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need input on cottage design (half scale)


grazhina

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I started drawing plans for a half scale Grimm fairy tale style witch's cottage a few days ago. I'm so used to 1" scale and I kept worrying I was drawing things out too big, but I think I've gotten over that part. 

 

Is 3 & 1/2" too low for a half scale ceiling as far as visibility goes? The main room will be open to the roof rafters, so that's not a problem there, but I've thinking about a cellar where the witch or sorcerer could go down to work on things in secret. 4" half inch scale equates to 8 feet in real life, too high for a cottage cellar carved out of earth and rock in my opinion. Right now the floorplan measures 8" wide by 5 & 1/2" deep. 

 

For those with half scale houses, how wide are your stairs? I want mine to be narrow, but I don't want them too narrow.

 

Because there's a lower level under the house, there needs to be a decent amount of  space in front for stairs to the front door, stepping stones, greenery, etc. I could wind up with 12" of "front yard", because I don't want a sudden sharp rise to the front door. I might get away with 8", but I can't be having my little old person scrambling up rocks with her bag of fresh picked veggies to get to the door. The reason I'm trying half inch scale is as a space saver. Do you feel an extra amount for the front sort of defeats the purpose?

 

Every time I work on the plans I keep getting interrupted and I get frustrated and almost want to chuck it.

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OMG - you and Lisa. Lisa's working out a cottage plan also (1:12) and I know she's been really frustrated as well.

 

With the lower level, I think all you'd need would be one room under the house and it doesn't have to take up all the whole underside of the house. Just center a little room under the house and then build your landscaping over and around it. You would still have room for a stone walkway, but not have any stairs to the front door. The cellar room would only be visible from the back, not the front.

 

As to half inch, I don't know about that. But if you're used to scaling things in one inch, I'd do that because it's more comfortable for you and then after the whole thing's done, just scale down.

 

By the way, I don't think a front yard would defeat the purpose of going half inch. What you're getting instead is a chance to really landscape that you might not get with one inch scale.

 

 

Oh, sheesh, listen to me tell you all this....I think you're much better at this than I am, so I hope you're not offended by this post.

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Oh..I also have a few cottages...wanting me to smash them on the wall. Your not alone ;)

 

My grandmother had a old stone and dirt floor cellar it was just about head height. As she got older she was a bit hunched over and she never seemed to mind the height. So I think your "seasoned" gal will have no issues with some :visual play: ;)

 

Also I would give thought to landscaping height. Cottage on the hill...why not?  Looks like it certainy has room for a cellar and nice stone stairs about, so no rock climbing  :yes:

 

cottage_560.jpg

 

 

I dunno, I took a break from blogging and then just wrote up all this blabber here... *smiles*

 

:evil:

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I edited your thread title so half scale people are sure to see it.

 

The attic room in my Rosedale is 3". I bashed it so I'm not sure if this is the height in all Rosedales or just mine. It's pretty tight, and virtually impossible to get a good picture of!

 

post-7-0-88089400-1436298104_thumb.jpg

 

The Little Belle's attic room is 3.5", which is a little better, but it's also a bigger room. The depth of the room (I think ~7") combined with the low ceilings makes it kind of hard to see to the back. You can see in this photo how the whole back half is in shadow. That will be different with the lights turned on, but still, it's awkward.

 

post-7-0-11790400-1436298242_thumb.jpg post-7-0-00810800-1436299034_thumb.jpg

 

Both of these are at the top of the house so it's easy to look into them at eye level. For a basement I'd be concerned that you could only really see into it if you were kneeling to see it. But, most dollhouse rooms need to be looked at at eye level to really be appreciated, so that might not be too much of a concern.

 

Here's a Bill Lankford house that seems like what you have in mind. This one is not mine (got the pics off eBay I think) but I have one of these that I haven't started on yet. The first floor ceiling height is 4". Then there's a little crawl space sort of area underneath -- mine doesn't have that so I can't measure it, but it's probably not more than 1.5". But I thought this might give you an idea of how you could incorporate your basement into the landscaping.

 

post-7-0-97344000-1436298855_thumb.jpg post-7-0-08141500-1436298783_thumb.jpg

 

Regarding stair width, the standard Houseworks stairs are 1.5" wide. The Rosedale's stairs are about an inch wide.

 

Let me know if you want more measurements on the Bill Lankford house. I can measure the height of the base if that will help you visualize. It's much shorter than what you're talking about though, definitely nowhere close to 12".

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But if you're used to scaling things in one inch, I'd do that because it's more comfortable for you and then after the whole thing's done, just scale down.

 

Kelly, I sorta wound up doing that for a while. In my head I'd be figuring what a real life size would be, then the 1" scale size, then half scale size. I was having a dickens of a time figuring out the treads & risers for the staircase and kept confusing myself. I finally got that straightened out and have set aside the best proportioned piece of basswood I have for it.

 

Jane, that's a nice looking house. My mother would have enjoyed living in a place like that, just the right amount of space for one person and their stuff, and lots of windows for plants.

 

Emily, thanks, you've been very helpful and I now feel that I'm on the right track. I'm making my stairs to the cellar 1" wide. I still haven't decided if they'll be stone or big wooden slabs. I'm leaning towards stone most of the time. 

The cottage is one room, with a window in front and another on the side. My first sketch of the house had a cellar window on the front, but I've changed the size of the floor plan, so I'll have to redraw it so the windows look right. That's one of the reasons the house is to have a cellar, all last week I kept imagining that lower level window being there, with an overhanging little roof above it. I'm visualizing the cellar as having been partially cut from rock. I want it to be smaller than the room upstairs, sort of a tight fitting space.

I'll go and get a fresh sheet from my sketch pad and figure out the right proportions.

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