Design Criteria
Since 1992, Cambridge Homes has specialized in creating Luxury Patio Homes for discerning adults. Designing a fabulous patio home plan is a challenge: There are so many limiting factors that don’t exist in the design of a wide, conventional home. Consider that our patio homes must be designed to fit on home sites ranging from as narrow as 38 feet wide to up to 55 feet wide, with no windows on one side, some with the garage in front. Try this! It is not an easy assignment!
We use several criteria when designing a Cambridge Homes luxury patio home.
Curb Appeal
Let’s face it. We may listen to the beat of our own drummer, but we still want to look good to others. We want our discriminating taste and our success in life to be apparent. Owning a home that is truly handsome from the street is important to us.
Whether your taste in architecture is romantic “Old World” or charming “Americana” with a front porch, all Cambridge Homes designs are truly timeless. A decade from now, no passerby will be able to determine what year your home was built because each of our designs is so historically authentic.
What Do I See When I Open the Door
Because first impressions are quite often lasting impressions, we at Cambridge Homes give intense consideration to what you see when you first open the door. We strive for a long view, for an interesting view, for something compelling to welcome you in, to invite you forward to discover more. This might be a view to the private patio, or it might be a view of a handsome fireplace. Whatever it is, you may be certain that great thought and care has been given to this first view of your home.
How does the Space “FEEL”?
Ceiling Heights, Room Dimensions, Size & Configuration of Windows, Placement of Doorways, Proportion of Archways, etc. all contribute to whether or not a room feels comfortable. We human beings have a sixth sense that tells us what feels good and what doesn’t. Sometimes we are unable to put it into words, but we KNOW nonetheless.
At Cambridge Homes, we think “proportion” is a paramount design consideration. Our ceiling heights are proportionate to the dimensions of the room. In a Cambridge home, you never feel as if you’re in the bottom of a well. We understand where human scale and grand come together, where cozy and elegant overlap. We recognize that windows and doorways must be in correct proportion for both the rooms they are in and the walls they are on. Our Cambridge Homes signature archways are designed using the same mathematical formula used by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Our unstinting attention to these design elements is what makes each Cambridge Homes design "feel" so right.
How is the Space Configured?
One of the thing we've discovered during our seventeen years of designing and building luxury patio homes, is that each of our homebuyers is astute, opinionated, and decisive about what they want and what they like. And, guess what? No two clients are the same! That is why we have created each of our designs to be so flexible, so easy to customize and personalize, that each of our clients can create a truly one-of-a-kind home, while working from a proven and carefully thought-out portfolio plan. In most Cambridge designs, a bedroom can easily become a study, or vice versa. A Formal Dining room can become a library or a workout room. A client, who doesn’t take tub baths, may choose to omit the tub and substitute a gigantic walk-in shower. A storage closet can become a computer niche, a wet bar, or a wine vault. And the list goes on…
Will the Rooms be Large Enough?
A “smaller” home needn’t have small rooms. In fact, a “smaller” home doesn’t have to feel small at all! At Cambridge Homes, we specialize in creating homes with fewer, yet larger, rooms. Most of our designs feature a single living area that includes an elegant fireplace and space for a large entertainment center. Typically, this space is in the range of 20 feet by 20 feet. Homes with much greater square footage may have more rooms, but usually those rooms are smaller than rooms found in a Cambridge home. Our Master Suites are quite spacious, as are our Master Closets. Our Kitchens offer substantial storage space as well as countertop workspace. All of our homes are designed with “volume” and comfort in mind. Ceilings in our one story designs range between 12 feet and 14 feet high.
In Fewer, yet Larger, Rooms.
What About My “Patio/Courtyard” ?
One of the benefits of living in a patio home is the private, outdoor living space inherent in the design. Our temperate North Texas climate allows us the possibility of enjoying the out-of-doors many months of the year. When designing a Cambridge patio home, we consider the private courtyard to be an outdoor living room, fit for dining and entertaining. We provide views of the courtyard from as many interior rooms as possible. The possibilities for “finishing & furnishing” your private courtyard are as varied as for the interior of your home. In fact, we find that most of our homebuyers elect to work with a landscape architect to design a personalized outdoor living area that is ideally suited to their new lifestyle.
These considerations that we give to the design of our luxury patio homes, provide the foundation for each of our gracious, comfortable, truly livable portfolio plans: “Good Bones”, so to speak. From here, it is up to YOU to determine what “tweaks” and alterations are needed to transform our good portfolio plan into your own personal custom plan that perfectly fits you and your own desires and requirements.
At Cambridge Homes, our goal is to help you create the home of your dreams while having a fun, exciting, and satisfying experience along the way!
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