No Place Like Home

Main Floor

Basement

Annotated Floor Plan:

Main Floor:

• The main floor has an open concept floor plan
• The front entrance of the home opens right into the dinning and living area
• Between the dinning and the living area, there is a implied hallway that leads to the bedrooms and kitchen
• Next to the kitchen and by the hall is a walk-in pantry
• The kitchen opens out into a breakfast nook surrounded by windows
• It is also possible to see the living room from the kitchen
• The left side of the plan shoes the master bedroom with the adjoining master bathroom and closet space. This area takes up a considerable amount of the main floor square footage.
• tucked away above the kitchen is a more separate part of the main floor that houses  two bedrooms, a laundry room (connected to the garage) and a couple of bathrooms. This is where my bedroom is located.
• This area of the main floor also houses the stairwell to the basement

Basement:

• While the central part of the basement has a fairly open floorpan, the corners of the space have more closed off and private areas
• To the left of the stairwell is a rec room that houses the family tv and a small kitchenette
• Past the rec room is my Dad’s home office
• On the opposite side of the rec room (closer to the stairs) is another bedroom as well as a bathroom
• To the right of the basement stairwell there is a hot hall that leads to two more large rooms
• The first room is used as a game room and a place to work on homework
• The back room is used as a craft room and the guest room
• There is a game closet under the stairs

This is my home, located in Fisherville, Kentucky. My family moved here back in October of 2017. Moving to a new house was a big change for us since we had lived in our previous home for 17 years. Because I live in Lexington for school most of the year, I have not spent extended amounts of time in our new home, but from what I have experienced, it is a very great place to live. This house is a lot bigger than our previous home, so we are still in the process of finding the right furniture to make it feel cozier.

One thing that I really like about this house is that it is very open concept. This makes it easer to be with family and know where everyone is in the house. I can be eating something in the kitchen but still be able to talk to my dad sitting in the living room.

Another thing that I love about this house is that it has very unique architectural details. There is an abundance of molding around the doors and ceilings, and there are beautiful carved wood features on the ceiling above the main floor hall. The basement has “trendy” barn doors in the guestroom and there is a beautiful wood paneling pattern on all of the other interior doors.

In addition to the great indoor living space, there is some pretty great outdoor living space as well. Right off of the main floor breakfast nook, there is access to an outdoor covered porch that has chairs, a table, and a ceiling fan. It is great to sit out there and enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning. There is a similar outdoor porch directly beneath this one off of the basement.

Most of the activity and happenings take place on the first floor of the house. My family really enjoys sitting around the fireplace in the living room to read, talk, and watch TV on the mantel above. We also tend to spend a lot of time in the basement game room were we have a new ping pong table as well as foosball.

Whenever we are not all together, we spend time in our rooms recharging and having some peace and quiet. However, since out house is newer, we haven’t put in a lot of furniture yet so the rooms are very echoy. Whenever I am in my room I can hear everything from the kitchen and the living room. When someone is up and about, everyone in the house can hear it.

My family also spends a lot of time on the deck outside. Although we haven’t been in the house for the summer season yet, I can tell already that we will sped many nights eating on the porch and enjoying the warm nights. My mom is already mentioned putting out some potted plants and growing a small herb garden to enjoy.

There are also a lot of work surfaces in the space that my family takes advantage of. My younger siblings are homeschooled so they like to work on their school at the kitchen table, at our built in hallway desk, our desk in the basement, and even on their beds in their rooms. My mom likes to use the dinning room table to lay out her papers for lesson planning, or to organize bills. My dad uses his desk in his office to work, but is often times found at the kitchen table working on things so that he can be closer to the family.

Fireplace

One object in the house that means a lot to us already is the fireplace in the living room. We do not have a lot of things in the house yet, and we sold most of our old furniture so we have kind of formed an emotional attachment to the fireplace because of what it represents.

At our old house, we would gather around the fireplace almost every single night to read and spend time together. When we moved, we continued this tradition with our new fireplace. It is kind of a connecter between the two spaces. It is a representation that even though our family has gone through a lot of changes, we still have our memories and time spent together. It is the constant between our two houses and is a reminder that even though we all get very busy, it is important to take a break, sit down, and enjoy spending time together.

 

 

Fieldwork House: Dorm Sweet Dorm

Annotated Floor Plan:

• This is a two person sweet dorm set up
• It has two bedroom with a double door closet
• There is a shared bathroom with a shower
• There is also a shared eating area in the middle of the space
• Each person in the suite has their own sinks with separate drawers and cabinets
• Against the wall is a countertop with a sink and lots of cabinets for storage
• A mechanical closet is in the corner of the space
• Each bedroom has one window
• There is one main door to enter and exit the space

I live in Holmes Hall located on the University of Kentucky’s campus. It is a two-person suite, so that means that I share my space with my roommate, who is a close friend from the College of Design. We each have our own rooms that are connected to a shared common space and bathroom. Even though it is technically a dorm, it is my home away from home and even often refer to it as “my house”.

