry but that HUF house just reminds me of a doll's house with the doors open and everything on display .

 

[Goatboy]

I'm with Goatboy and Cloudston98 on this one, Water would be my number 1 priority after that a great big open fire , had one most of my life , snowed in power cuts or just to poor at times to pay for coal we always managed to keep the house warm or boil a pan by just going to the woods with my dad and collecting sticks, and bags of pine cones, cones great for a blazing fire .
Sorry but that HUF house just reminds me of a doll's house with the doors open and everything on display .

You may want a wee peek at this, modern interpretation of a broch. Wouldn't say no to it at all. LINK HERE

 

[bilmo-p5]

You may want a wee peek at this, modern interpretation of a broch. Wouldn't say no to it at all. LINK HERE

Tolerable.

 

[British Red]

The local firearms officer told them they'd still have to put everything in cabinets (which would've been easier to break into) and that the firearms could no longer be kept on the walls!

Numpty.

My buddy has his guns in a gun room - the room IS the cabinet. Its passed inspection since inspections began

 

[Macaroon]

Tolerable.

........

 

[sandbender]

"...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..."

Without question, it depends on the older house and the climate and location. An old stone cottage, maybe with a nice thatched roof in rural Devon would be less likely to suffer than an equivalent cottage in Aberdeenshire, if for no other reason than you'd be able to keep the doors and windows open for more months in the year.

Modern houses, simply because of all the insulation and well sealed windows are more prone to damp and mould, humans are messy wet creatures, put us in a sealed box and we will quickly contaminate it. The HUF design appeals because although it can be sealed up it is designed to be opened up to the outside world whenever possible.

"...Sorry but that HUF house just reminds me of a doll's house with the doors open and everything on display ..."

I get the dolls house reference and that is common, because people are looking at the house from the outside, if you stand inside one you see it differently, your garden, your wood are no longer something on the outside of your home, they are as much a part of your day to day life indoors as they are when you are out and about. However you do need to get used to not having furniture that is designed to rest against a wall (other than the shelves and such in the cellar).

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

Oddly enough that is exactly what is happening at my Scottish home (my sisters place) we have wood burning stoves in each room, and have built a large glass extension down one side of the building turning the lower level windows into doors. The difference to the internal temperature of the house has been significant, just from the air warmed by the sun in the extension.

It is an old Perthshire farmhouse, the oldest part dates from the 1600s.

 

[sandbender]

You may want a wee peek at this, modern interpretation of a broch. Wouldn't say no to it at all. LINK HERE

Oh I like that.

 

[santaman2000]

This is NOT on my list; but it is interesting:

 

[British Red]

Gods that is hideous. An absolute carbuncle on the landscape.

 

[Macaroon]

Looks like a stack of posh portakabins strapped together and left hanging somewhere by mistake - Uughhhh.

 

[slowworm]

I would go the opposite way to many of the grand designs you see. If I was building something from scratch I'd go for standard sizes for everything such as windows so they're easy to source, buy and repair and replace if required.

Rather than just a porch or sun trap I'd like to go for full length glazing down the southern side, part conservatory and part greenhouse, so we can use the space but also grow a fair bit.

 

[sandbender]

This is NOT on my list; but it is interesting:

In truth I thought t was photoshopped, now though, I'm not so sure.

"...I would go the opposite way to many of the grand designs you see. If I was building something from scratch I'd go for standard sizes for everything such as windows so they're easy to source, buy and repair and replace if required...".

And find a decent project/site manager, on Grand Designs, whenever you hear the words "I'll be running the site myself" you can usually presume that the build will go wrong, and be over budget.

The one exception I can remember was the two retired folks who bought the derelict chateau in France and rebuilt the whole thing themselves.

 

[British Red]

...or when I am a professional project manager?

 

[sandbender]

...or when I am a professional project manager?

That is probably the best option.

Additionally, obviously the Grand Designs Forest House was project managed by the owner and that seemed to work quite well, I think he'd put a few years into the planning of it though.