Life and Spirituality

D ear readers, today’s blog post is on the design of a country cottage. It is a simple design with a living room, bed room, bath and kitchen separated by a passage. However, there is a large verandah in front that is a must for country living. It serves as a place for aging persons to read the newspaper, children to play, to entertain neighbors in daylight hours and to just sit and watch the rain or the rising sun. The entire plan fits in approximately a thousand square feet area and it is thirty feet wide. The Bathroom is spacious enough to have its own closet for dirty laundry and other things as well as to stick in a clothes washing machine while the kitchen is spacious enough for a small kitchen table next to the fridge. The bed room has been made large enough to have place for arm chairs and a desk. No staircase is shown but if desired the place for it on the side or back from the passage. As with many other designs in this blog no side windows have been left so that...

I n the past spiritual hermits, or a group of hermits with disciples and students lived in isolated dwellings in forests or mountains in Himalayas or the plains below. The dwelling for students and disciples were shared rooms while for the principal hermit it was just a single large room that combined bed, living, study and store along with a veranda in front that was used for sitting, study, meditation or receiving guests in partially open space. The kitchen and bathrooms of such units were in separate structures. However with modern equipment used in kitchen and bathrooms, all can be combined in a single cottage that would lead to a plan as shown in the figure. The arrangement leads to a smaller additional room that may be used as a study or bed for an attendant or guest. The small room can have a window on the side too if there is a good open view on that side. Plan for a cottage with primarily one large room It must be noted that while a single large room leads...