My dorm sweet dorm is not very large, but it holds everything that I need to live off of. It has my cozy bed, a desk, a closet, an eating area, a bathroom, sinks, and even a kitchen counter with a dish sink and storage. Even though it is not a ton of space, it is the perfect size for my roommate and me.

When I first moved in, the room was very plain. It had grey walls with grey carpet. After I moved in all my personal belongings, however, it began to become a reflection of my personality and my personal taste. I have lots of photography (pictures I take from when I travel) on my walls, original artwork is propped up on the counters and, and a collection of my favorite souvenirs from my international excursions is on my desk.

My favorite part of “my house” lies directly across from my closet and beside my bed. It consists of a beautiful, tall window that looks out to the dorm’s courtyard. The window is dressed with a white curtain and the window’s sill is home to my four other roommates, better known as my plants. My bedside table overlaps with this window. It has a lamp and decorative rock placed on top, and there are two shelves that make up its lower half.

I am in my dorm almost every single day and use it for multiple purposes. First and foremost, it is the place where I live and sleep when I am going to school at the University of Kentucky. It is a nice little oasis that I can call my own in the midst of hectic school schedules and long days of working on projects. It serves as a place of refuge and is my home away from home

Other things that I use my dorm for are activities like working on homework and studying. My friends and I often pile onto my bed or sit on the floor to quiz each other on exam questions or work on group projects. After serious study sessions, we like to all hang out and watch Netflix or talk about our days.

I also use the dorm for eating meals. The dorm has a refrigerator and cabinets to store food, so sometimes if I do not want to venture out for some food; I make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or cut up some fresh fruit to eat. I also like to make tea and coffee in the mornings. I usually end up eating at my desk, but sometimes if I have a few minutes to spare, I will sit at the small, round, dinning table in the center of the common area.

Sometimes, if my roommate and I are feeling ambitions, we move aside all of the furniture, and use the common area for a work out space. We have also used to cleared space to work on crafts or to have more room when cleaning.

One thing that is really important to me in my home away from home is my collection of photographs. I love taking pictures of all of the interesting and beautiful places I have been. I also love having pictures of my friends and family to look at if I ever feel home sick when I am at school. Some of these photographs are in a special box under my bed, but a lot of them are on display around my room. My favorite picture is a photo that I took when I went to Acadia National Park in Maine with some friends. It is a large black and white print that hangs directly over my desk. It shows the sea, some pine trees, a mountain, and the silhouettes of my best friends Andrew, Alexander, and Mary Kate.

I can make many connections between what we talked about in class and my dorm. It says a lot about who I am as a person. Even just a quick glance around the room can give an outsider a glimpse into my identity and personality. A closer look can reveal more interesting things about me such as my values, my interests, and my culture. This space is a central hub for my life, so it is inevitable that it is a clear reflection of my lifestyle. Things like region can also be seen in the UK memorabilia and Lexington décor that I have scattered throughout my dorm. Wealth (or lack there of) is evident in the absence to fancy furniture and the presence of college staples like easy mac containers and beat up old notebooks. This can even be tied back to me having the status of a college student. The size and the atmosphere of the space are dead giveaways that it is the home of a young, busy individual. Even the situation of the dorm itself (it being located on the university of Kentucky’s campus) is a major indicator of my lifestyle. Altogether, my dorm is a reflection of my lifestyle and is a great space to analyze paired with the things we have been studying in class.

 

Elite Homes: The Jamestown

Annotated Floor Plan:

Main Level:

• Since this house is mostly on one level, it has a pretty large footprint
• Right off of the front door is an entry hall that opens up into the great room
• The dining room is right off of the front door and is divided by a series of full and pony walls
• The kitchen and breakfast area flow seamlessly from the great room. This aids in creating the very open floor plan
•  On the left side of the house are two bedrooms connected by a center shared bathroom. The bathroom can not only be used by the people in the bedrooms, but by guests who come over.
• The right side of the house has the master bedroom and the connected master bathroom.
• There is also a connected hall that had another powder room and access to the small laundry room.
• The back of the house has a covered porch that looks over the yard
• There is a 2 car garage

Basement:

• The basement is very open and has a lot of potential
• There is a large rec room with a connected back walk-out
• Right off of the rec room is an exercise room with a closet
• There is a bathroom in the basement as well

This is a model of a house that my family and I almost decided to build last year. It is called the Jamestown and we toured it multiple times. It was very interesting to see it in real life and then looking at the floor plans. This model house was designed by Elite homes and is described as a single-family home with three bedrooms, two and a half baths, a two car garage, and is one story. It has 2,172 finished (and total) square feet. A quote from Elite Homes says that the home is “Our most popular ranch plan, this 3 bedroom, 2 ½ bathroom is light, airy & open.  The large great room has a back wall full of windows.  The updated kitchen layout is a chef’s dream!”

