You can always find a larger square foot home more cheaply from a developer, but as soon as you move into one of these spaces and notice the poor air quality, cheap finishes, and expensive utility bills, it is easy to become quickly dissatisfied with the space. Why compromise?
1,500 is the new 2,500 (square feet)
We have a lot of conversations with individuals, couples, and families about new homes. And we’re finding that there is more room to create smaller spaces that fit everyone’s needs. Better still, a smartly designed smaller home can allow for more of the details and finishes that we really want in our homes. Quality over quantity.
Square footage used to be a very real limiting factor when discussing house plans, but no more. We certainly have the tiny home movement to thank for shaking up our thinking, but a tiny home is not for everyone.
“Enough home” is for everyone, and that’s where we find that 1,500 sq ft is often just about perfect. We’ve spent many years getting creative with space and the new EkoBuilt Demonstration Home will be a perfect 4-bedroom bungalow just over 1,600 sq ft with a detached coach house/double garage. Read on!
EkoBuilt’s Demonstration Home
Having sold our last demonstration home in 2020, we’re really excited to introduce a new one in 2021. Located right in West Ottawa, it will be even more convenient to see.
It’s a particularly exciting project for us as it’s allowing us to expand on our super energy efficient home offerings in two key ways:
- the main home is a beautifully optimized bungalow of 1,634 sq ft and includes four bedrooms, two bathroosm, and open plan main living spaces
- the stand alone two-car garage features an office space above that can easily be treated as a coach house or laneway suite on its own (we’ve even prepared separate plans so this can go straight into our coach house offering!)
Pine Valley Coach House
EkoBuilt’s new demonstration home, being built in 2021, will have a detached coach house/garage. The Pine Valley is 676 sq ft.
The main home’s floorplan is incredibly smart and will appeal to families in need of maximum bedroom space, as well as to home owners who’d like to use one or more those bedrooms as an office, den, or other quiet “away space”. It would also be easy to take down a wall between two of these bedrooms for a larger space.
A covered porch will connect the main home and the garage/coach home, which in our case will feature an upper floor with an office for EkoBuilt. For other homeowners, this could be the perfect in-law suite, rental apartment, home gym, or studio with guest space built in. The possibilities are amazing.
Why Build Smaller?
Why not?! With rising material costs and energy costs, it’s just plain smart to build smaller. Many families cannot easily afford the 2,500 sq ft homes of the past.
We’re convinced that most will love what we can fit into 1,500 sq ft and find the space welcoming, comfortable, and flexible.
Deep storage alcoves above closets and other smart spaces found vertically throughout the home add another 200 sq ft in storage!
Option: A Walk-out Basement
If you really need/prefer a bit more space under your main roof, and your site/ land allows, a walk-out basement is a very affordable way to add more space. A lower level with this house plan doubles the square footage to just over 3,000 sq ft.
Moving from structural slab on grade to an actual foundation is not at all expensive, allowing home owners to scale the budget on finishes and mechanicals to suit their budget.
Pine Valley 4-Bedroom House Plan
The main Pine Valley house plan is 1,634 square feet.
Interested in this four-bedroom bungalow? Intrigued by our latest coach house plan? Please reach out! Orders for 2021 are in high demand and we encourage you to get in touch if you’re hoping to build this year.
Pine Valley Plans
Pine Valley Coach House
We’ve modified the plans of our stand alone garage/office here as a coach house with a living suite above the garage. We can design the upper level to best suit your needs!
