Page 1 of 5 Dear Prospective Homeowner, Mary and I want to share a few thoughts with you about our home at 3201 Southwood Drive, in Philomath. It has some special features that may not be readily apparent at first glance. First, let me give you a little history of the home. This custom home was planned and designed during an intense 2-year effort, requiring approximately 2000 hours of work, to get things “just right”. It was our retirement home, the grand finale of a lifetime of desires and dreams. We loved it and enjoyed it for 19 years after our retirement in 1991 from my work as an engineering physicist, and my wife, Mary’s work as a librarian and professional pipe organist. Many changes in the design were made to include every detail we could think of to enhance the home (All technical aspects of the design and construction were supervised by a professional architect.). All things, from choice of the view-lot to the design of the living room ceiling, we completely worked through. We wanted everything to be perfect since we knew this would be our home for many years. During our years here, I had a shop and electronics lab in the basement, where I spent many happy hours developing equipment based on my ideas. Mary enjoyed the special acoustics in the living room during her practice sessions on piano and organ. Mary and I are now at a stage in our lives where it is important that we be near our children and grandchildren. In order to accomplish this we have decided to sell our Southwood home. Special features of this home, many of which are not all found in most homes, are listed below. SPECIAL FEATURES House and Grounds
From 3201 Southwood, it is only 4.6 miles to OSU, about 12 minutes driving time, and there is a paved bicycle path to Corvallis that can be taken to OSU by crossing Main Street using the traffic light on 15th, then going down 15th to the OSU entrance. The path can be accessed by going West on Southwood to 30th St. to Applegate, turn left on Applegate and watch for paved path off to the right through a little park Shopping in Sunset Center (Bi Mart, Safeway, Restaurants, Immediate Care Medical, and more) is only a 2 mile, about 5 minute, drive. Philomath Post office and shopping is about the same distance in the opposite direction. We found this very convenient. Single level living was accomplished by designing the living level on same level with the garage, which is accessible from the private road behind the house.
Page 2 of 5
All 120 V wall outlets are on 20 amp circuits. This house has many more electrical circuits than most houses have. A special electrostatic air filter that removes dust and pollen is included in the heating and air conditioning system. Light levels are adjustable in the living room, kitchen, and dining room for mood lighting or night lighting. Ceiling lights in all rooms, and track lights in some rooms, were strategically located so reading areas are bathed in light. No floor lamps or table lamps are required anywhere in the house. Ceiling fans in the bedrooms, kitchen, and living room reduce the amount of air conditioning required. Insulation throughout house and garage is R-36 in ceilings, and R-16 in walls. Insulation in basement is R-16 in all frame walls, and there is insulation between basement and main floor to prevent heat migration. In mid winter, passive solar heating alone will maintain a 20 degree warmer temperature indoors on a sunny day. Front overhang of the eves was designed to allow sunlight to enter front windows from about September to June for passive solar heating. The windows are shaded from the high summer sun. All windows and skylights in the house and garage are double glass, argon filled, low-e insulated windows. Whole-house exhaust fan in the basement will pull cool morning, evening or night air in through any open windows and reduce air conditioning cost. Eleven ft. high basement gives plenty of clearance for installation of suspended ceiling with easy access to ductwork, plumbing and electrical. Special earthquake reinforcement gussets on columns in basement were located high enough to not interfere with installation of 8 ft ceilings. Specifications for construction required the foundations, driveway, garage floor and basement floor to be formed on undisturbed ground to avoid problems from settling. Cement work for the patio was poured over a backfill of pea-gravel placed over an undisturbed earth base to prevent settling problems. All main outdoor steps, porches, patio and front walkway are low maintenance concrete - - no annual application of preservatives, paint or replacement of rotting wood. All porches, concrete sidewalks, steps and the patio are sloped outward approximately ¼” per ft. to facilitate drainage. The lawn and lot areas were designed for low maintenance. Automatic sprinklers and controllers have been installed. The garden has special compost top soil that was specially hauled in. Outdoor swales and foundation French drains have been carefully designed to keep water out of the house, garage and basement. No water has ever entered these areas, even in the most torrential downpours in the past 19 years. An outdoor storage cabinet has been provided for gasoline, solvents, paint, fertilizer, garden chemicals, etc.
