Men, let your wife handle this. That’s why we designed a den or a media room or an office for you; so that you can pick out dark mahogany cabinets and hunter green walls there and leave the rest of the house to your wife and highly trained professionals.

From the CoteDeTexas blog… One question I get asked over and over again, as both an interior designer and as a blogger, is what to do about husbands (or partners) who refuse to let you decorate your house the way you want to? What happens if one partner has exquisite taste, while the other has, well, less than wonderful taste? How does a wife tell her husband to leave the decorating to her? Men and women have such different ideas about decorating and let’s just admit that most husbands’ design preferences are clichéd. For instance, what is it about wood paneling that men love so much? I can’t count the number of times I’ve gotten an email from a distraught wife telling me her husband refuses to let her paint over their 60s style faux wood “paneling.” For some unknown reason, men think it is sacrilege to paint over anything made out of brown wood, despite how many veneers of plywood make up this purported “wood.” Why?

Read it all.

Anyway, this is the house that’s at the top of this blog and I thought you might want to see how it turned out.

Approaching the house from the 1/2 mile gravel drive.

Feels like home to me.

The entrance hall is 12 feet wide and 12 feet high, matching the size of the "old" family home.

Some brick, reclaimed from an old family home was mixed in with new brick in the library.

Both the front and back porches are 12 feet deep. The back porch looks out a forest of hardwoods that drops off to a creek just out of sight.

The kitchen. The brick, the wood for the cabinets and the beams are all from buildings on the families farms.

The view from the entry hall into the dining room. Note the heart pine parquet floor.

It’s really not that complicated- nothing you can do to you house will make more difference than what you put on the roof.* Save money in other areas if you have to, but use a wonderful material like wood, tile, slate or hand seamed and painted in place “tin” (actually “terne” and it’s made by Follansbee).

Here are multiple examples of simple houses that have wonderful roofs (borrowed from Content In A Cottage).

*presupposing that the proportions of your house are sublime, of course. No material of fancy detail can fix poor proportions.

They managed to cobble together a settlement of only $200,000 and their attorney’s fees had to come out of that. In the end, they were left with only enough money to keep water from pouring into the house during a hard rain. They’ve been fighting the battle for over 5 years and are heart-sick. They live in a house that is falling apart around them. They can’t afford to fix it and they owe too much to sell it.

Feel sorry for them? I don’t. They were warned but they couldn’t resist a low price. They thought they knew enough to make intelligent choices but they didn’t know enough to know what they didn’t know. AND, they trusted the wrong people. It is a mistake to think that “just because everybody does it” means, when applied to residential construction, that you’ll have a house of reasonable quality that can be safely left out in the rain.

With some notable exceptions, almost all “advances” in building technology in the last 75 years have been to make houses cheaper and easier/faster to build. The major purchasers of building materials are large “tract home” builders, that’s who funds building product research. These mega-builders have other issues worthy of another post, but they know how to test, evaluate, modify techniques and stand behind products that have a very small margin for error in installation. Small builders don’t generally have the processes in place to handle these materials but low price forces them to use them. Residential architects are promised by product representatives that these products are fool-proof and have the full backing of whatever seemingly large/deep pocketed companies they represent.

(These large companies have the benefit of settling material lawsuits as class-actions resulting in pennies on the dollar to the homeowner if they jump in early enough and absolutely nothing if they don’t.)

When these products fail or poor installation causes problems after a few years or your builder and architect combined old methods and new products in a way that causes unintended consequences, you may recoup some part of the cost through litigation. Will it be worth your initial savings?

Our competition will tell you that our houses are “expensive”. I think that if the couple in the story above could have a do-over, we could have saved them a lot.

There are other things that drive me nuts about these shows, like people making happy noises over vast, soulless empty high ceiling areas or discussing how beautiful a home is when it’s a huge garage on the left (always on the left), a tall skinny entry in the middle and a big window over the master bathtub on the right. These reactions are always so much the same (as are the houses) that it seems to me that HGTV is in cahoots with the AUHA (American Ugly House Association) in a desperate attempt to sell these awful things, but tonight we’re talking about square footage so I’ll try very hard to get back on track.

I was walking through a house with the builder/developer some years ago. It was a very large vacation rental house, six bedrooms, 6,000 square feet. All of the rooms were huge but no more so than the master bedroom, which I’m sure was 20 feet by 30 feet. The furniture was being moved in at the time and there was not a wall large enough to place the king size bed and the two 42 inch wide bedside tables that had just been delivered. If there had been wall space, the owners would need a projection TV screen and opera glasses to be able to watch TV from their bed because the closest available place for a TV was so far away.

