As mentioned in my last post, changes were on the way due to the value engineering exercise Stillwater was doing to bring down the build cost of my home. After several phone calls where Stillwater shared what they were thinking, I have an initial plan of what the main living floor will look like.
Bringing the house down the hillside a bit and using the back wall of the house as the retaining wall, eliminates a lot of excavation as well as retaining walls further up the hill and other concrete work. While engineering work continues on the new site plan, I at least have an idea on how these changes impact the floor plan – and its fairly minimal (with one exception). See below.
The elimination of all rear windows, due to this level now cutting into the hillside, is the most noticeable change. With so many windows up front, this doesn’t really bother me at all, and some of the rear widows were able to be moved to the sides. Plus, skylights will still provide a good deal of natural light for the stairwell and hallway.
While this work was happening, I also asked for a few other changes in the master suite. I really wanted a more grand entry into the master bed/bath as well as a walk in closet. The idea of a laundry ‘room’ was also not needed and just added more visual noise (via doors) to the north side of the main hallway, I also like the idea of having the washer/dryer stacked in the suite. Below shows a detail of the master bath before (left) and where we’re heading (right).
In future posts I’ll cover how the site plan has changed (have only seen a preview) as well as any other changes as everything gets firmed up for our new appointment in front of the Mulholland Scenic Parkway Design Review Board, which is now set for November. Provided LA doesn’t shutdown again due to the pandemic.