Oppo Architects/Builders!

"Alex B" (alexb420)
07/17/2014 at 12:20 • Filed to: None

I designed a home just for the fun of it. (Not the one pictured. :) It ended up being 4,500 square feet. Now I'm wondering, what would the ball park amount be to build a house of that size in bucks county pa (suburb of Philly).

DISCUSSION (47)

pdx107 > Alex B
07/17/2014 at 12:22

post a floorplan?

crowmolly > Alex B
07/17/2014 at 12:34

For grins, compare building in Bucks vs. building near Easton.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Alex B
07/17/2014 at 12:34

Median price in Bucks County is $167/sq. ft., so you're probably looking at at least $750,000.

N51fanatic > Alex B
07/17/2014 at 12:49

Median sale according to zillow is $159 a sq ft. So 715500

OPPOsaurus WRX > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
07/17/2014 at 13:12

wow I was going to say $200 sq ft. min

Hooker > Alex B
07/17/2014 at 13:18

I too would like to see the floor plan. Did you do elevation drawings as well?

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > OPPOsaurus WRX
07/17/2014 at 13:27

On a new build of that size I bet you're looking at something like that ($200/ft) figure. $167/sq. ft. is just the median price in the county, which includes homes of all array of ages and quality.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
07/17/2014 at 13:36

A new energy code just went into effect too which is gunna make people bleed cash to insulate the house. Its gettin really expensive to build these days.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Alex B
07/17/2014 at 13:37

hook us up with some plans/elevations. Pics or it didn't happen.

Alex B > Hooker
07/17/2014 at 13:41

The floor plan is drawn with pencil, it's not the best. But when I'm home I will take a picture. I'm assuming by elevation drawings is how high the house is. The living space is 20 ft. High if I recall correctly. I don't remember as I'm away from the drawings. That 20ft isn't including the roof.

Alex B > pdx107
07/17/2014 at 13:42

I will when I'm home.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Alex B
07/17/2014 at 13:45

elevations - what the outside looks like

Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! > Alex B
07/17/2014 at 13:58

Just a ballpark, but factoring in land you're probably looking at a cool million at least. Just a uneducated guess from living in the Delaware Valley though.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Alex B
07/17/2014 at 14:14

The cheapest I've ever heard of a house that size being built in a suburb area, all said and done, is about $500-600k. Building costs might be less, I don't know, but that is the cheapest you could buy a new, decent house of that size in the suburbs.

I am in no way an expert, and I could be way off.

Hooker > Alex B
07/17/2014 at 14:40

I'd love to see the plans! I once designed a fire station on graph paper first. Presented it to the town where I lived. They approved with one provision. I then created the drawings on AutoCAD. Everything was good to go and then the money ran out. They still plan on building it someday but for now it's just plans.

Elevation means front, side, left/right side views of how the house will look like at a dead on angle.

Kinja'd!!!

Something like this.

zeontestpilot > Hooker
07/17/2014 at 14:41

That looks great!

Hooker > zeontestpilot
07/17/2014 at 14:44

Sadly I did not draw that myself, however, I could if I didn't have this whole full time job thing. It's a beautiful house. I stumbled upon it and now I would like to design a floor plan around it.

zeontestpilot > Hooker
07/17/2014 at 14:46

It is a good house. My dad is a civil engineer, so naturally I have a love for a good looking building, :).

Hooker > zeontestpilot
07/17/2014 at 15:01

At one point I had entered into the Architecture program at UNC-Charlotte. I decided to stray into computers at some point very early on. I wish I hadn't. I really love all things infrastructure.

zeontestpilot > Hooker
07/17/2014 at 15:08

Its fascinating, isn't it? Especially old churches, those look awesome inside and out.

Hooker > zeontestpilot
07/17/2014 at 15:29

I spent some time in Europe back in 2002. One of my favorite places was Florence Italy. The cathedral there was absolutely breathtaking. The next I want to see is Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

zeontestpilot > Hooker
07/17/2014 at 15:32

Lucky! I've never left the U.S. Detroit has some great buildings, it's really cool to see the old next to the new. One of my favorite buildings is the Michigan Central Station . I couldn't enter it, but it was awesome to look at...

Hooker > zeontestpilot
07/17/2014 at 15:59

I would give a kidney to go see that building! I bet it's breathtaking in it's own rite. I want to get to Detroit so badly but the cost of driving up there (not gonna fly) and to stay is a bit steep.

Alex B > Hooker
07/17/2014 at 17:26

ok, this is the first floor. When you walk in, there are two rooms on either side. The one on the left is a study, and the one on the right would be a formal living room. The whole back half of the house is the kitchen and dining room. The 15x20 room in the back is the informal living room. It would have 2nd story ceilings. The 20x25 room is the garage. I'm not really sure if that's large enough..

here we are at the second story, 4 bed rooms, two bath. I dislike the fact that the bathroom is in the front of the house... But I wouldn't want to walk through the bathroom to get to the walk in closest (space above garage)

Here's the sketches of the front and back. I still have to make the sides. I didn't know how to draw the depth in, so as you can see from the floor plan it's not all flat. :) That house looks great!

