Three beautiful thatched roof houses just for fun.
home design
Alt. Building Blog
I think you’ll enjoy this alternative building blog about traditional building in the Southwest. To browse the Alt. Building Blog by subject, scroll down to the bottom right side to Labels. There’s plenty of info for hours of enjoyable reading.
Affordable Luxury Homes
Home design ideas that may seem completely unobtainable for most consumers are possible if you build it yourself and cut out the obvious budget killers (home entertainment rooms, gold embossed trim, etc.). The photos shown here are likely from multi-million dollar homes. But if you break it down, decide what features are most important, eliminate the unnecessary, and possibly reduce the scale… then some dream designs can be affordable if you do the work yourself.
Walk-out or Daylight Basements
Sloped building sites are usually less expensive than level sites, and offer one way to cut the cost of a new home. However, sloped sites are more challenging to build on. One solution is walk-out basements, where most sides of the house are below or partially below ground and one side is level with the ground. Homes with walk-out basements typically look like conventional homes on one side (often the front of the house). From the back of the house (often facing south for solar gain) you can see the basement windows and doors. The best orientation is usually with the long axis of the house east-west with a window wall and doors facing south. This orientation provides natural daylighting and helps heat the home in winter.
Island Style Homes
Island style homes feature wide roof overhangs, lots of windows for cross ventilation and plentiful outdoor living space. These homes are prevalent throughout the Caribbean, Pacific Ocean and beyond. There are some wonderful coffee table books on island style/Pacific style homes, and they’re one of my favorite styles. You might want to take a look at some books the next time you’re in a good bookstore.