Wouldn’t it be better to build a smaller space designed to fit furniture arranged in a way that fits your life-style? You could spend the extra money on better quality construction, more detail (but only if it’s tasteful, don’t get carried away), a more efficient heating, air conditioning and insulation system or a combination of all of those things. To keep the conversation going, I’ll answer for you, “Why, of course! To do otherwise would be foolish, but I’m not an expert (although I watch enough HGTV that I’ll soon be one), luckily I brought my realtor along to keep me from making a mistake.”

Mmm… I’d better take back my post, you’re starting to get a little off track yourself. Your realtor might be helpful, but not too many realtors are going to take the time to figure out if your furniture will work or even think to ask the right questions about your life style to help you work through it. Their job is to make a sale. If you want to focus on square footage, they’ll help you find a house. If you want a “pretty” house, they’ll work really hard to figure out what “pretty” means to you and steer you in that direction even if they personally think its the ugliest house in three counties, but the last thing they’re going to do is to discourage you by suggesting you do what you need to do- hire an interior designer or an architect, take time to let them know what you want and have them draw a furniture plan  before you buy. Have them look at your top choices and get their opinion. You’ll consider it money well spent.

One more thought. If you’re building a new home, interview architects and interior designers. Hire ones that you trust and let them help you design a home that fits your life style and if the square footage is a little less than what you projected, be happy!

But most styles do have an origin and looking a little deeper into an architectural style will lead a designer to a purer and more beautiful source. Today, let’s look at “Georgian” and close cousins “Adams” and “Early Classical Revival”. In the 17th and 18th centuries, British architects were discovering buildings of the Italian Renaissance and made their way to America by way of “builders companions” (the plan books of their day). They can be simple or elaborate, appear symmetrical (even when they’re not) and rely on good proportion and proper execution of detail for their appeal.

Another builder special "Georgian" home. Note the tower to the right of the overscaled entry. This will make the transition to "French Country" a snap!

Dear Designer or Prospective Home Owner, please don’t allow yourself to to be associated with such! Although people will smile and tell you how they’re sure that “you must love your house”, they’re just being polite. Below are  few of my favorite examples of correct and proper Georgian architecture.

The Hammond-Harwood House, classic American Georgian

Small, simple, Georgian perfection!

Marble Hill on the Thames in London.

And here are a few examples of our designs:

How environmentally friendly you’d like to live your life is (for now) your decision. I’d like to propose an approach that I’ll call “Commonsense Green”. Before you can start to make informed decisions about product selections, you need to decide where you fit on the “Commonsense Green Scale” (something that I just made up for the purposes of this post).

The lowest point on this scale would be “social green”. You’ll want to choose trendy items so that your friends will be impressed by how environmentally conscious you are. Bamboo floors are a favorite here.

The mid-point on the scale I’ll call “practical green”. You are trying to use resources wisely, your friends often refer to you as “thrifty”, you wash and re-use baggies and aluminum foil, not to “save the planet” but because, to you, it just makes sense. Every purchase involves a “cost/benefit ratio calculation”. You’ll consider a rain water capture system for irrigation because you’d like to save water, but not if it’s a budget-buster.

Top of the scale is, of course, occupied by those who are dedicated to do their part to save the world, the “Eco-warrior”. You drive a hybrid, you’re a vegan or seriously considering it, you limit your travel to reduce your carbon footprint and you look at the very idea of building a house as either cause for nightmares or an exciting opportunity to demonstrate to others that a carbon-neutral house is a good choice for everyone.

To the “social greens”, I’d say “carry on”. The bamboo floors WILL make you look like you care. You might also be interested in that hybrid car, the trade-in values are pretty good.

“Eco-warriors” really need to consider finding an older house, size small, please. This is re-cycling in it’s highest form. In our market (Hilton Head and the surrounding Low Country) older resort homes are poorly built and unless someone pays attention to them, will have a life span of less than 50 years. Buy it, upgrade the insulation and HVAC system and replace the grass with mulch or clover to  reduce your water use. There are other things you could do, like water saving appliances, “grey water” re-use and low VOC paint, but the important thing is keep that house out of the landfill and keep your carbon footprint low. A new green home isn’t out of the realm of possibility but, to remain true to the concept, you’ll have to fight the temptation to do things “because they’re green” which will entail consuming (and causing the manufacture and transportation of) products unnecessarily.

