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Wednesday, April 11, 2001 Taking the long view check your sight lines before you buy By DAVID
M. WEEKLEY
Two homes have the same square footage yet one seems so much larger than the other does. How can that be? No, it's not smoke and mirrors. It's because of sight lines. Sight lines are what you see from any given point in the home, whether it's a doorway, a threshold or even sitting down. When sight lines are obstructed by a wall or a door the home will feel smaller. Open things up with a hint of what lies beyond, add a strategically placed window, and the home will always look and live larger. People talk about "the good old days." But the "good old days" weren't all that good for the average homeowner during the 50s and 60s (unless he happened to be a bear who liked living in caves). The typical non-custom home built before 1980 was an unimaginative combination of small, boxy rooms, dark hallways, and tunnel-like stairways. Front doors often opened to small entries that felt more like solitary confinement than "welcome to my home." It wasn't really the builders' fault. (You'd expect that from me, wouldn't you.) It's just human nature. People always have wanted more for their money, so builders gave them more rooms. Houses were often described in terms of how many rooms they had: "Mr. Gatsby? Oh yes, he's the chap who lives in that 40-room swankienda up on the hill." So, builders figured if people are into counting rooms, then by golly they'd close off as many spaces as they could and start counting! Remember swinging doors that separated dining rooms from kitchens? Compared to today's open concept designs, the homes of the good old days were claustrophobia waiting to happen. We live more openly today than we did 25 years ago. Our lives are busier and our schedules are fuller. In between work, school, soccer practice, karate lessons, Scouts, Tae-Bo and the chiropractor, we're looking for more time together. Open homes encourage that togetherness and keep us in touch. Today the best-designed homes always take into consideration what a person sees when they open the door and not just the front door. A bedroom with the door to one side will seem larger than if the door is in the middle of the wall and additional furniture will work better. Checking a home's sight lines can be a lot of fun. All you need are house plans, a ruler, and a pencil. Start from the middle of any doorway or opening and draw a straight line to various focal points in the home. Does the line stop in that room or does it pass through several? Does it intersect a featureless wall or will you get a glimpse of a fireplace or a window and the courtyard beyond? Once you've mastered the technique of judging doorway sight lines, you're ready to move on to Sight Lines 202 testing sight lines from various sitting positions in the home. What will you see from the breakfast table? The family room sofa? From your bed as you read the Sunday papers? As you move through a home, it's far more interesting to get a preview of what's to come with subtle hints and intriguing clues of the spaces beyond than to be cut off from the rest of the home unless, of course, you want to be alone. David Weekley founded David Weekley Homes in 1976 at the age of 23, and now serves as the chairman of the second-largest, privately owned homebuilder in America. In the Atlanta area David Weekley Homes has several communities: The Park at Mill Creek (Gwinnett); Beacon Hill at Windward (North Fulton); Medlock Bridge (North Fulton); Spalding Park Place (Gwinnett); Monarch Village (Henry); Summer Grove (Coweta); Walden Park (South Fulton); Burnt Hickory Registry (West Cobb).
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