The house feels very open, not only because of the open concept floor plan, but because of the very high ceilings. Since the house is only one story tall, the ceilings can go a little higher because there is no floor above to worry about. The roof of the house has many tall gables, which provides a lot of room in the attic as well as giving the structure more curb appeal and making it seem larger.

Like the name suggests, the main floor houses a lot of the main rooms in the house like the bedrooms, the kitchen, the living room, and the dining room. The basement, however, has a lot more open space for a rec room and a work out area. The model house was furnished with a lot of light colors, but the individual buyers are able to choose their own finishes and decorate the house however they want to.

The whole reason my family was looking into this house was because we wanted to have everything one level so we could be closer as a family. The bedrooms were right off of the living room and kitchen so it would be easier to hang out in one area compared to when our bedrooms were on a separate level away from the central hub of our house. The only negative I can think of when thinking about everything being in one place is the noise levels. In my family, half of us are early risers, and the other half of use loves to sleep in. If people were up and about early in the morning, it would be very easy to hear them talking and moving around. The hardwood floors would also be no help in muffling the sound.

As for different activities in the house, there seems to be a distinct difference between what takes place on each level. On the main level, it seems to be more family-oriented and calm. There are places to sit and talk and, of course, places to sleep and cook. The basement, however, seems to be a more casual place that encourages you to move around and be more loud. If my family did move into this house, the basement would be where we would put our TV for video games and my brother’s drum set. It also has a work out room, furthering the idea that this part of the house encourages more loud and up-beat activity.

Since this house is a model home, it does not have any distinct history or objects tied to it, but it does have a lot of things about it that help it to stand out and be memorable. The one thing in the house that really caught my eye was the vaulted ceiling the living room. It was covered in shiplap and was an impressive defining characteristic for the entire space. Even though the shiplap was just a cosmetic portion of the house, my mom (who is an avid watcher of HGTV and is obsessed about shiplap from the show Fixer Upper), thought it was the thing that brought the whole house together.

This house definitely encompasses some of the things that we have discussed in class so far. The most obvious tie back to class is that this house seems to be a ranch styled home with a slight McMansion influence. If anything, it is an evolved ranch house with more influence from today’s styles and trends. An example of this is the lack of a functional front porch. There is one by the front door, but it is too narrow and not deep enough to have someone stand on it, let alone put furniture on it. The house also has a very regional style. A lot of these model houses are built in the same neighborhood so all the houses look very similar in a very concentrated area (that was actually one of the reasons why we did not decide to build. We didn’t want to have the same house as the neighbor down the street). The house was also situated very closely to the other houses in the neighborhood. Altogether, this house was definitely a poster child for country suburban home in the outskirts of Louisville Kentucky. It can be argued that the location and style of the house is an indicator of the owner’s status and range of income (aka wealth).

Sources:

http://www.elitebuilthomes.com/real-estate-new-homes-for-sale/4/shakes_run/28/the-jamestown/

 

Locust Grove

Annotated Floor Plan:

First Floor:

• The first floor of the house consists of a main hall with four rooms (2 sets off the sides of the hall)
• The main hall goes all the way to the back of the house and serves as a division from more of the deeper and more private parts of the residence.
• The hall is the first thing visitors see when they walk in the door
• The four main rooms consist of a dining room, a parlor, an office, and a special apartment
• The dining room was not connected to the kitchen. The kitchen was a separate building outside of the main house.
• The parlor was the main sitting room where people could talk and relax.

Second Floor:

• The second floor mostly consisted of bedrooms
• The second floor also housed the Great Parlor. This is where the residences would host they social gatherings and events. It had a very large wooden floor perfect for dancing.
• A guest bedroom and dressing area was also located on this floor

Third Floor:

• This area of the house was more private and closed out
• There is a small office
• This floor was mostly meant to house bedrooms for the children.
• There is one room set up as a little girl’s room and one set up for a little boy.
• A storage area is also on this level

 

 

Locust Grove is a home located in Louisville, Kentucky. This Georgian mansion was built in 1792 and has a lot of rich history. It has a lot of meaning to me personally because I have gone on visits here ever since I was young and it helped spark my love for history. I have friends who were historical reenactors here and I have volunteered for and participated in events here myself.