“Practical greens” have the hardest choices to make; that cost/benefit ratio thing, you know. This is where “Commonsense Green” comes in and here’s a list of things for you to consider:

1. Build small. NOTHING reduces cost and environmental impact like building no more than you really need. How often does all of your family really visit at the same time? Do you entertain often enough that your dining table needs to seat 12? How often will you use that home theater?

2. Buy as locally as possible. Those bamboo floors are made in China (by slave labor, using toxic glues), placed on (leaky) ships to San Francisco and trucked across the US. I don’t care what any “program” says, what does your commonsense tell you? The south is filled with a rapidly renewable building material, pine. Pine forest management these days focuses on top soil and wild life management. Also, under current selective culling, these forests are a beautiful addition to the rural landscape. It is possible to build a house predominately out of pine and pressure treated pine that would be a “Commonsense Green” wonder. Don’t forget to consider reclaimed building materials such as flooring, doors, hardware, even roofing. Spend time looking for where your products are manufactured, not only does that take less energy but the lower shipping costs may save money.

3. Consider the useful life of the material. More durable materials generally require less maintenance and won’t need to be replaced as often thus keeping them out of a landfill. It’s clear to anyone who visited this site before that I don’t like asphalt (fiberglass) shingles. They DO NOT last as long as advertised in our environment, they support a fungus that results in black streaks and blotches and they are the first part of your house that will be trucked to the landfill. There are other solutions that are better! Clay tile, slate, copper and even some recycled plastics are worth a look.

4. Insulation and HVAC work together. Indoor air quality should be as important as your monthly energy bill. (Ever thought to calculate health care cost in the life cycle analysis of your home?) Current heat pumps are very energy efficient, there’s really no payback in more exotic systems. Fresh “make-up” (outside) air needs to be introduced into the system. Pre-filters can clean and de-humidify outside air. Ductwork is often overlooked. “Duct board” has been used for years to fabricate the larger duct work in most homes. The inside surface, the one that the air passes through, is “raw” fiberglass insulation that may release small spun glass particles into the airstream. At the very least, it gives dust and things that live on dust (like mold) a place to grow. Insist on metal ducts. Also, your builder should keep the duct system sealed off until the construction dust and debris have been removed. You don’t want that stuff sucked into your duct system!

5. Work with a builder who will commit to environmentally friendly site management techniques such as recycling of construction wastes. Most people don’t care what happens to the construction waste generated during construction of their home or think about what happens when a painter washes his brushes on site. In my opinion, a builder who is going to be careful about these things is also going to be careful to order and use materials efficiently which should result in a lower construction cost.

6. Examine the cost/benefit ratio of trendy items. Solar might work for heating water but they are not environmentally friendly to produce and, for electricity generation, there is no point where the purchase, installation and maintenance cost will be offset by energy savings. Rainwater collections systems are a great idea, but using drought resistant plantings may be a “greener” and much more economical choice.

I’ve talked about keeping shapes and details simple before and I won’t go into that here, but a “Commonsense Green” approach can be incorporated into every aspect of the design. Most design and construction has an element of “we’ve always done it that way”. You and your team members (architect, builder, interior designer, landscape designer) need to be dedicated and focused on the goal. Make careful choices!

It’s expensive! Well, not really expensive, because for something to be expensive, there has to be an alternative that meets the same criteria for less money. It takes more money to construct a house that will result in differed or reduced maintenance and for many, the extra cost isn’t worth it. One reason, is that “comparables”, the standard by which banks determine whether or not your house is a “good value” (translation: they’ll loan you money to build or buy it) has warped peoples perception of value.

A bank will willingly make a loan on a cheap house that will start to fall apart before it’s completed but will not loan money on a house that will last for 50 years with minimal maintenance because that house is “too expensive”. No banker will willingly admit it until you ask the question point blank. This problem really can’t be avoided, but the impact can be lessened by insisting that your appraiser factor in your upgrades (we’ll address those later) in his appraisal.

Unfortunately, the least expensive (and therefore usually the lowest quality) house sets the standard and as much as you probably don’t want to hear this, if you try to build a house for a similar amount of money, you will not be  (for the most part) including the materials you’ll want if you’re trying to reduce your maintenance cost and effort. In our market (Hilton Head Island) the only items a typical house will include that I’d consider to reduce or differ maintenance are the siding if it’s a cementitious board or stucco properly installed (not a given) and wood windows with vinyl or aluminum cladding.

