So this morning I went down to the Schaerbeek Maison Communale, armed with a digital camera (copies are €30 a pop) to dig out the plans for the house. So here they are, the original 1898 plans.
The facade:
Side cut:
The upper ground floor - at the back on the right is the old kitchen, with the steps going down to the garden. Note the entrance to the cistern at the top.
The lower ground, with a few steps going up to the garden at the back. These are the two rooms with the nice old tiles on the floors, we have an idea to turn them into a kitchen / diner, opening up the entrance to the garden. Notice at the top right the wine cellar (under the old kitchen) , which has a well ("puits") , as well as the cistern on the left next to the steps.
A close up on that cistern / well detail. Something to investigate further no doubt.
4 comments:
Love it....
So at the moment are the two basement room connected by a door on the right-hand-side??
I suppose I would suggest you think carefully about where you put the kitchen, as the basement seems to be useful space. The groundfloor would be warmer, and you might want to use the basement rooms for storage/utility - eg. bicycles, DIY, gardening, food and drink, laundry, luggage/clothes and general paraphenalia. Speaking from someone who has a garage FULL of stuff that is...
That's right - two full sized rooms with a big light window at the front, and steps up to the garden at the back.
It still leaves space for storage (wine cellar) and a laundry (under the stairs) but you're right, you always need more space than you think.
And having the kitchen down there would move the house's centre of gravity down a level. We'd end up using the sitting rooms upstairs a lot less, which is a shame.
And it could also get quite cold down there - especially with the tile floors.
Tricky.. We need to spend some more time there before we decide, and get lots of people's views!
best not to have the kitchen in the basement - can you have it next to the living room/dining room in the "living space" otherwise you will be tramping up and downstairs a lot and the cook is always out of it ... Nice to go out of the kitchen into the garden.
My first thoughts were put the kitchen in the basement but the more I think about it I am inclined to agree with the others. If you want your kitchen to be the central hub where folk come in and congregate in the heart of the house is good. And the idea of a basement store with washing machines etc downstairs is making me very envious.
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