Every time I go I am fascinated by the house’s interesting history and design. The house is simple in floor plan but makes up for that with its intricate details. The colors of the wallpaper and paints are extremely vibrant and do a good job of brightening up the space. In the main hall, the baseboards and casework are very deep teal green color. It is what the eye is immediately drawn to and definitely makes a big statement. This theme carries throughout the entirety of the residence.

The façade of the house is a red brick with many windows lined on all sides of the house. The most striking feature of the home’s exterior, however, is the giant front porch. It is easy to imagine the family of the house sitting in chairs under the awning of the porch watching over their property or waiting for visitors to arrive.

There is a main staircase that climbs all three floors of the home. The more public space of the home carries from the first floor to the second where there is a “grand parlor”. This is where the residences of the home would hold larger events or have social gatherings. This is the largest room in the entire house.

Grand Parlor of Locust Grove

The residences of the house were William and Lucy Clark Croghan. Lucy was the sister of the explorer George Rogers Clarke. George Rogers Clarke spent some time living in the house as well. According to Locust Grove’s official website (www.locustgrove.org) the family, “welcomed a generation of American luminaries to their home to rest, dialogue, campaign, and duel.  Presidents James Monroe and Andrew Jackson, John James Audubon, Cassius Marcellus Clay, and Lewis and Clark—among others—all passed through Locust Grove. Now a National Historic Landmark, Locust Grove is a unique example of early Kentucky architecture, craftsmanship, and history.”

The family used the house mostly for living day-to-day life as well as for entertaining. There were the more private parts of the home such as the bedrooms, but a lot of the house was set up to welcome visitors. The downstairs parlor was perfect for light conversation while the office was a place where important meetings and deep discussion could take place. More lively gatherings could take place in the upstairs grand parlor. Even more opportunity for social gathering could happen right around the dinning room table if guests were invited over for dinner. One really interesting aspect of the dinning room was a set “fans” or cloths that could be swayed back and forth to create a breeze in the room.

Another interesting thing to note about the function of the house and how it was used is the location of the kitchen. It is separated from the main building and the only way to get to it is by walking outside on a connected path. The reason for this was most likely because the kitchen could get really hot. This separation not only kept the heat from spreading to the house and making it too toasty, but also decreased the risk of fire from the kitchen spreading into the main living quarters.

Apart from the main house itself, the residence technically covered many acres of land. A little ways off there was a springhouse by the creek where the family could cool things off and get water. There was also an onsite blacksmith and a barn for raising animals.

One really interesting object belong to the family was the unique and technologically advanced “fan” hanging above the table in the dinning room. This “fan” was made from a few pieces of cloths hanging from a pole on the ceiling. There was a string attached to this pole that led to the other side of the room where a servant could pull it back in forth. This pulling motion caused the pieces of cloth to sway back and forth creating a small breeze. This piece of technology most likely helped create a more enjoyable atmosphere in the hot summer days. Not only was it incredibly functional, but it most likely also was a conversation-starting piece.

Overall, this house has many great examples tying back to what we have learned in class. The presence of a main hall is something we have discussed on multiple occasions, and I think the main hall of Locust Grove is a perfect instance. It separated the guest from the rest of the house and created the need to be invited in to the space. This showed the residence’s (and the guest’s) status. There are many portraits of the family hanging in the house, which could also tie back to status as well as identity.

The house is situated on a lot of land showing the family’s wealth and prosperity and the concept of nation could be seen in the way that many of America’s most important historical figures spent their time as Locust Grove. Region could be seen in the way that the house was laid out to keep it warm in the winter months (fireplaces on the interior) and cool in the summer months (an undetached kitchen, cross breezes across the halls, and a fan in the dining room). Altogether, the home had a very stately presence and is a great representation of everything we have learned so far.

Sources:

http://locustgrove.org/learn/about/

https://locustgrovelouisville.wordpress.com/2015/07/

 

 

Dallas-Residence

Annotated Floor Plan:

First Floor

• From observing these floor plans and studying videos of the house online, the rooms in this home seem to be larger than life.
• The entrance to this house opens into a grand “lobby”. It seems to be the modern version of an entrance hall like in early american homes.
• To the left of the main entrance is a living room that has windows that face out to the front of the house.
• Next to the living room seems to be a multi-purpose space that is next to the relatively large garage or “car park”.
• To the right of the main entrance is the formal dinning room that is connected to a pantry and close to the kitchen. This grouping of rooms creates a nice flow for meal preparation and consumption.
• Straight back from the main entrance is the grand staircase leading up to the second floor
• Behind the staircase is a hall, a library, and a study.
• The backyard has a generously sized patio and pool for outdoor activities

Second Floor

• The second floor is home to many different bedrooms
• The master bedroom in located in the front of the house and probably receives the best lighting throughout the day
• Aside from the numerous bedrooms, there are bathrooms, closets, and a guest bedroom
• In the back of the house there is a terrace that looks out over the back patio and pool. 

