Your vacation home should be a place to escape from everyday life, enjoy some rest and relaxation, and make incredible memories with your friends and family. You deserve a home whose design exceeds your expectations.
Turkel Design’s signature process allows you to create the custom vacation home of your dreams, wherever you want it to be. We guide you through all the decisions that will shape the design and ensure you get the most out of your new home. Start gathering ideas and inspiration with this list of things to consider when planning to build a vacation home.
How Will You Use Your Space?
Purpose influences design. Before you make any decisions about your vacation home, you need to have a clear idea of what you want out of it.
Do you want a mudroom to accommodate drying beach gear or muddy hiking boots? Do you need a workspace that allows you to hop on business calls when the need arises? Would you like extra storage for season-long stays?
At Turkel Design, our interactive design process begins by with a round of surveys that help you determine the answers to the questions above. These responses, in turn, begin to shape your home’s “program,” or the list of rooms and other spaces that must be included in the design.
If you plan on welcoming friends and family, you need to keep potential guests in mind throughout the design process. Consider how you can create multi-functional spaces to please a wider range of guests. For example, can an office turn into an extra bedroom when you’re not there to accompany larger groups? Does your dining room have the space, layout, and lighting to double as a space for cards, puzzles, and board games? Keeping these kinds of ideas in mind helps you design a space that is universally appealing.
Placement Is Key
You likely have a gorgeous setting for your vacation home, complete with beautiful scenery and breathtaking views. But if you want to make the most of your land, you need to pay attention to the placement and orientation of the home. After all, you don’t want that gorgeous scenery to go to waste behind solid walls that block the view.
Turkel Design begins each project with a visit to your site. This helps us determine elements such as the optimal placement of various rooms and which direction you want windows to face. Remember, the orientation of your home should improve both aesthetics and functionality.
Take sun exposure as an example. We use a digital model of your land to determine the ideal placement of your home in relation to the position of the sun throughout the year. South-facing windows receive the most sunlight throughout the day, filling the room with beautiful natural light. However, that can also heat up the room quickly and make the room uncomfortable during warm days. In a cold climate, though, south-facing windows can warm the room and help lower heating costs. We use a digital model of your land to determine the ideal placement of your home in relation to the position of the sun throughout the year. This allows us to size overhangs accordingly, keeping direct sun from entering the building in the warmer months and letting it in when additional heat is desired.
Balancing sun exposure with elements such as shade and windbreaks from trees helps you create a beautiful living space while also improving comfort, energy efficiency, and other crucial design elements.
Remember the View
The view is a significant factor that can decide the orientation of your home. After all, the beautiful scenery is a huge selling point and probably part of why you wanted to build on this location in the first place.
Pay attention to how your home’s placement relates to the sights around it. We can make the most of your home’s views through design elements such as walls of glass and livable outdoor spaces. Even interior elements can influence the view. For example, when people are sitting at the breakfast bar, are they facing the inside of a room, or are they facing a gorgeous view beyond a window wall? These are the considerations that set a well-designed home apart.
The Suite Life
Whether you’re inviting friends or extended family to relax at your vacation home, you and your guests need private space for when the day’s relaxation and revelry comes to an end. At Turkel Design, our architects are skilled at maximizing the use of space. For example, we can balance an open, double-height great room—perfect for game nights and cocktail parties—with private bedroom suites, each with an en-suite bathroom.
Perhaps your guests want direct access from their bedroom suite to the lake or pool—we can incorporate that into the design. We will work with you to think about how you and your guests will be most comfortable in the space, and then design accordingly.
Prioritize the Vacation
Every home needs some poetry. Whether it’s for vacation or full-time living, we make sure that the design includes elements that allow the home to dream. After all, you go to a vacation home to relax and get away from the stressors of everyday life. Even if you bring remote work with you, your home should be a place that lets you slow down and soak up every happy moment you spend there.
Prioritize this in your design. Make sure you have ample outdoor space to enjoy the sun or host outdoor dinners or parties. Create open living areas with comfortable furniture, ample natural lighting, and gorgeous views. Communal spaces like kitchens and dining areas make meals more enjoyable. If you include a home office, making it open with a great view will liven up your work hours.
Plan for a Low Maintenance Home
You don’t want to spend your vacation time completing yardwork or keeping up with chores around the house. That’s why low-maintenance design is one of the most important things to consider when planning to build a vacation home.
Low-maintenance design creates a lasting home that doesn’t require you to spend as much time and money on upkeep. That means you can focus less on chores and repairs and more on the actual vacation part of your vacation home.
By prioritizing durable, high-quality materials that stand up against time and the elements, you can enjoy a more durable home with fewer responsibilities and repairs. Make sure your materials and overall home design match the weather and conditions of the local area as well. For example, thermally treated wood can help protect homes from rot or pests in humid or seaside climates. Keep local climate, elemental exposure, and maintenance needs in mind to ensure your home stays beautiful, safe, and low maintenance for years to come.
Let us create the vacation home you’ve always wanted. Our modern prefab homes deliver comfort, security, and beauty, creating a paradise for you to relax in every time you come to stay. Learn more about why our design process puts us a cut above the rest – explore our home designs or talk to our experts today.