Alex B > Stapleface-Now Hyphenated!
07/17/2014 at 17:27

That sounds about right actually!

Alex B > OPPOsaurus WRX
07/17/2014 at 17:28

It's in the comments here. All by pencil, so not that great.

Alex B > OPPOsaurus WRX
07/17/2014 at 17:48

This is true.

ranwhenparked > Alex B
07/17/2014 at 20:00

In Bucks County, your biggest expense is going to be the land, by a very wide margin.

Alex B > ranwhenparked
07/17/2014 at 21:18

Yes. I know. I live in central bucks right outside of doylestown. At the end of the day, when I'm of age where I'll be buying my own home, I'll probably end up with a cookie cutter home of similar size. Which I would have no problem with. I really don't mind the cookie cutter style, my family lives in one after all.

zeontestpilot > Hooker
07/17/2014 at 21:42

It is, its so grand to look at. I took these myself, so I guess you can say its something to help hold you over. The car there is what I drove, a '05 Corolla. It gives you a sense of scale.

ranwhenparked > Alex B
07/17/2014 at 22:06

Wait, whereabouts outside Doylestown? My family's in Chalfont.

Alex B > ranwhenparked
07/17/2014 at 23:14

Heh, what a small world! My family is in chalfont as well. Technically new britian. Our neighborhood is on the border. I never knew an opponaught was so close.

ranwhenparked > Alex B
07/17/2014 at 23:50

I live in upstate New York now, but everyone else is still down in New Britain Township. Wouldn't mind finding a way to move back some day.

Hooker > zeontestpilot
07/18/2014 at 07:20

Thanks for the pics! It's beautiful! I need to get up there at some point.

Hooker > Alex B
07/18/2014 at 07:25

The space above the garage will be a lot bigger than you think depending on roof pitch. I think it could be more than just a walk in closet. That's up to you. The plans look great. I would thoroughly enjoy recreating these in CAD. With elevations, you don't really get depth. With all sides in place, you can visualize the entire house in your head. You could also create an axonometric drawing that showcases depth. Once you have all the sides, it's relatively easy to do. Keep it up! Maybe someday you will build it!

zeontestpilot > Alex B
07/18/2014 at 08:37

Awesome house! I should draw my own....

I always thought it would be cool to live out in the country, and have a tower attached to the house, sort of like a lighthouse design. So I can go up and peer at everything around me, :).

Alex B > zeontestpilot
07/18/2014 at 08:58

Thanks! It's really not like country in central bucks/lower bucks. So many new housing development have been built recently. Doylestown is the min tow which houses the bucks county court house. A light house design in a home would cool. You know the round rooms that you typically find in Victorian homes? It would be like that, taller. :) You should try and draw something out!

Alex B > Hooker
07/18/2014 at 09:05

Regarding the garage, I was referring to the actual garage. I figured 20 feet was long enough to house a car... And I thought that 25 feet wide was adequate. Now back to the drawings. I have the front and back drawn out, now I'm working on the side. Is drawing in CAD complicated?

zeontestpilot > Alex B
07/18/2014 at 09:23

I've been meaning too. My dad is an engineer, and when I was younger and visited him at his office in Detroit, I drew my own cities with the shape stencils he used, :). It was so much fun.

Alex B > zeontestpilot
07/18/2014 at 09:27

Yeah. I find architecture and buildings and stuff so fun. That's why I like Legos. :)

Hooker > Alex B
07/18/2014 at 09:37

Dude. Legos are the bees knees. Never grow up.

Alex B > Hooker
07/18/2014 at 09:53

Here's the current house I'm building. I'll need a lot more windows and roof pieces. I could probably build the house I drew out in lego.

Hooker > Alex B
07/18/2014 at 09:53

Drawing in CAD is not difficult once you find your way around the software. The software is prohibitively expensive though. I got mine on a student license. I only use it for me and not enterprise purposes. There is a lot to it. I would suggest a course. Or at least AutoCAD for dummies book. The book is awesome BTW. I'm trying to teach myself 3D modeling. Finding the time to do it, however, is difficult.

Re: Garage

I would think you would want more length than width. You need to have space to walk around vehicles (potentially large ones) when they are inside. I would swap and make it 20 wide and 25 deep. Average cars are really no bigger than about 6'. An average double garage door is about 14' wide. Factoring in a few feet here or there for walking room it leaves you 3'. It's going to be tight no matter what so you might want to consider increasing the overall dimensions of the structure. Also, I would then make sure the door opens into the living room to conserve space in the garage. Just my .02.

Alex B > Hooker
07/18/2014 at 10:01

Yeah. I figured I would have to redo garage dimensions.

Hooker > Alex B
07/18/2014 at 10:11

Lego level: Expert.

That's awesome.

Alex B > Hooker
07/18/2014 at 10:17

Thank you! Ive been building with lego for 6 years now.

Hooker > Alex B
07/18/2014 at 10:40

I still have some of my sets from when I was a kid. I will never sell them. They are completely intact. I have a shuttle launch pad (with jet carrier and shuttle), and underwater green thing, helicopter, city truck, tanker truck and various pieces. I love them. Sometimes I disassemble them and reassemble them just for shits and giggles.