This residence, known as the Southfork Ranch, located in Parker Texas, was used in the filming of the TV show Dallas in the 1970s to the 1990s. It is situated on 200 acres of farmland and has several pins used to raise longhorn. The house itself is about 5,900 square feet and has the design of a ranch-style McMansion. The outside of the house is composed of white siding whit a very, large pillared front entrance. The roof has an abundance of gables and there is a plethora of windows on the house’s front facade.

The only word I can think of to describe the interior of the home is extravagant. The family in the show who lived in the home was extremely wealthy, and the décor they chose for their house is the physical proof. They spared no expense in covering the house from head to toe in frills and luxurious trimmings. From large quantities of ornate furniture, to crystal chandeliers and vibrant patterned wallpaper, this house has it all.

This residence seems to be a perfect example of a McMansion. It has larger than life rooms, mix-matched details, and pulls design from a mixture of historical design elements. (It looks like a ranch house but places emphasis on the front columns). The large sweeping balcony on the back looks out over a pristine pool and the house’s garage is 957 square feet.

A few other things to note in the description of the Southfork ranch are the portraits of the family scattered, stating their status and identify, and the sheer amount of furniture in the space. Not one corner of the home is left without a chair, a vase or an intricate piece of décor. This home was not meant to just provide a place for the family to live in, it was meant to be flaunted.

 

 

In the show Dallas, Southfork Ranch is the home to the very wealthy Ewing family. In most of the episodes, the Ewings are in a deep power struggle from a nearby Barnes family. The Ewing’s big white mansion seems to be a physical symbol of power, status, and wealth to show the Barnes, and any other onlookers, who is boss.

Southfork ranch is very frequently the backdrop of the happenings in the show Dallas. Whether it be crazy family drama, quarrels between the Ewings and the Barnes, fancy dinner parties, or even murder, the house has seen it all. Most of the actual filming of the show took place in the main entry, in the living room, dining room, and bedrooms. From clips of the show, it is easy to see how the inhabitants in the house acted a little bit more formal than one would usually act in their own home. The men constantly wore suits and everyone people would speak in refined manners instead of lounging on the couch watching tv and walking around in their pjs.

Although at first, a lot of the filming was done at the actual Southfork Ranch in Texas, the hot weather conditions of the state made it very difficult to shoot. Eventually, a studio mockup of the exterior of the house was constructed in California. The mockup even had the backyard pool.

Because of the show’s success, the actual owners of Southfork Ranch have turned the mansion into a tourist attraction. People can now walk through the house on a guided tour, and the space is rentable for events.

Oil was very important to the Ewing family. It is where they got their income and how they accumulated their wealth. Their company was called Ewing Oil and their own building in Dallas to house their offices. The business itself is a central theme in several of the show’s episodes. From almost going bankrupt, to promoting family, to improving the company’s image, it was definitely a key component in the family drama. The presidency position of the company changed hands several times, but in the end, most of the family members owned a percentage of the business. Even though the sole focus of Dallas was not just the oil company, it is what gave the characters the means to live such an extravagant life.

 

Sources:

http://www.southforkranch.com/southfork-ranch-history

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southfork_Ranch

http://www.10best.com/destinations/texas/dallas/parker/attractions/southfork-ranch/

http://www.ultimatedallas.com/episodeguide/locations3.html

http://modthesims.info/d/170208

 

Bewitched- TV House

 

Annotated Floor Plan:

First Floor:

• The front door of the first floor opens to a foyer. This is where the main staircase is located. The foyer seems to be the center of the house where a lot of the rooms stem off from.
• To the left of the foyer, there is a hall that leads the kitchen and what seems to be a sitting/office space. It seems to be some sort of parlor.
• Off of the kitchen is the formal dining room. It is partially open to the kitchen. The kitchen has a less formal dinning area.
• The dinning room opens directly off to the living room. This area is very open and has a separate area that connects back to the foyer.
• In the back of the house there is a large porch and gardens. There are lots of doors in windows that divide the living room and this outdoor space, but create a nice way to connect the inside with the outside. It also provides a lot of natural light to the room.
• There is a pretty large attached garage off to the left side of the house

Second Floor:

• Access to the second floor is from the main central staircase.
• The second floor consists of mostly bedrooms. The master bedroom is generous in size and boasts a lot of natural light from the windows. There is a connected bathroom.
• There is another bedroom as well as a bathroom next to the master.
• There is also another room upstairs that I am assuming is used as an office or a multipurpose space. It has different little alcoves in the room making it harder to make it a bedroom because of furniture placement and clearances.

