This is Day 227 of the Slow Home Project and we need you to join us in our quest to evaluate the design quality of houses in nine North American cities in nine months.

Slow Home Survey

Thanks for taking the time to fill out this quick survey – we’re passionate about Slow Home and we’re always looking for ways to improve. (Your email address has been entered into a draw to win a copy of David Suzuki’s Green Guide).

Are you male or female?
Male
Female

How old are you?
21 and Under
22 to 34
35 to 44
45 to 54
55 to 64
65 and Over
Decline

Where do you live? (Country & state/ region)

How did you find out about Slow Home?

What got you interested in the Slow Home philosophy in the first place?

What’s your favorite aspect of the Slow Home site?

What would you like to see added to the site/ community that it doesn’t currently offer?

What design publications or websites do you read/ communities do you partake in?

Are you interested in the eco movement/sustainability issues outside of Slow Home? What eco/green websites do you visit?

What are your favorite websites/ publications in general (not specifically about design or sustainability)?

Any other comments/ suggestions you’d like to make?

This is Day 226 of the Slow Home Project and we need you to join us in our quest to evaluate the design quality of houses in nine North American cities in nine months.

Today is our final “In Detail” episode and we are looking at parking in single family houses! All of our examples are from the Chicago area. We need you to go through the Chicago “Slow Home Project” data base and look for examples of single family houses that you think have both good and bad parking spaces and then post them to the site along with your comments. We look forward to the discussion!

When you are ready, click on the player below to watch John and Matthew’s tutorial on good and bad parking conditions in single family houses.

To see the examples from the tutorial in more detail, click on the thumbnails below.

1. This is a good parking condition. The double attached garage does not dominate the house, it takes only one third of the frontage and does not restrict light to any of the principal rooms.

2. This is also a good parking condition. The garage could almost be considered a “side attached” garage with all the service space for the house directly behind the parking.

3. This is a proportionately long and narrow house and because of this, the garage is barely acceptable. There is only one principal room that faces the front and this garage is on the verge of dominating the house.

4. This is poor parking condition where the three car garage dominates the house creates a large and really unusable side yard.

5. This is also a bad parking condition where over fifty percent of the house is taken up by parking and the living space is forced to wrap around the garage.

6. This parking condition is acceptable as the garage is pulled forward allowing the principal rooms to have light and it also could be detailed to create a nice entry condition.

7. This rear attached garage does not help this house as the dining room has very little light and the house has no back yard.

8. This rear attached garage condition is better, as a courtyard has been created to help reduce the impact of the garage on the back of the house.

Make sure to watch tomorrow for a special “live” Slow Home episode where we will be reviewing all the “Design Challenge” submissions and announcing the winner of our book prize!

This is Day 225 of the Slow Home Project and we need you to join us in our quest to evaluate the design quality of houses in nine North American cities in nine months.

Welcome to September Slow Homers! Today is Wednesday, September 1, 2010 and today we have a “Chicago Design Challenge”! We need you to re-design the main floor plan of the “Grant”, a 2,430 sq ft single family home in Chicago and email us your scheme before 9am (MDT) tomorrow morning – Thursday, September 2, 2010.

Email your floor plans to john@theslowhome.com (don’t post them on the site!) – we will be awarding a book prize to the best scheme – which will be announced in a special “Live” Slow Home episode airing this Friday!

Last time we did a “Design Challenge” was in Miami and we received 39 entries so we are hoping to beat our record this time! Please send us your plans! We look forward to seeing them!

This house has several major problems including:

1. An front entry with no adjacent coat closet.
2. A back entry that is shared with laundry and no storage.
3. A side yard den that is only accessed through a back hall.
4. A poor kitchen design with a fridge outside the work triangle, no island and not enough counter space.
5. A separate and redundant formal living and dining space.
6. A family room with no focus or sense of how to place furniture.

Please leave the stairs and the exterior doors and windows and put back the following:

1. A front entry with a coat closet.
2. A back entry with a closet and a bench.
3. A laundry room.
4. A guest bathroom.
5. A well sized kitchen with a proper work triangle.
6. A decent living and dining area – both with focal points and logical places for furniture – you decide if you want to include both formal and informal living spaces.
7. A study that is conveniently located and has natural light.

Day 225 – PDF
Day 225 – Existing
Day 225 – Demo
Day 225 – Full Symbol Library

Good luck everyone! See you tomorrow for our final “In Detail” episode where we will look at parking in single family houses.

This is Day 224 of the Slow Home Project and we need you to join us in our quest to evaluate the design quality of houses in nine North American cities in nine months.

Today is Tuesday. August 30, 2010 and we need everyone to participate in our “Which House Should I Buy?” segment!

Our clients are Ned and Stacy – a soon to be retired couple who want to re-locate from their large, single family house to a more modest tow bedroom home in an adult community. The couple have opposing schedules with Ned being a night owl and Stacy being an early riser, so their new home needs to address this lifestyle. In addition, they would like a second bedroom for when their kids come to visit.

They like the community of Shorewood Glenn, which is about an hour west of Chicago.

The first house they are considering is the “Charleston”, which is a 2,015 sq ft and has 2 bedrooms, 2 baths and a den.

The second house is the “Plymouth”, which is 2,238 sq ft and also has 2 bedrooms, 2 baths an a den.

Which house do you think Ned and Stacy should buy? Leave your comments on the site and let’s have a discussion! When you are ready, click on the player below to see which house John and Matthew think is the better real estate choice.

Join us tomorrow for another Design Project where we will be transforming a badly designed single family house in Chicago into a Slow Home!

This is Day 223 of the Slow Home Project and we need you to join us in our quest to evaluate the design quality of houses in nine North American cities in nine months.

It’s Monday, August 30, 2010 and today we are doing a “What’s Wrong With This House?” episode. This is our last week for the Slow Home Project! Today, we need you to study the floor plans of the “Hampton”, a 2,063 sq ft 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath home in suburban Chicago and let us know what you think are the worst design elements in this home. Use the “Slow Home Test” to score this plan and then post your results as well as a comment and let’s have a discussion!

When you are ready, click on the player below to watch John and Matthew’s analysis of this floor plan.

Make sure to watch tomorrow where we will be doing a “Which House Should I Buy?” segment where we will be comparing two single family homes from the Chicago area to determine which would be the better real estate purchase!