I have been living in my universal design house for almost a year now. I started planning for my house in August of 2007. It took about 2 years to plan and build the house.
It is both a separate house and an addition as it has its own heating, utilities, kitchen, laundry, living room, and bedroom and it is also connected to the original house by a two-story staircase. Space was modified in the original house to allow for a new hallway that led to the stairs connecting the two houses.
The original house is built on a slope so to enter the original house, you have to climb a lot of steps. I didn’t even notice the steps when I purchased the house. In the winter, if there is an emergency, there is no way to get a stretcher into the house.
With a good architect, contractor, and excavator, I was able to modify the slope of the land and build a custom house that is very close to the soil so there are no steps in the front or back.
I had no knowledge of building prior to this project – I’d like to share what I have learned along the way to make building a universally designed house easier for you.
At some point I will have a checklist on tips for building universally designed houses and will let you know when that is available.
Jes