This house was the home that was used in the television show Bewitched and was owned by the characters Samantha and Darrin Stevin. It still stands today on the Warner Brothers Ranch (West Oak Street in Burbank, California) along with several other TV houses. The house was situated on a circle and was meant to portray that it was in a “feel good neighborhood”. The TV house is very different from a normal home because it was used as a set rather than regular everyday living. The show Bewitched shows that there is a beautiful backyard off of a back porch, but in reality the house’s back yard is full of scrap metal and scrap wood from old and new sets.  The house is arguably one of the most famous houses on the Warner Brother Ranch Circle. Despite its popularity, however, it was almost torn down after it was used for explosion special effects. The house is mostly constructed with fiberglass so it took on a lot of damage while filming the different explosions. Luckily, the home could be salvaged and is still standing today. When the house was first built, it was only meant to be a front facade prop that would only extend 10 feet backwards. In February of 1999, however, Warner Brothers decided to turn the two-sided facade into a full home.

The house went through many different phases, but the most popular is definitely when it was being used as the set for Bewitched. The main character, Samantha, used this house as a way to try to live an average life. Her character is a witch who just wants to settle down and live her life as a regular wife in the 1960s. The house seemed to be a symbol for her “normality” and achievement of breaking away from the regular life of a witch. In the show, she used the house in very typical ways like inviting guests over for entertainment, cooking in the kitchen, and doing chores to keep it clean… sometimes with the help of a little magic. The structure was also a hub for all the interesting happenings and events that took place in the show Bewitched. The presence of a television in the living room suggests that Samantha and her family would watch tv together. In the end, however the house was meant to appear like a normal home in the 60s where the characters in the family could come together to work and relax.

When the house was being used as the set for Bewitched, it had a very distinct appearance. The interior was a perfect embodiment for sixties design in a ranch-style house. Most of the furnishings were shorter and lower to the ground and there are a lot of different funky colors used in every room. One of the most obvious design elements in the house is the use of the color green. Green can be seen in the wall-to-wall carpet, the avocado green appliances, on the wallpaper, and even in the decorative plants. Although the greens were all different shades, there was still a harmonious aspect to the rooms. Even though it was a house that no one actually lived in, the rooms were still filled with décor items and everyday objects such as books, candle sticks, dishes, kitchen supplies, and decorative centerpieces on the tables.

There are several interesting features in the interior of the home such as a beautiful full wall painting in the dining room, and a wide fireplace in the living room. The fireplace creates a focal point not only in the living room itself, but also in most of the first floor. This is accomplished through its contrasting brick material and the built-in bookcases that flank it on either side. The whole fireplace takes up a full wall. The house has a relatively open concept with only a few wall divisions, making it easy to see the living room form many parts of the house. Most of the separation on the first floor is accomplished through casework and furniture placement.

The exterior of the house is easily the most recognizable part of the Bewitched home. It is identifiable by its two story wood siding and brick façade and beautiful bay windows. Another interesting feature on the house’s exterior is located at the top of the front gable. There is very interesting decorative piece of architecture there that is composed of a pattern of circles and lines. This element gives the home character and charm. There are also many different flower boxes and landscaping that gives the house a more complete and lived in appearance.

One object that someone possessed in the show Bewitched was Samantha’s “special powers”. Even though magic was her most special possession, she tried to keep it subdued to try to lead a normal life with her mortal husband. Despite good efforts, however, Samantha ended up using her magic on things like cleaning the house in a rush, and getting out of sticky situations. With just a wiggle of her nose, she could conjure up anything she needed. Her use of her magic was not only the whole central idea behind the show Bewitched; it was an element that strongly affected her family dynamic and the house that they lived in.

Sources:

https://hookedonhouses.net/2009/10/04/bewitched-house-1164-morning-glory-circle/

https://leslieannetarabella.com/2013/10/halloween-house-tour.html/

http://thenestinggame.com/2011/07/14/tv-blueprints/

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/bewitched-house_n_3504264.html

http://www.bewitched.net/1164mg.htm

http://modthesims.info/d/216771

 

Fallingwater

Floor Plan Annotation:

First Floor Guest Wing:

• The first floor is the smallest floor of the house because of it resting atop the stream
• From pictures, the stream itself seems to be an important part of the lower floor plan. The building takes into account its position
• It consists of a living room, a bathroom, and a bedroom in a linear flow
• There is also a laundry room and large garage. The garage takes up most of this level
• This floor also has connection to the pool. The pool seems to be a symbolic continuation of the stream

First Floor:

• The first floor is the main floor of the house and is very open
• The living room is the hub of this level but opens to different rooms on the sides
• The living room looks right off on the creek and is surrounded by multiple terraces. This creates a perfect view of key element of the home.
• The kitchen and eating nook is right off of the living room
• There is also a sitting room and a coat room on this level

Second Floor:

