Plans sent to builder

I send a copy of the plans to the builder we're talking to. They are going to run them past a couple folks and see if we need just an Engineer or an Architect.

Plans - original vs updated (revisited)

Even though I said I would work from the original plans and update them myself it was too tempting to buy the updated plans from Modern Homes Realty. So now I have both sets! It's nice because now I can see what the original plans said to do vs what updated plans say. There aren't many differences since the updated plans are to California code (things will have to be changed quite a bit to get them to meet Virginia code) but they are 100x easier to read than the vintage plans.

Here's an example.

Original Plans

Updated Plans

So much easier to read! I'm sure the builder will appreciate having the updated set. Huge thanks again to Monique Lombardelli for getting the plans updated for me. As it turns out, they didn't have the plans completed and had set them aside until I ordered a set. So I sort of feel special like the plans were completed just for me! :-)

Things I am worried about building in Virginia:

1. The long wood roof beams may have to be replaced with wood-wrapped steel I-beams to help with the snow loads in winter
2. The roof is extremely thin. To meet energy requirements we will probably end up having to thicken the roof up to allow for spray insulation to be put up there. The fascia board that runs around the edge of the roof is 6" wide so that allows me to thicken the roof up to 6" thick without changing the look of the house. Hopefully that is enough, although that thickness will require I go with a conventional gutter system instead of the downspout system the house was designed for. I don't think it will look too bad as the gutter would only be along the left side of the house where you can't really see it from the front and the two small overhangs on the other side. If I have to go thicker than 6" it's going to change the look of the house and I'm not going to be happy.
3. The plans call for single pane glass everywhere, which I know won't fly in Virginia. Hopefully going with double pane glass won't change the look.

Overall, it's going to be very challenging and probably very expensive to update the plans for Virginia. But - that's part of the fun I suppose.

Here's an update to my earlier post about fixture shopping, this time with links and (gasp) a front doorknob escutcheon.

HANGING GLOBE LIGHT

http://www.lightingdirect.com/progress-lighting-p4402-opal-globes-series-10-single-light-pendant-with-opal-glass-globe-diffuser/p357283

EXTERIOR SCONCE LAMP

http://www.lightingdirect.com/progress-lighting-p5675-aluminum-cylinder-series-5-x-14-outdoor-wall-sconce-with-heavy-aluminum-construction-and-powdercoat-finish/p358050?intcmp=recs~item_page.rr1~ClickCP~Progress%20Lighting~progresslightingp5675

FLOODLIGHT

http://www.stardust.com/doublebulletsconce.html

FRONT DOORKNOB ESCUTCHEON

http://www.rejuvenation.com/catalog/products/round-escutcheon/items/door-backplate-mid-century-exterior-circle

Got the copy of the plans today! Thanks Monique Lombardelli!

Retro Phone

I picked up this retro panel phone on eBay to go in the house. I saw a similar one in the "People in Glass Houses" documentary.

Fixture Shopping

Been looking around the internet for the various Eichler-compatible lighting fixtures for the house. Found these:

Eichler house seen in a TV commercial

Just saw the latest commercial for the WD My Cloud and it centers around what looks to me like an Eichler home.

Books

I picked up a couple books on Eichler houses from Amazon.com.

Eichler: Modernism Rebuilds the American Dream

Eichler Homes: Design for Living

Plans - original vs updated

I've been chatting with my builder more about costs and stuff. There's only so much we can do without the actual plans but the estimate is still coming in a lot higher than I want it to be. We may end up building in North Carolina instead of Virginia to save some money on construction costs.

I also got a quote for all the glass from Palo Alto Glass. To do the entire house the glass cost is around $60k. Glass is very expensive. That's my new motto.

Also the builder said he'd rather work with the original Eichler plans than the updated plans because the updated plans are for building in California and apparently there are a lot of additional considerations when building a home in Virginia like snow loads and such. His thinking is we might as well start from scratch with the original plans.

I've been working with the very kind and helpful Monique Lombardelli of Modern Homes Realty for the updated plans we wanted to purchase. I'm trying to find out if I can get a copy of the original unaltered historical plans from her. Fingers crossed!

Today I spoke with a local builder at length about the project. The numbers are looking pretty high right now. Hopefully once he actually sees the plans and does his calculations the numbers can come down a bit. He did say to just go ahead and order the plans which are currently drawn up for California building codes and he would update them for Virginia building codes.

I've spent the past couple of days trying to find a builder for the house. So far I've sent out a couple of emails. Still looking.

I've also been researching places to get historically accurate materials for the house, such as obscuring glass, siding, etc.

I've found the following places and plan on contacting them as soon as I have some time:

http://eichlersiding.com/

http://www.eichlersolutions.com/

http://www.paloaltoglass.com

I still need to find a place that sells the tongue-and-groove ceiling planks that characterize Eichler homes.

Today I came across another supplier of Eichler plans and found a floorplan/design that I preferred to the one I was going to get from houseplans.com.

Here is the house that I am planning to build.

They are available from http://www.modernhomesrealty.com and have been redrawn from the original plans and updated to today's building codes!

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog! My wife and I were in the market for a new house and in our house search we came across a very mid-century house that had been built in 1970. We fell in love with the house but unfortunately the deal fell through. In our search to find another house I became interested in mid-century houses in-general, and from there found out about "Eichler" houses. I found out that several websites were offering actual Eichler houseplans for sale and decided right then that I wanted to build a new, but historically accurate Eichler house on the East Coast. Hence this blog was born.

You can find out more about Joseph Eichler and his houses here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Eichler

There's also a cool movie about Eichler house owners here:
People in Glass Houses

Here is the house on http://houseplans.com that originally drew my interest.