It came to me in a dream ^^

[RoseRed]

So I am going to put some back story before telling what I am planning.

Very early in my childhood, my family and I (before my parents got divorced) lived in a large two story house in the country [aka "the country house"] (although it was nice because it was still close to town, 5 min drive kind of deal). And I absolutely loved that house. My father remained in that house till I was about 10, but was forced out when the landlord decided to sell it (my father was renting it, and at the time he didn't want to buy it<<< something he dearly regrets now). When he moved out, I was devastated. Even though I lived with my mother in another house, his house had always been my home. Maybe it was because that is where my earliest memories are. Till this day (even though I have not been inside it for at leas 12 years) I can still remember the layout of the house (even the basement) very well.

I had always planned to move back in one day. That later in life when I had the finances, I would go back. That can't happen anymore. About two years ago, the house had to be demolished. Why? Because whomever bought it decided to lease it out. And the tenants of the house trashed it so badly and let it decompose so much, that in order to fix the house, the house would have to be gutted and everything re-done (practically building a new house, which is why it was demolished). I can't express the amount of anger that I have because of this :realhot::angry01: Why would someone let a house get to such a desecrated point? I know they were only renting it, but that doesn't give them the right to trash it. Did it ever occur to them that the house meant something to someone? Obviously not. I am also amazed the landlord (owner) didn't check up on the house.

Granted I am very young still and being a house owner is not right around the corner, but I am the type that plans ahead. But every time I would see a house up for sale, or watch something like "House Hunters", I would always think along the lines of, "It's nice, but the country house was better". I'm not joking. The country house, while it was large, was very simple and plain. If anyone was to see it, they would not see anything special, in fact they would probably move on. It was a two story house with a creepy, dark, all cement basement (the basement only had enough electricity to run a few light bulbs that literally hung from the ceiling [like in horror movies]). The kitchen (even back in the 90's) had old, out dated utilities. There was only 1 bathroom and it was pretty small with no counter space.:eek1: Most of the house's space was dedicated to the huge living room and two bedrooms (1st floor). The 2nd floor had one common area, two good sized bedrooms, and a storage space (attic like). And then there's the basement.....

Here are blue prints by memory (I am missing some closets, but a lot of it is there). Granted the rooms are not to scale, the living room was quite a bit bigger than the kitchen....you get the point though.






So last night it hit me, why not re-build the house? To my knowledge, there's no rule against it. And it's obvious to me that all of my life I have been aching to return to this house. Sadly I can never go back to the original house, but I can do the next best thing, rebuild it. So this is where I need some help.

I have been searching around the internet on how to find blue prints a house. But I want to know from you all, how the best way to go about this? Where do I start to look? Are there any other documents I should look for?

I am also concerned I may not have access to the blue prints since I don't own the house nor the property. But it has been demolished. If I can't get access, I will need to get permission from the owner of the property (which is a farmer, who had torn down all the other buildings and made place into a corn field. There is corn in my drive way!!! ok ok there is no drive way anymore, and it's certainly not mine.)

Also, snake wise would it be better for them to be in the basement or the 2nd floor? The basement has more overall space and I since I would be rebuilding it, I can add insulation and water proof it, etc. Although water getting into the basement worries me.... The bad thing about the second floor is I am worried about having so many racks/enclosures (i.e. the weight of them) in one place. I don't want the floor to give out.....

If I were to put the snakes in the basement this is what the floor plan would be.


Now granted it will probably be 10-20 years before I get started on it, but I like planning ahead. And I'll add on to this as things come up (maybe a layout of the whole property?)

Thanks for reading and any help!

 

[Nanci]

I drew a house and built it once. Actually twice, since it burned down because of suspected arson the month before we were to move in. You could probably make a couple changes to your dream home that would make it better, though. For example, a bathroom on each floor-which would be essential if you have reptiles in either the basement or the second floor.

All you have to do is get graph paper and draw it out! Then you take it to an architect who makes it into a blueprint. And suggests minor changes that make it much better. For example, when we did my house, the architect suggested a two-layer secret room in my daughter's bedroom!

I lived in MN most of my life, and in the house we built, we had a wood foundation. They are _wonderful_. And have a lifetime guarantee. They are warm and not damp. The floor is bouncy like the other levels, and warm- not concrete and hard. You can _really_ insulate it. If you need to run anything through the walls later, you can.

How it doesn't leak is, think of a boat. Wood. Doesn't leak. The water on the outside makes it swell and not let water in. Plus there's a layer of plastic on the outside so groundwater runs off, into a gravel drain around the perimeter. Ours had a LIFETIME guarantee.

Good luck!

 

[kathylove]

We did it even cheaper!

We had a custom house built in Florida in 1990. We drew up the floor plan ourselves, much like your drawing. And we also drew in the elevations - view from sides, front, and back. Very simple drawings, nothing special. Then we took it to a custom builder and he turned our drawings into blueprints at a very reasonable price. Our house was a simple ranch style with a simple hip roof and no basement or 2nd floor. So it was a relatively easy design.

If you have any old photos of the place, inside or out, it would help the architect or builder draw it up as close to the old place as it can be. He is likely to suggest some changes that would improve the design, as ours did. Since yours was an old house, some changes may make it much more livable while still giving you the same feel as the old house. So don't dismiss improvement suggestions without thinking seriously about them. If you tell him up front that you really want to keep the basic look and feeling of the old house, he might be able to suggest improvements that don't take away from that idea.