• The second floor mostly consists of several outer, cantilevered terraces
• There is a master bedroom, dressing room, and a couple of bathrooms
• There are multiple staircases and a landing
• There is also a bridge that goes over to a separate part of the building with a curved staircase

Third Floor:

• Most of the third floor consists of a large terrace with a large planter
• There is a staircase leading down to the second floor
• The third floor also has a study

 

Fallingwater is a very well known name in the field of design. The structure was designed by the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Fallingwater was designed to be a residential home for the Kaufmann family and is located in Mill Run Pennsylvania in the Bear Run Nature Reserve. There is a stream in this nature reserve that flows into a beautiful thirty-foot waterfall. It is at this location where the house is built. The waterfall itself was the main focal point of the design and is integrates into the house’s structure. The incorporation of the waterfall in the house was meant to signify the connection between architecture and nature.

The waterfall located on the property ties into the design more than just visually; it is also a living presence in the design. The trickling of the water can be heard form inside the home and is a presence that can constantly be felt. The house is also inspired by Japanese design. This can be seen in this evident balance between the natural and manmade elements as well as some decorative features in the home.

Perhaps one of the more significant architectural elements of Fallingwater are the many different cantilevered terraces. These protrusions are on several different planes and give the house a “stacked look”. This feat was accomplished using steel reinforced concrete. This was one of the first times that Frank Lloyd Wright used concrete in a residential design. Another interesting piece of architecture in the building are its corner windows that cover the house.

Fallingwater by Frank Llyod Wright was designed for Mr. Edgar Kaufmann, his wife, and their son. The Kaufmanns were a very wealthy family due to Mr. Kauffman’s work as an owner of a well-off department store. The house was designed as a weekend home for the family to escape to on the weekends. Before Fallingwater was constructed, all that was by the waterfall was a small cabin. After many years of use, the cabin stated to deteriorated and become rundown. This is when the family contacted Wright to build them a new place to stay whenever they visited. It is said that Frank Lloyd Wright delayed designing the building until a last minute meeting with the family. Wright quickly sketched up a design and had the plans for Falingwater in about two hours.

The family enjoyed visiting the house from 1937 to 1963. The Kaufmanns loved swimming in the pool by the waterfall and were often known to hang modern art pieces in their home. As for how the family lived in the house, they were never there for very long but still enjoyed what it had to offer. The house had floor to celling windows in many locations that looked out into the woods so the family often felt a sense of connection with nature. The Kaufmanns loved that they could experience the outdoors while still feeling safe and sheltered. In a quote by the Kaufmann’s son, he says, “[Wright] understood that people were creatures of nature, hence an architecture which conformed to nature would conform to what was basic in people. For example, although all of Falling Water [sic] is opened by broad bands of windows, people inside are sheltered as in a deep cave, secure in the sense of the hill behind them.”

The house served all of the family’s basic need like places to sleep, a kitchen to cook in, and spaces to spend time together as a family. All of this was accomplished in an open floor plan that kept everyone the house more connected. I imagine Fallingwater was a place for the family to make memories and escape from everyday life. When Mr. Kaufmann died in 1955, his son inherited the house and would constantly visit for getaways until the 1960s. Eventually he realized the need for this beautiful piece of architecture to be preserved, and donated the house and land to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Today, people can take tours of the Kaufmann’s home and marvel at its beautiful  and revolutionary design.

One of the most interesting objects in the house is the main fireplace. It is a main focal point in the living room and holds a lot of meaning for the family. Around the fireplaces there is a group of boulders rising from the floor in an organic pattern. These boulders were actually the rocks that the family would sit on and lay out on to enjoy the falls before Fallingwater was constructed. These rocks remained in their existing spots of the ground so they determined the starting point of where the floor of the house would be. This is just another example of how Frank Lloyd Wright incorporated the surrounding nature all throughout his design. The rocks had very special meaning to the family, which made the fireplace a very important object to the family.

Sources:

https://www.archdaily.com/60022/ad-classics-fallingwater-frank-lloyd-wright

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallingwater

http://www.wright-house.com/frank-lloyd-wright/fallingwater-pictures/7-living-room-fireplace-hearth.php

http://www.slideshar.net

http://www.familiesgotravel.com

https://www.fallingwater.org/history/

 

 

 

 

Lawnfield

Floor Plan Annotation:

FIRST FLOOR

• The front door opens to a main hallway that then leads to rooms deeper in the house
• A smoking parlor and a sitting room flank the main hallway
• The staircase to the second floor resides in the center of the house and is surrounded by a reception hall
• Further into the house there is an anteroom and a bedroom
• The farthest end of the house consists of more practical spaces like a dining room, a pantry, a bathroom, a kitchen, laundry, and storage.

