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Narrow lot home plans

geoffhazel | Posted in General Discussion on June 2, 2010 10:28am

I have a lead on a unique lot, with a great water view.  In fact, it’s just 10 feet away from houses that are ON the water (Lake Washington, Seattle area). 

 

Lot size = 17′ x 66′, with the wide side on the road and view.  It’s a filler strip between an access lane and the main street.  The house would have to be pretty narrow, but could be 3 stories with garage on the bottom. 

Anyone know of any good websites with some narrow home plans that I could check out?

The lot is selling for $8000 but the owner allowed he’d take $4000 for it “as is” , determination of “buildabiltiy” is entirely up to me. 

 

My wife has always wanted a water view, and this could just be the ticket, if we got permits and had the right plan.

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  1. User avater
    Matt | Jun 03, 2010 07:28am | #1

    Setbacks?

    What are the setbacks that effect the 17' dimension? 

  2. DanH | Jun 03, 2010 07:57am | #2

    Yeah, check your setback rules (all 4 directions) before you get too far into things.  Don't rely on nearby houses -- they may have skirted the rules or been "grandfathered".

  3. sapwood | Jun 03, 2010 11:23am | #3

    Go to the city

    Go and talk to the city officials in planning and zoning. Describe the lot, give its location, be honest in all respects. If they indicate there might be any troublesome issues, believe them. 

  4. Clewless1 | Jun 03, 2010 08:11pm | #4

    I've seen some unique houses w/ similar restrictions. But the others are right. FIRST check your setbacks required by the city. If it's 5 ft front and back, then you have 7 ft left. A formidable challenge. I wouldn't touch it w/ any 'stock' plans you might get. I'd retain a designer. Anything less than 12 ft can be a real challenge ... but the price is right. Spend your savings on an architect who can step up to the challenge. Sounds like something I'd want to tackle as a project (I tend to look at the odd sites, too for their potential).

    Also, you may have parking/garage problems, so don't just focus on the living quarters. Some setbacks are like 20 ft to the garage while the entrance might be 10 ft. Good luck, have fun. You will learn a bit just considering it.

    Also ... post what you find out. I'm interested in the setback thing. I have a house in Hood River and I've seen a lot of 3 story townhouses on like a 12 ft module.

  5. runnerguy | Jun 07, 2010 05:35pm | #5

    For such an unusual lot, canned plans rarely work out. Ok, they may fit but they don't really work, if you get my drift. Get a local guy who's come up with imaginative solutions on similair lots in your area. Your money will be well spent.

    Doug

  6. Clewless1 | Jun 07, 2010 09:34pm | #6

    Since he's BEHIND others that are on the shoreline, my guess is there are little or no issues with the shoreline. But maybe I missed something in the original post.

    1. User avater
      CapnMac | Jun 08, 2010 04:03pm | #7

      Well, owner is willing to take 50¢ on the dollar for this 1/47th acre (1122sf) lot, which suggests that nothing will be 'stock' about it.

      If this were a city lot in my town, it would be 20' front, and 5' back and sides.  Which would make the buildable area 7' x 41'--a whopping 287sf to the outside of the walls.  Call that 240sf to the inside.  About 72" clear, rock-to-rock on that inside.

      Would need some special zoning variances to "garrison" over the setback limits, too.  And, if overhead power lines involved--no go.

      Ok, let's WAG a bit.  Carport and entry stair at ground level.  And, a variance to get 350-375sf on a second floor.  Unless the muni oks having the third floor overhanging the second, too, you'd be hard pressed to get 1000sf in the house.

      Figure $180/sf in PNW, that's a $180,000, $1800 is not much cash for custom drawings, special submissions for variances, and the like; or for the engineering this will likely need for windstorm and seismic.

      180000 + 1800 + 1800 = $183,600, still a lot for 1000 sf house.  Unless the muni would let you stack 4 40' containers, which would get you about 1090sf at whatever the cans cost.  Hmm, Google makes me smart, a reefer can (already insulated to get ahead of that ResCheck the muni will want) runs $5-6000 each.  Get's the raw structure down to $15-20K and a slab; might be do-able.

  7. DanH | Jun 08, 2010 09:20pm | #8

    Buy it for $4K and then turn around and sell it to one of the adjacent landowners.

    1. Clewless1 | Jun 09, 2010 08:14am | #9

      Good idea! Or ... How about apply for a variance and build another space needle ... residential scale!!

      1. DanH | Jun 10, 2010 04:12pm | #12

        Actually, I like my plan better.  With the right trailer sited on it you'd be amazed how much the neighbors will offer for that $4K lot.

  8. Frozen | Jun 09, 2010 11:02am | #10

    Look at Tumbleweed Tiny Houses

    Tumbleweed Tiny Houses

    Obsessively planned tiny houses. I've never seen one up close, but I'd love to build one of these.

    1. Clewless1 | Jun 10, 2010 08:36am | #11

      The REAL answer to the McMansions Americans seem to be so obsessed about. Now this is architecture!! It's easy to overdesign rooms to fit what we need. It's a true art to be able to design w/in constraints of square footage.

      1. Mike_Mills | Jun 12, 2010 02:54am | #13

        How about a triple decker of cargo containers for a house?  They'd fit on the 17' wide lot, barely.  ;-)

        1. Clewless1 | Jun 12, 2010 08:53am | #14

          I can actually see it! Some clean containers welded together and offset at each level for decks on the ends! Cut in some window fenestration and badda boom! That industrial style architecture. Paint them some bright colors ... yellow, red, green ... hey. What are they, 8 foot wide?

          I'm curious about variances for this lot. The way I get it, it sounds like the street is on the long side of the lot which may tend to blow any idea of building out of the water (e.g. typical 10-20 ft front yard setback plust the rear 5-10' leaves you with little or nothing to work with.

  9. geoffhazel | Aug 03, 2010 05:05am | #15

    zoning issue

    Could be an uphill struggle since the zoning (as I recently found out) is for 5000 sq ft lots.  I'm just a tad under that.  So I'd have to get a zoning exception, never MIND the setbacks, etc, which, even if the city would buy it, would reqire the adjacent homeowners to sign off.  Sounds like too much of an up hill struggle.   If I had a few hundred K in the bank I might buy it just for fun, (and put a trailer on it) but that's not reality.

    And in fact, since the lot slopes downward at 40 degrees from the sidewalk, even a trailer would be something of a challenge.

    Thanks for all the feedback -- great ideas!

    1. DanH | Aug 03, 2010 07:50am | #16

      And in fact, since the lot slopes downward at 40 degrees from the sidewalk, even a trailer would be something of a challenge.

      Not if you put it on stilts.

    2. Clewless1 | Aug 06, 2010 09:35am | #17

      Too small lot ... ripe for a fairly straight forward variance maybe.

      40 deg is a VERY VERY steep lot. I ski and 40 deg feels almost like you are skiing straight down a vertical face.

      You do a good design job and you might get the sign off of your neighbors for the setbacks. So now you're getting why he's willing to let go so cheaply. The engineering might be a bit pricey on that as well. Engineering, architecture, variances. But hey, it is Seattle, it's eclectic there.

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