Life and Spirituality

T hose who have lived in a village or town filled with green spaces but have later had to move to a city for work, as very many humans have to do, continue to miss the green and open of countryside. A viable option for some is, if they have the savings for it, to purchase even a small farm of a few acres or a small building plot of a few hundred yards in a picturesque mountain village and build their own tiny dream cottage on it to visit in holidays or even move to for longer stays in retirement if conditions permit. One on sale may already be available but renovations cost a lot and one may never figure out where the kitchen drain leads to or how to fix the leak in the roof. Earth is not paradise but bits of it lie scattered across the Earth. If one looks around one can locate one such in most any country, at a location that is not difficult to access. It may be pointed out that investing in land is likely the best option in these uncertain economic times. After having

W hen a couple is young or aged with children grown up and gone, then a small compact home or cottage is far more convenient than a large home. This blog has several designs for small compact cottages, here is one more. The same design can be adapted for a family home too by constructing a couple of rooms on the first floor. Then one may lock away the upper floor for occasional use only or give on rent when children grow up and go on to set up their own homes. Note: design is suitable for row houses or cottages too because of no side windows Top most image from http://www.wallpapersxl.com/wallpaper/2560x1440/austrian-village-heiligenblut-austria-kingdom-758242.html

I f you live in a crowded city but love nature you probably dream of a cottage in the country side or a small quaint village surrounded by green forests or fields. The time to build one is when one is still young enough. One could visit that for holidays and perhaps later even retire in it. There are several designs for it in this blog earlier. Here is one that has essentially one large room plus a smaller entrance lobby.  The kitchen and bathroom have been made large so as to make life lovely and pleasant even in a one room cottage. The entrance lobby will however seat four comfortably when the couple next door drop in for tea or a chat and they do not have to be invited in the large bed cum living room. Alternatively the kitchen table is also a nice table for a chat and cup of tea or meal with a neighbor.  the cottage is comfortable enough to live permanently in if one wished to when children have grown up and a single person or a couple is left to complete the journey of

A Photo from the author's garden I n the last post plans for some cottages were described. This post is an addendum to it and includes one more plan. It has been made invoking the older design concept of using a hallway or passage that leads to room. Such a passage although requiring some additional construction space makes the management and arrangement of furniture in rooms much easier because much communication than takes place through the passage rather than rooms. The present plan also includes a staircase. Design and construction of staircases is one of the most complicated parts of home designs. It is because of this that many homes that are not carefully designed end up with either uncomfortable staircases or ones that waste much space. In the present design construction and design is both simplified by placing the staircase in a separate extension towards the back of the building. The same staircase can be set on the side of the building too using the central