SECOND FLOOR

• Right off of the central staircase there is a hall that leads to the other rooms on the floor
• The front section of the second floor holds most of the bedrooms, a bathroom, and Garfield’s office
• The back section holds a large library, a vault, and a couple more bedrooms
• There are several staircases connecting the first and second floors. Some were probably servant’s staircases while the main one in the center was most likely used by the family

 

Lawnfield, the home of the United State’s twentieth president, James A. Garfield, is a beautiful home situated in Mentor, Ohio. Garfield and his wife purchased Lawnfield in 1876 when he was working in the House of Representatives. The house was situated on farmland so Garfield spent most of his free time, “conducting agricultural experiments”. He said the land was a place where he could, “put my boys at work and teach them farming” and “where I can touch the earth and get some strength from it.” Overall the house is very well put tether and definitely displays the gentility and status of the presidential family.

The house itself is covered with gray wood siding and stone that contrasts with the bright red roof. It has many windows that cover the facade of the house as well as dormer windows on the upper levels. Perhaps the house’s most striking feature is the grand wrap around porch that was added in 1877-1880 when Garfield and his wife decided to expand the house from a one and a half story house to one much bigger to accommodate family. After the renovations were complete, the house went from having nine rooms, to having twenty.

Through the front door, there is a main entry hallway that leads to different rooms situated farther into the house. Some of the more interesting rooms in the house include a smoking parlor, a reception hall, a large storage area, a giant library, and a vault. The many rooms of Lawnfield were intricately decorated and definitely showed the high status and wealth of the family. Inside there still are a lot of interesting objects and family heirlooms displayed like painted plates and gorgeous stained glass windows. An interesting feature of the home is the white oak and orange beamed ceiling in main library.

Lawnfield was home to a lot of Garfield’s family so there were many bedrooms in the house. Most of them were located upstairs. After being nominated for Presidency, Garfield spent a lot of time working on important business matters right from his house. He had in office located upstairs that he used to attend to important matters. Lucretia, his wife, called his home office his “snuggery”.  He would have a lot of important political  conversations and meetings in that room. At one point, his library was turned into his main campaign headquarters. There was a telegraph in this library that was used to send him the winning results of the Presidential election.

Garfield and his family also loved to entertain visitors. There was even a railway system that ran through his land that would stop at the lane to his house so that people could more easily come for visits. There was plenty of space to entertain guests in the dinning room and prepare meals for them in the sizable kitchen. After Garfield died in 1881 from gunshot wounds, his wife turned the house into a memorial for her husband. Lawnfield then became a place for her to spend time with her children, grandchildren, and the rest of her family. Mrs. Garfield also added an upstairs library and vault room to store her husband’s important documents and artifacts. Today the home is owned by the Western Reserve Historical Society is run in a way to continue the legacy of the president James A. Garfield.

This is the Garfield home’s dining room. The wood framed fireplace on the back wall was a very important object in Lawnfield house because it held a lot of family significance. The tiles that outline the fireplace itself are covered in intricate and beautiful images that were hand-painted by Garfield’s wife, Lucretia. The tiles not only served the function of outlining the fireplace, but also added a personal and family centered element to the house. The built in cupboards were also carved with many details. The matching sets of plates on display showed the wealth and status of the family.

Sources:

https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.oh0408.photos?sp=14

https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/presidents/james_garfield_lawnfield.html

https://kids.britannica.com/students/assembly/view/183442

http://rockhoundingaround.blogspot.com/2014/05/lawnfield-president-garfield-s-home.html

 

design firm

Unit 10 Summary

This semester I have learned a lot of different concepts about interior design. Theses concepts are very important to understand design as a whole. Each concept is a small peace of the puzzle. It is important and helps to create a bigger picture. These concepts are: experience, finishes, furnishings, representation, and theories

In short, experience effects how people react or act in a space. There can be many things that work together to create a certain experience in a space (unity and harmony). Some of these things are how the space is played out, how it is lit, and the materials it is constructed from.

Finishes have a lot of impact in a space. Different finishes can completely change how people react in or experience a room. Finishes do not only help to create a visually appealing space… they can also help create a more practical and useable area.

Representation can be the inspiration for a design, or even how new design projects get started.  In its simplest form, design takes its inspiration from many different sources whether this be nature, and idea, a concept, a person, etc. Design features become representations of these things and creates more complex ideas that can be built upon.

Furnishings are one of the key components that make up and influence a space. Furniture can make a room comfy and relaxing or help make a space more practical. Different types of furnishings serve different purposes.

Lastly, there are theories which can be an overall umbrella that covers design. These theories can be an important way to describe design or different ways of viewing design. They can also be viewed as a way to form a cohesive experience in a space. Theories can be the basic inspiration behind a project or it can even be a worldview integrated into a space.

All of these themes together create good design.