Deland Park is a bungalow or cottage themed home originally intended for a residential urban infill project. With its traditional architectural detailing, small narrow footprint and very adaptable design, it would indeed be an excellent choice for that setting. However, it would also be a great option for many rural situations, particularly ones with views towards the front or porch side of the home. An excellent design for a corner lot, the placement of the garage makes it highly adaptable to left corner, right corner or rear entry situations, just by changing the placement of the garage door, situations common in many waterfront and mountain communities.

The key goals of the design are to create a sense of neighborhood by creating an architectural scale more compatible to a traditional neighborhood setting. This includes an overall smaller size compared to many modern homes, an inviting "neighborly" front porch, the rear placement and de-emphasis of the garage, and in the yard, of course the classic picket fence. Other classic architectural features include the tapered columns at the front porch, more stylized exterior window trim and the use of shingle above plank siding. The use of modern, durable, low maintenance, eco-friendly fiber cement shingles on upper level and fiber cement planking on lower, give a more traditional multi-textured look.

This home is very comfortable at 1,740 square feet, which is in keeping with the architect's goal of creating a highly functional home that was not overly sized. In a more modern fashion, the kitchen is open to a large great room creating an open entertaining space that also makes the home feel larger than it really is. The flooring in this area is beautiful oak hardwood. In keeping with the relatively modest sized footprint, most of the ceilings in the home are intentionally kept at 8 foot high. Any higher would risk making the rooms feel too tall causing the walls to feel too closed-in. However, at the far end of the great room the ceiling vaults to 17 feet, all the way to the upper level loft area, which overlooks the space below. A gas fireplace with tile surround is used here to visually ground this end of the room.

The overall focus of the interior layout is to make this home very simple and easy to live in. All of the daily major functions are located on the first floor, including the laundry room and the master bedroom. The main entry is via the large covered front porch, but optional side entries are into kitchen, and through the garage and into the utility room. This utility room entry is an energy efficient and healthy airlock style design. Generous 36" wide doors are used on all interior and exterior doorways throughout the home, greatly increasing access for those with limited mobility. A concrete ramp has even been pre-designed from garage. This well designed layout means the main level functions as if it were a complete home for the couple, not only for now but into the future as well.

The home's secondary bedrooms, storage and bonus spaces are located upstairs. A versatile loft area at the top of the stairs could be used as a sitting area or library, but would also make and equally good desk and study area for kids. The upper level also has 2 ample sized bedrooms that share a common full bath. A bonus or storage space has been created, by using attic trusses over garage. It is roughly 10 feet wide down the center with full height ceilings. There is also the potential for a large volume of storage in the space below the slope of the roof on either side.

Deland Park comes with a full sized, unfinished basement that is roughly the same size and shape as the main level. The basement can, of course be designed and finished any way you want, but there is a suggestion of optional bathroom location. The modest size, simple square foundation, basic gable style roof, and overall simple clean lines and features of Deland Park make it one of our more easy and economical homes to build.