Vermont Plat House - Frame On!

Framing moves along..

..even in the rain. A little downpour may have stopped the progress for the day, but it moved along none the less. The upper wall is now being framed out over the steel beam. The snow load for this site in Vermont was somewhere between 40 and 50 lbs per square foot. With the possibility of local variations you err to the higher figure. That beam has to carry the potential load across the entire living room, hence the sizable piece of steel. It will be a unique Plat House, that is for sure.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Plat House

Vermont Plat House goes vertical

The first bits of wall framing have begun.

Just a quick entry for progress on the Vermont Plat House. The first framed wall has gone up, and as carpentry typically moves quickly we will see a lot of progress over the next few weeks.



An overview of the slab with the new wall in the background, the steel beam at the living space in the foreground. Protective plywood has been laid over the finished slab as this will be the finished floor surface. And below, a little closer view of the framed wall. This is the wall of the two bedrooms on this end of the house. They each have a door to a screened porch, with a window beside it.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Plat House

0242 The second Arkansas Plat House

Just down the road from the Plat House that appeared in Dwell magazine is a second Plat House!

Although its hard to believe, its true. Just down the way from the Arkansas Plat House that you watched come together in this blog, and you saw in the October 06 issue of Dwell, is a second Plat House. This one was built by the sister of the owners of the more famous Plat House! They purchased their plans while the first Plat House was underway and it was just completed recently. I just got some pictures of the new one today and can share them with you now.

A different builder completed this one and the owners in this case decided to make some deviations from the plans. The house is definitely still a Plat House, but a comparison with the first Plat House, or with my renderings, reveals changes to several design elements inside and outside. The house looks great but its very interesting to see how these changes play out in the feeling of the house's character on the outside, and in the way you experience the space on the inside.







Can you spot all the changes?

photos by Jelle Kiesling

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Plat House

Vermont Plat House slab prep.

Preparation for the pouring of the floor slab.

The preparation work for pouring the ground floor slab for Vermont Plat House is under way. The radiant heating loops must be placed before the slab goes in.



Plumbing is placed before the slab is poured. The builder has measured carefully to place these items.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Plat House

Vermont Plat House foundations

Stem walls for the foundation are in place.

What I have now taken to calling the Vermont Plat House is progressing quickly. The concrete stem walls of the foundation are complete. Backfilling should follow soon.

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Work begins on the Vermont Plat House

Another Plat House takes shape.

The Modified Plat House created for a customer in Vermont has begun construction. Excavation of the footings has started and reinforcing and concrete should follow soon

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Plat House

The Perfect $100,000 House

I knew that would get your attention.

But I'm sorry to say that I don't have the answer to the Perfect $100,000 House. What's this about then. This is the title of a new book by none other than Karrie Jacobs, the founding editor of Dwell. Karrie Jacobs was there when Dwell began, took part in the establishment of the original direction of the magazine, and ran it through the early years - the Fruit Bowl Manifesto days - when the mission to show everyday life in the modern home was a really fresh and eye opening idea. Many of the team at the magazine now came there under her and then grew the magazine from that early direction.

I know for many the hope of affordable modern homes was a big attraction to the magazine, and that hope is alive today and walking the halls of LiveModern for sure. We all struggle with how to bring the modern ideal to a level that is affordable without loosing the spirit that attracts us to it in the first place.


Well when Karrie Jacobs left the magazine, guess what? She joined our ranks, literally. Where could she find an affordable modern house? The book is her story of her journey for answers. Not necessarily the answer - we all know too well that there is no easy answer for the affordable modern house. She went around the country visiting many of the same projects we have seen here online and in the pages of Dwell looking for the perfect $100,000 house. Not a reference guide exactly, but from the sound of it more of a road trip story.

I have not read it yet, as it has just been released, but I'm looking forward to reading it.

Technorati Tags: modern design, modern house