Here’s the final rendering of the new home we’re about to start building at 4010 Sinclair Ave. in Rosedale. The original house on the site had been “remuddled” so many times and was sitting on such a poor foundation, it was completely unsalvageable.
The new house will be bright and spacious, with three porches for relaxing and entertaining for a growing Rosedale family. It’s a 1 1/2 Story design, which will help it to fit into the fabric of the existing neighborhood. The design also uses wider-than-usual side setbacks to ensure that it doesn’t crowd out its neighbors.
To avoid repeating the foundation mistakes of its predecessor, this house will be built on concrete piers that extend down 12’, past the expansive clay soil to bear on the rock strata. Steel beams will span from pier to pier to support the structure, allowing the many advantages of a traditional pier and beam structure with a twist of modern engineering.
As with all of our work, this house has light on at least two sides of every major room to ensure beautiful daylight and cross-ventilation. Instead of a light-sucking attached garage, it features a breezy carport that can function as a fourth porch for parties or child’s play on a rainy day. For us, that’s the key to creating homes for 21st century families that have the wonderful feel of older homes. That old-school charm has little or nothing to do with materials, colors, or “style”; it’s all about the light.
Naturally, it’s also going to be energy efficient as well. Beyond the cross ventilation and thermal chimney effects designed into its form, the house will feature foam insulation and high-efficiency mechanical systems to make it genuinely “green” to the core.
This one’s going to be built by our friend Warren Spain of Escarpment Construction. Construction should begin in a few weeks.
