A curious plan

In the Elmvale Acres/Urbandale area there are a few houses built by Economy Home Builders with a rather curious floor plan. While from the outside the houses look as though they are high ranches or raised bungalows, they are actually quite different inside. The main living spaces are on the lower level - which is halfway below grade. I am not sure why they were designed this way - but my guess it that it was economical, thus lowering the price of the house. Without a basement, the 4 bedroom design was comparatively less expensive then 4 bedroom bungalows or 2 storey houses.

Without a basement, the furnace room and storage area are on the lower level.

This particular house has had multiple additions built on to it. This may have been the original model home for the builder.

Two examples of the plan in Urbandale.

This design was included in the floor plan package, but I am not sure if this particular version of the 'Suburban' was built in Ottawa. Economy Home Builders also built in other Ontario cities. Interestingly, the Living Room in this design is on the upper level with the bedrooms.

It is more common for high ranch designs to have bedrooms on the lower level rather than living spaces. Below are two plans by Assaly in Trend Village where the main level only has 1 bedroom, and the lower level has the rest of the bedrooms.

These plans are unique as it it rare to only have 1 bedroom on the main level - usually there are at least 2.

Comments

Ou8October 13, 2012 at 3:38 PM
There's a Suburban on Magnus Ave in Hawthorne Meadows with the main enterance on the left side of the house rather than in the centre. I think this is the model that you mentioned but weren't sure if one had been built in Ottawa.

https://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ll=45.391052,-75.614626&spn=0.00003,0.027122&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=45.391102,-75.614465&panoid=zmimMjc1cKqCkkZLDk7AAg&cbp=12,340.29,,0,2.9
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Willie NormanNovember 21, 2012 at 10:51 AM
That first house is pretty big, being able to budget space well. Nice large glass windows. I wonder how it looks inside. It looks so detailed, even without the modifications you were pertaining to. However, do these additions made it bigger or was it more on the design?
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