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Home tour

I bought this home in 2006. It was built in 1950 and included a detached carport with a large two-room workshop. In January of 2013, I embarked on a project to build an apartment for myself on the existing slab of the carport/workshop and invited my daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons to move into the main house. They subsequently bought the property.

The new apartment was immediately named "The Modernist Nest" by a fellow blogger. It took three months to complete the construction and a couple more months to landscape. It turned out to be a very successful build. To read about the entire process, search keyword construction saga.

We have since sold this house and bought another, which we are in the process of turning into the perfect spot for all of us. That includes building a new "nest" behind the main house.


Main house:



























Secondary suite:

Apartment behind main house...my new home

Exterior - close-up

Exterior - close-up

Living room - close-up

Living room

Living room

Living room - close-up

Living room - close-up
Living room - close-up

Kitchen

Kitchen

Kitchen - close-up

Kitchen - close-up

Kitchen - close-up

Bedroom

Bedroom

Bedroom - close-up

Bedroom - close-up

Bathroom

Bathroom

Bathroom

Bathroom - close-up

Bathroom - close-up





Update: When I first built the house, I mulched the back "yard" area, but after a year, the mulch proved to be too easily blown around, and it deteriorated quickly too, so I opted to replace the mulch with rock to match the kind we used front of the house.










24 comments:

  1. I had never seen your house tour before! I like it. You changed your blog format a tiny bit too? Like it!

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    1. Thanks...but there are going to be some major changes ahead...either building a guest house or some major redecorating or both. Stay tuned! :)

      I did tweak the blog a bit, and there are a few more things I plan to do in the next few weeks. Glad you like the little changes.

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  2. Your home is bijou cute, and I heart the way you've styled it! uBer cool. H :)

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    1. I'm in the middle of redecorating my entire house, and I'll have new photos of every room in a few weeks. I hope you'll check back to see the before and after shots.

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  3. Found your site from Mr. Modtomic. Love your house. It's hard to choose but the clock wall is one of my favorites! Thanks for sharing.

    Monique

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    1. Thanks, Monique! I keep looking at it and trying to decide if it crosses the fine line between dramatic and overwhelming. Like any change, it will either take getting used to or tweaking. :)

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  4. i missed seeing the renewed tour..awesome...loved ur house earlier as well and it looks a lot more grown up and sophisticated with the new set of colors now :)..sweet!

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  5. Awesome! appears so comfortable!

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    1. I really am as comfortable here as I was in the main house...and it's a lot less to clean! :)

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  6. I will be moving to Georgia from Texas withing the next year to be closer to my son and daughter-in-law and my precious granddaughter. We all get along fine but are concerned with actually being in the same house full time. We have been trying to decide the best plan for living together and, after seeing what you've done, agree that this will be the ideal way to go about it. A family compound is the perfect plan.

    Please post your house plans on your blog so that we can get a better idea of how to proceed. Even the most rudimentary plans will help a great deal. I look forward to seeing more of your cottage. Thank you. June

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    1. I really believe that living under separate roofs is the way to go. It allows you to avoid any tensions that arise when what should be two households find themselves sharing one space. Put a bunch of adults in one house, and they're all going to want to do things their own way...no matter how much they love each other and normally get along. This way, we maintain our independence and privacy...and can put the toilet tissue on the roller however we want to. :)

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  7. Sorry. I just noticed that you have recently added your plans. Thank you so much. june

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    1. You're very welcome. Good luck on your move to Texas.

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  8. Most parts of the house look beautiful.

    The bathroom, tiles and large circular mirror are clashing. It seems like a different house that doesn't match.

    I wished to see the mid century theme carried out throughout.

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    1. I appreciate your comment, but it was never my intent to have a mid century theme throughout. I have a few vintage items scattered throughout my home, but for the most part, the design is simply modern.

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  9. Thank you so much for posting your floor plan. We shamelessly borrowed a lot from it, and we plan to start construction in a couple months. I wanted to ask if, now that you have been in your home for a while, is there anything you would change? I hope we end up with a home as wonderful as yours!

