Remodelling Single Family Homes In Chicago
by John Brown & Matthew North on September 1st, 2010
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.
Comparing Single Family Homes In Chicago
by John Brown & Matthew North on August 31st, 2010
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!