One of our goals for the quick trip to Cattail over the holiday was to measure the property to see if we can fit a five bedroom house on it. We’ve found a floor plan that we like, and Susan has added two guest rooms and another bath to it. We also looked at existing homes along our hikes there, to see what kinds of finishes we liked. The property, it turns out, is more than large enough for a one story home with an enclosed garage, five bedrooms, a great room, etc. We’d even be able to keep the woods above Cabin 4 intact to act as a buffer to any noise from the Community Hall.
Click here to see the design we have in mind, keeping in mind that the finish will probably be wood, with a green or brown metal roof. The design will be flipped, so that the garage is on the upstream side. The right side (downstream side) of the house will have two more bedrooms, a multipurpose room, another porch facing downstream, and accompanying baths.
The pictures above show a finish we like, the vertical board and batten wood, plus narrow horizontal stones for the foundation covering. Judging from the lay of our land, we’ll need some crawl space type foundation that will be low on the upstream end and a little taller on the downstream end – this would be faced with stone on the front and painted stucco on the stream side and downstream side probably. Our goal is to make the house large and weather tight – comfortable for a large crowd all year around. But we want to be conscious about energy use too, and we want to blend into the scenery. So, any suggestions are welcome!
As we think about retiring, we think less and less about exotic travel and more and more about time with our extended families. We see ourselves doing a lot of reading, hiking every day both around Cattail (see the pictures below from our big hike New Year’s Day) and along some of the wonderful trails that criss-cross the Blue Ridge and the Smokies, taking up Asian cooking as a hobby, and entertaining family and friends!
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