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    1. You are so very welcome! When I sat down to draw these plans, I had no idea how the house would turn out. I had never designed a house before, and it was all done by the seat of my pants. I have been amazed at the positive reception the house has gotten here on my blog and on houzz.com. I'm more than happy to share the plan with anyone who needs it.

      As to anything I would change...The only thing that might cause a problem in the future is the width of the doorway from the living room into the bedroom. The doors into the bathroom, closet/laundry and kitchen are large enough that I'd have no trouble getting through them if I were ever wheelchair-bound, but it might be a tight squeeze getting into the bedroom from the living room. The bedroom is small, and I was trying to give myself as much privacy and wall space as possible, but I probably should have made the opening as wide as the others.

      Right now I'm in good health, and it's not a problem, but it may be something we have to address later...although we don't plan to stay here too many years, as my daughter and her family will probably outgrow the main house pretty quickly. She and her husband have a 3-year-old and a 4-year-old, and 1200 sf works for now, but it won't for long.

      I also forgot to put a faucet and plugs on the exterior of my house, so I have to drag a hose from the main house to water in the summer. I'd definitely like a re-do on that!

      Everything else is working out great. I was a little worried that the space would feel cramped. I was working with an existing foundation that dictated my square footage, but I have plenty of room and feel very comfortable.

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    2. Thanks, Dana. I'm embarrassed. I have been going back through your blog to see if I missed any pictures, and I see that I entirely missed your "final analysis" post, where you already answered my question. Between your blog and Houzz, I think I'm a bit crazed. You're the best!

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    3. No problem at all! In fact, because of this comment, I went back and re-read that post and realized that some of the things I thought were cons at first are not bothering me at all anymore. I will say that in my response to you yesterday, I forgot to mention that I had originally planned to have pocket doors to the bathroom and closet/laundry but nixed that idea to save money. I wish I had stuck with my original plan.

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    4. Glad I could help! ;-)

      Seriously, I will stop commenting now, but thanks for the pocket door recommendation. We probably can't afford them, but thanks for making me check into those.

      You really, truly are the best! (If Joe is your SIL, and I think he is, he runs a close second to you. He just identified some postmodern coffee tables for me by email. You BOTH are making my life easier!)

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    5. Yes, Joe is my SIL, and he's a sweetheart! I'm sure he was happy to help.

      Pocket doors really aren't prohibitively expensive, but I had to have a new roof that we didn't think at first I'd need, but when they got everything down to the studs, it was clear that I did. That was $10,000 out of my budget, so I had to decide what I was willing to economize on and what I refused to give up. I gave up the pocket doors...but I shouldn't have.

      I LOVE comments. Feel free to join in every day!

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  10. I love your space. I love to see modern splashed with color and whimsy. I'm particularly adoring your nelson eye clock and your pop orange front door. And is that a Russel Wright carafe peeking over the shelf in your kitchen? Cantaloupe?? I've been shopping those for a while. May have to break down and call the modfather. Do you know Rob?? What a cool home. It must be a joy to wake up there. I've just bought a 1955 Usonian style house off Hulen in the Overton Park/Foster Park area. Do you know that part of town? Remodeling as we speak. It's grueling. Seeing a project like yours come to such great fruition inspires me. We're debating pocket doors, barn doors, hanging doors.... It's all more than I ever imagined having to think about. Really enjoy your site. Keep it coming.

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    1. I'm very familiar with your area. I have friends who live on Selkirk, Overton Park W, Overton Woods and Arborlawn. That's a great area! I'm in Ridglea.

      And, yes, I do collect Russel Wright, and that's a carafe in ripe apricot, along with a samovar that was also designed for Iroquois by Ben Seibel. I've kept up with Rob's inventory online for years, but I've never had the pleasure of meeting him.

      I'm so glad you like my little house. There were times when it was being built that I wondered if it would all be worth it, but it has been, so hang in there. You probably think it will never come to an end, but it will, and you'll love your home then!

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  11. Wow, Dana this turned out so beautiful. It's decorated impeccably, of course. Congrats!

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