One of my favorite topics to start in a plural marriage forum has always been about how various families see their ideal living circumstances. The way I see it this divides into two camps, the one roof faction and the multiple roof faction. I intend to start another thread later after this one hopefully gathers some steam that gets into the specific debate of the pros and cons of one large home vs multiple homes. In this thread I would like to go with my personal preference which is for all the family in one home and hear everyone's opinion on how they would design the proverbial perfect plig palace.
Let's assume for the purpose of this conversation that one has a goodly amount of resources for building your home but not going into the full on fantasy realm of 30,000 sqft several million dollar mansions.
In our family we all have varying tastes in architectural styles but one area were we intersect is craftsman style two story homes with large wrap around porch (though one of us wants her area to be all on one story because stairs suck when you are pregnant). Now it would need to be larger than the average craftsman home naturally but the primary difference I would aim for is individual apartments inside the home for each woman. Nothing too over the top, just a nice sitting room with a small kitchenette, a large bedroom, bathroom and a good sized closet. Probably a small nursery as well.
Not sure of the specific layout of the interior but I imagine that the entrances of the individual apartments should be off of a common area which also has the entrances to the kids rooms/areas off of them. As to the kids rooms, this is where I could use some feedback from those who have several kids or who grew up with several siblings. I envision two large rooms for the boys and two large rooms for the girls. One each for the younger children and one each for the older children as decided by sex. In re their restrooms I had in mind large communal bathrooms by sex. Not institutional in style by any means, still comfortable but with probably a couple of showers and toilet closets each and the like.
Common spaces would need to be large naturally. To me the kitchen and utility rooms are some of the most important. I would want an extremely large kitchen with a vastly oversized eat at island. There should be multiple ovens as well as cooktops so that you can have all hands on deck for meal prep. The utility room should have a mud room like function as well as the normal clothes washers and dryers (plural), bench for taking off muddy boots etc and coat hooks and the like. I think there should also be a large tub shower combo in a utility room as well for hosing down dirty dogs, children and husbands. Also extra ovens for holidays when there are multiple turkeys/hams etc on the go and of course a couple (at least) of large deep freezes.
For the adults I like the idea of working out of the home as much as is practical but I think it is important that each adult have their own small office space where they can shut a door and be at work and hopefully undisturbed. So a hall with a line of offices would be in order. A large garage that is almost entirely for parking cars where women may safely unload the shopping and crumb crunchers without looking over their shoulders out doors (so I am a safety conscious guy... I think it a positive) or too much storage junk or tools to trip on in the garage. For tools and work space as well as storage I would like a warehouse/shop away from the house a small way.
We all like the idea of a pool and one of us is a fiend for having one so I would want to include on in our ideal home only I would want to put my own spin on it. I would like to have it as an indoor/outdoor affair where one has multiple large French doors or the like to open up the space and allow the breeze to blow and give fresh air but with a roof and walls of glass (security film coated to make it more weather and burgled proof) so that one could still get a bit of sun. Also it would be nice to sit out there during rain storms.
Let's see... Well I have dozens of other notions like a nice library room, kids study/classroom area for homeschooling, a formal living room that rug rats and dogs are not allowed in, a comfy study for myself, a craft room/sewing room/art studio with lots of space and natural light... Well lots of other bits and pieces in my minds eye.
So tell me what you see as the perfect physical plant for you and your family whether it is an existing family or the one you wish to build. Hit us with your vision.
Let's assume for the purpose of this conversation that one has a goodly amount of resources for building your home but not going into the full on fantasy realm of 30,000 sqft several million dollar mansions.
In our family we all have varying tastes in architectural styles but one area were we intersect is craftsman style two story homes with large wrap around porch (though one of us wants her area to be all on one story because stairs suck when you are pregnant). Now it would need to be larger than the average craftsman home naturally but the primary difference I would aim for is individual apartments inside the home for each woman. Nothing too over the top, just a nice sitting room with a small kitchenette, a large bedroom, bathroom and a good sized closet. Probably a small nursery as well.
Not sure of the specific layout of the interior but I imagine that the entrances of the individual apartments should be off of a common area which also has the entrances to the kids rooms/areas off of them. As to the kids rooms, this is where I could use some feedback from those who have several kids or who grew up with several siblings. I envision two large rooms for the boys and two large rooms for the girls. One each for the younger children and one each for the older children as decided by sex. In re their restrooms I had in mind large communal bathrooms by sex. Not institutional in style by any means, still comfortable but with probably a couple of showers and toilet closets each and the like.
Common spaces would need to be large naturally. To me the kitchen and utility rooms are some of the most important. I would want an extremely large kitchen with a vastly oversized eat at island. There should be multiple ovens as well as cooktops so that you can have all hands on deck for meal prep. The utility room should have a mud room like function as well as the normal clothes washers and dryers (plural), bench for taking off muddy boots etc and coat hooks and the like. I think there should also be a large tub shower combo in a utility room as well for hosing down dirty dogs, children and husbands. Also extra ovens for holidays when there are multiple turkeys/hams etc on the go and of course a couple (at least) of large deep freezes.
For the adults I like the idea of working out of the home as much as is practical but I think it is important that each adult have their own small office space where they can shut a door and be at work and hopefully undisturbed. So a hall with a line of offices would be in order. A large garage that is almost entirely for parking cars where women may safely unload the shopping and crumb crunchers without looking over their shoulders out doors (so I am a safety conscious guy... I think it a positive) or too much storage junk or tools to trip on in the garage. For tools and work space as well as storage I would like a warehouse/shop away from the house a small way.
We all like the idea of a pool and one of us is a fiend for having one so I would want to include on in our ideal home only I would want to put my own spin on it. I would like to have it as an indoor/outdoor affair where one has multiple large French doors or the like to open up the space and allow the breeze to blow and give fresh air but with a roof and walls of glass (security film coated to make it more weather and burgled proof) so that one could still get a bit of sun. Also it would be nice to sit out there during rain storms.
Let's see... Well I have dozens of other notions like a nice library room, kids study/classroom area for homeschooling, a formal living room that rug rats and dogs are not allowed in, a comfy study for myself, a craft room/sewing room/art studio with lots of space and natural light... Well lots of other bits and pieces in my minds eye.
So tell me what you see as the perfect physical plant for you and your family whether it is an existing family or the one you wish to build. Hit us with your vision.
