Rue Street, Austin by Hurt Partners Architects

Posted on: March 12th, 2009 | 4 Comments

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Rue Street, Austin by Hurt Partners Architects (PDF)

  • Henry Behmann

    This message is not a cooment on this post. I was unable to send a message via the below contact address so I will try here.

    Subject: Slow Home Test

    I live in a small 1.5 story farmhouse built in the 1850′s using stone and mortar made from local materials. The dimensions are 20′ by 25′. 25 years ago I added an addition which gave us a large and open living room and recreation room. The kids have moved out and now my wife and I are the only inhabitants. We live quite comfortably in the old portion of the house, not even using all the rooms. The addition is used mainly when our kids’ families visit. I find it interesting that all our needs can be met by just a few small rooms. Perhaps the surrounding 17 acres of farmland and woods also help.

    The point is: given a choice we would rather live in a few small rooms than in a large open space. Hence the low score in the Open section of the test.

    Cheers, Henry

  • John Brown

    Henry,
    Your home, and life, sound very slow. I appreciate and respect the choices you have made with the long term commitment to this old, modest home. Because it is a load bearing masonry construction, it is also natural and appropriate that the interior consist of a series of small rooms rather than a large open space. The most important thing is that you are happy with this configuration and that it fits the way that you and your wife want to live.

    Our bias towards open living spaces is a response not so much to the enclosed plans of older structures like yours, most of which are often quite well designed and sensibly laid out, but to the thoughtlessly designed warren of little rooms that can be found in suburban homes.

    In terms of the slow home test, it was also configured for the more typical suburban condition in which most people live. We had to make some assumptions in order to simplify the operation of the test. The result is that some people, and their houses, receive skewed results. My apologies and thank you bringing this to our attention.

  • http://our-minergie-house.blogspot.com Ersi

    Hi John,

    A few questions popped into my head as I studied the plan. I’ll ask two of them here. Is there a coat closet at the front entrance for visitors? Is the dining area to the north (above) the kitchen? What is that connector between the two rooms?

  • John Brown

    Ersi,
    I believe the coat closet is to the left of the front door, near the bedrooms. I also understand that the dining room is to the north of the kitchen and there is a pass through counter between the two rooms.