Even though you think you may never be able to build your own home, things can change. And designing your perfect home is an excellent way to visualize being in a home of your own design and to figure out what you really like and want in a home. You may want to check prices on some of the features you select--there's a delicate balance between visualizing and dreaming.
There are some excellent ways to plan a home available online. Autodesk's Homestyler is 3D mock-up app with near-reality visual results.
Plan 3D offers many design options, including decks and landscaping, and costs 2.95/month for a yearly subscription.
If you'd rather have someone else do the work, one of the contractors offering custom, aka 'luxury', homes is Toll Brothers. They have models in a number of states. Your part of the design process is selecting a basic design and adding options.
My choice for a basic home design is a dome home. There are many advantages to a dome home, such as energy efficiency; earthquake, tornado and hurricane resistance; and--over the long haul--economy. The article on Monolithic domes at Wikipedia gives a good overview of the issues you may encounter in building a dome home. David South at Monolithic.org discusses the "True Cost of a Dome Home." Here's a cutaway of dome construction:
A dome home constructed in Pensacola has survived a number of hurricanes since it was built.
Google Sketchup is a good way to design a dome home and it's free. Here's a link to download it. Applications for designing geodesic domes in 3D are listed at Domerama. Some are open source.
-- Marge
There are some excellent ways to plan a home available online. Autodesk's Homestyler is 3D mock-up app with near-reality visual results.
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| Autodesk, sample kitchen, Homestyler |
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Plan 3D offers many design options, including decks and landscaping, and costs 2.95/month for a yearly subscription.
If you'd rather have someone else do the work, one of the contractors offering custom, aka 'luxury', homes is Toll Brothers. They have models in a number of states. Your part of the design process is selecting a basic design and adding options.
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| Toll Brothers, Santa Fe model, Pembroke, NV |
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My choice for a basic home design is a dome home. There are many advantages to a dome home, such as energy efficiency; earthquake, tornado and hurricane resistance; and--over the long haul--economy. The article on Monolithic domes at Wikipedia gives a good overview of the issues you may encounter in building a dome home. David South at Monolithic.org discusses the "True Cost of a Dome Home." Here's a cutaway of dome construction:
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| Monolithic dome, medium cutaway, Monolithic |
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A dome home constructed in Pensacola has survived a number of hurricanes since it was built.
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| Pensacola Beach, Florida, after Hurricane Dennis in 2005, Wikipedia |
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Google Sketchup is a good way to design a dome home and it's free. Here's a link to download it. Applications for designing geodesic domes in 3D are listed at Domerama. Some are open source.
-- Marge
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