Page 3 of 5 Kitchen
Hood over the range has variable speed blower that is located in the attic for quiet operation. The refrigerator is less than 1 year old. Excellent light is provided at night and on dark days by fluorescent lights in addition to the dimmable mood lights. Pantry and freezer are located in kitchen area for convenience. Most lower cabinet shelves and all pantry shelves are pull-outs on roller slides for easy access. “Work triangle” (sink-stove-refrigerator-dishwasher) was carefully laid out to minimize effort in performing kitchen tasks. Up to three persons can easily work in the kitchen at the same time. Panoramic view: the kitchen was expressly designed so an ever-changing view of mountains, field and neighborhood can be enjoyed by kitchen workers. No blank wall behind the range or sink. Laundry Room
The separate laundry room has a door into the kitchen that can be closed to cut off the noise from running laundry equipment. Ample storage room in cabinets and drawers, plus a storage closet just through the entry door from the kitchen that has deep shelves that can be used for back-up grocery and kitchen supplies, and laundry supplies. An entrance door from the garage allows the laundry room to double as a “mud” room after working in the garden. A clothes closet has been included just inside the back door. Laundry room has fluorescent lighting and windows for a light, bright, pleasant environment. Dining Room
Drop counter provides for informal family dining, as well as a buffet counter for large family events or dinner parties complete with electrical outlets for food warmers, coffee urns, etc. Dining room is wide enough to accommodate a full-size china cabinet with a table and is long enough to accommodate a 10 ft. dining table or an even larger table by expanding into the living room area. There are beautiful panoramic views of Cascades, Coast range and farmland from the dining room windows. Extra deep closet with special lighting is large enough to accommodate a home office with desk and file cabinet that you can hide away when not in use and is wired for a 120 V outlet, Comcast internet high speed cable and “landline” telephone. Chandelier light intensity is adjustable for dramatic dining effects.
Page 4 of 5 Living Room
Special acoustic design, with a speaker “balcony” chamber having true grill-cloth covered sound openings. Stereo speaker cables were installed from the chamber down to both the East and West walls of the living room. One cable is twisted pair, and other is coaxial. Acoustic design of ceiling gives an attractive gull-wing appearance. Many windows and skylights make the living room light and bright in the daytime, even on dark winter days, and many ceiling lights, which make it bright at night, are in several locations, eliminating the need for floor and table lamps. Windows look out on a landscaped slope with a display of beautiful growing flowers. Insulating “honeycomb” blinds on the skylights cut down on solar heat in the summer. The living room is large enough to accommodate musical instruments such as organ and/or piano in addition to the other furniture. Fireplace is centrally located within the great-room style floor plan, so heat stored in the chimney is conserved and enjoyed by multiple areas. The fireplace door system has a built-in screen curtain that safely allows more heat into the living room by opening the fireplace doors. Floor outlet, 120 V, is near a likely furniture location for powering a heating pad, computer, etc. without cords across the floor from the wall. Bathrooms
Main floor bathrooms have a skylight or window for daylight illumination and have several levels of light from moderate to bright. Master bathroom has a sit-down vanity counter. Pocket doors between the vanity-sink area and the shower-toilet area are in both main floor bathrooms to maximize privacy. The family bath has two sinks. Bedrooms
Height of bedroom windows above the ground on the East half of the house gives a second-story effect, with better privacy and security for open windows, while maintaining single level living. Window latches can be set to prevent opening windows more than a few inches to enhance security. The master bedroom is sized to accommodate a king size bed, as well as other furniture. The layout of the generously sized bedrooms maximizes privacy. The heat pump/air conditioning compressor unit is on the opposite end of the house from the bedrooms so heating and cooling is whisper quiet. Light dimmers in the master and secondary bedrooms allow the ceiling lights in front of the closets to double as night-lights.
Page 5 of 5 Basement
In addition to the 120 V, 20 Amp wall outlets, there are two sets of 240 V outlets. One set is a 70 Amp circuit (suitable for a welder or other high-power equipment), and the other set is a 20 Amp circuit. Switched 120 V outlets are located on support columns, and are turned on and off with basement lights for safety with equipment that should not be left on. Daylight basement is heated, insulated, has a deep utility sink, 2’ deep built-in heavy-duty storage shelves, a rack with a large supply of presto logs and a large number of easy-mount independent hanging fluorescent light fixtures with hangers and chains (some are installed and some are not). The eleven ft. height of basement and 8 ft. clearance above floor to the bottom of the earthquake reinforcement gussets allows for handling of long objects, such as sheets of plywood and 10 ft. ladders, or easy installation of a hanging ceiling with easy access to plumbing, ductwork and wiring. Basement half-bath has provision for expansion to full-bath. Garage
Garage has extra space for a small shop area with a large, heavy-duty workbench with a woodworking vice. Extra lighting including fluorescent lights over the workbench makes the garage a light, bright pleasant place to work. The garage is heated (if register is opened) and insulated. The drive-in door is double width, insulated, sealed when closed, and extra high to accommodate a pickup truck with cab-height canopy and top rack. Extra space in the garage allows for storage of lawn and garden equipment, automotive equipment, woodworking tools, etc. A large plant table on castors is under the south facing window for over-wintering plants and is tall enough that a lawnmower, rototiller, and other power equipment will fit under it. The garage floor is sloped ¼” per ft. toward the drive-in door for drainage. There are racks mounted on the wall for storing long items such as lumber, pipe or angle iron. An entry door provides convenient access to the garden, and a second door provides access to the laundry/mud room. The attached garage is set at a 10-degree angle to align with the driveway, which makes driving in and backing out easy.