If you asked me to recommend materials for the lowest maintenance over the next 15 years, here’s what I’d tell you:

1. Use aerated autoclaved concrete (AAC) for the exterior walls and cover it with a stucco formulated specifically for the product. AAC is a solid, lightweight material that has reasonable insulating properties. The fact that it’s SOLID is one of the reasons I think it works so well here. Nothing can get in the walls and with proper roof design, flashing, stucco and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) design, it’s ideal for our climate.

2. Use a grade 1 tile, like Ludowici or a metal roof like copper, lead-coated copper or terne (Follansbee). Pre-painted metal roofs, whether steel or aluminum are not equals here. Most houses on Hilton Head have asphalt shingles, also referred to as fiberglass shingles and even “50 year” roofs will not generally give you more than 25 years in our climate before they become brittle and need to be replaced. All shingles of this type also support the growth of a black fungus that needs to be regularly cleaned unless you like those black patches and streaks.

3. Only use kiln dried pressure treated pine (Cox Lumber) or hardwoods like teak on the exterior of your house. PVC (Azek) will work where a more finished look is desired, but it must be properly installed and it expands and contracts much more than wood.

4. Carved stone is a forever material, “cast stone” is concrete and of varying quality. Haddonstone is a top quality cast stone,  poor quality cast stone may last for many years but I’ve also seen problems start to show up within a few years.

5. Top quality flashing and other waterproofing (16 oz. copper or lead-coated copper is my personal favorite) properly installed is a must.

6. Exterior windows and doors are often overlooked, but clad windows need yearly maintenance. Inspect the caulk joint around the windows yearly and replace as necessary. Some manufacturers recommend a yearly coat of wax on the cladding. Take care of your windows! We’ve done many renovations of houses with clad windows that were less than 20 years old and the windows needed to be replaced. Brannen Millwork makes an excellent all wood window and we frequently use their wood entry and french doors.

7. Use good quality interior millwork (doors and trim). Finger-jointed trim is less expensive and looks great… at first. Before long, certainly within 5 or 6 years, you’ll start to see the finger-joints through the paint. It’s going to happen. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Use good doors, solid MDF doors take paint well and are pleasantly heavy. For stained doors, there are some good quality veneer doors, but we prefer solid mahogany. Along with your millwork, invest in solid brass or bronze door hardware- knobs AND hinges. Most doors come with hinges already attached to the door frame and door. They are generally steel with a brass or bronze finish. They will not look good once they start to rust. If you’re not close to the beach you may see rust within a few years. If you’re close to the beach, you’ll probably see rust before you can get your furniture through the door.

8. I only recommend solid wood floors that are finished on site, natural stone or good quality carpet. You may get a long life out of other materials but they will tend to look dated and they just don’t wear as well.

9. Invest in a good quality heating, venting, air conditioning, humidity control system installed by people who understand how important it is to bring fresh air into the system, maintain a positive pressure for the interior and keep the pressure balanced between rooms.  Use spray foam insulation at the underside of the rafters. Seal your attic and control the humidity mechanically. Moisture is a home’s worst enemy and a properly designed system is critical.

10. Make your selections carefully. I know you’re saying, “what does that have to do with maintenance?” Why I’m so glad you asked! If you select your interior finishes like most people do, you’ll be selecting many things that are currently trendy. That’s going to date your house, you’ll wake up one morning and say “this house is sooooo 2011, it looks like every other house built then, we need a change!” (If you don’t say it, a potential buyer certainly will.) My advice here is to get expert advice (did I mention that we’re architects and interior designers?) and work with your expert to avoid current trends where you can.

11. An annual inspection of your home, inside and out, can identify small issues before they become big ones. At the very least, have a competent professional inspect the caulking and exterior painted surfaces, re-caulking or re-painting as required.

Since I’m pretending that you asked my opinion, I’ll pretend that you’ve also asked, “how can I afford all of this?” First, please don’t ask for a house that is overly elaborate. Buy quality first and add the extras if you can. Charleston, The Holy City, is filled with “Charleston singles houses” that are basically the same height and width and have the same number of windows that are the same size. Some of them are elaborately detailed and some are elegantly simple. Since I’m doing the advising here, I’ll advise you to get the proportions right, use good quality materials and add the detail as your budget allows.