Building in the Spring

[shadowcaster]

Hi all,

I bought 15 acres in the country this fall, half is cleared the other
half bush. Initially I was going to put up a two storey log home. Then
I thought it would be a good idea to have a 3rd storey turret/tower to
use as a study - the views from higher up would be great. Now I'm
trying to figure out how and if I can add more castle features to the
home. I looked at some Victorian Gothic Revival designs but I'm still
searching for other ideas. I can't afford an all stone castle so it
would have to be wood/stone. I've never built a house before and I'm
doing this on my own and would appreciate any ideas or suggestions.

thanks!

[stanIam]

My solution--was to build a home in 4 stages, and to get the
look of a castle I used styrofoam building blocks,
ICF's from RASTRA. See details and photos in my book
"Design an Expandable House", from either
Amazon or Lulu, or also visit: www.unlimitedpublishing.com/mazor.htm
stanley mazor
----------

[dreamsofcastles.blogspot.com]

Hi Shadowcaster,

I've seen several log homes that have fieldstone (either the rounded
or flat-type) that are simply part of the construction as a stem wall,
facade, or chimney. It always looks great; you've taken natural
materials from the land and made it part of the building. If you did
the tower as a stand-alone style addition it would probably look
better rather than an adding features to an existing style that may
not necessarily work. Just my opinion, of course.

There's also no need for an all stone castle, that's beyond most of
our means and time abilities. Most folks like us don't have the skill
or knowledge to raise a straight-stone castle. I'd recommend
researching the use of modern materials, whether it be your log home
with embellishments or a ICF structure with a stone facade. Here's a
nice looking building that was built using the slipform method:
http://www.hollowtop.com/cls_html/stone_home.htm . This method could
be adapted to build something castle-like, and can be done yourself.

As far as design ideas, that's up to you. It's one of the areas that
I'm having the most difficulty with myself, deciding what it will look
like and designing the look to enclose a practical living space is not
so easy. I've gone through scores of drawings and Sketchup models,
though I am narrowing it down to a few must have-features and adding
everything in else where I can. Search the internet for various
castles, palaces, schloss, burgs, what have you, and look for features
you'd like to incorporate into your design and go from there.
Currently, I'm leaning towards a CMU or ICF structure that I can throw
the slab/shell/roof together as quickly as possible and then take my
time on the finishing. You may want to head over to http://www.ownerbuilderbook.com/
, make an account there and start asking questions. I've done so and
already learned a lot about considerations I'd never thought of.

Best of luck; and if you start to build, I'd love to get a progress
report and pictures!

-Jeff