Last weekend my wife and I decided that we would go check out some of the open houses in Westbank prior to taking the kids to the beach. Our first stop had two homes side by side backing onto a golf course. What caught my attention after the asking price of over $1.3 million! was the size of the homes + 3800 sq ft. I started thinking of the writings of American Architect Sarah Susanka's series of books "The Not So Big House". The average Canadian family is getting smaller and in the Okanagan there is large number of Baby Boomers downsizing as they move to the valley. So why build a big house, especially when you have to clean, heat and cool it. You can see others may be thinking the same with the glut of homes in the 3/4 quarter to one million dollar range.
Sarah educates the reader in the importance of hiring professionals who are trained in looking at the details that make a house a home. She also states that why not build smaller but put that money back into the finishes and truly build a masterpiece set apart from the large stock homes out there. Her design principles lead naturally to building towards sustainability and use of natural products for a healthier home.
If you are thinking of building new or renovating then I strongly suggest reading one or more of her books. http://www.notsobighouse.com
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11 years ago
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