Hangar homes — custom residences built alongside personal aircraft hangars — are gaining popularity among pilots and aviation enthusiasts. These fly-in community homes allow owners to live with their aircraft, eliminating the commute to the airport and offering the freedom of direct runway access from home. As a long-time hangar home designer and a resident…
For pilots, living with your airplane and living in a hangar home is a dream that they may have had for many years. Most never do it, but those who do are in for a lifestyle like no other they have experienced. Hangar homes are unique. If you’re looking to design and build one, here…
Home design software has become a popular tool for homeowners who want to take on the task of designing their dream home. These programs, such as SketchUp, Chief Architect, Home Designer Suite, and RoomSketcher and others, provide a cost-effective way to create a design that can be visualized in 3D. However, it is essential to…
When deciding upon the specifications of a residential hangar home one of the decisions we face is how high to make the ceilings and main doors of the hangar. Besides factors of cost, there are a few specific issues that should be addressed as one endeavors to make that decision. These factors have to do…
The Appeal I am seeing more and more requests for hangar home combinations where the living area is built above the hangar. Around the Internet there are a few pictures of projects, some which have not yet been built, which show nice and neat depictions of this type of an arrangement. Its appeal, on certain…
This article was written in early 2012. I want to make it clear that I know and work with many Architects and have found them to be a fine and often talented and knowledgeable group of folks. The Architectural profession is to be admired, especially those who produce fine works and operate by high professional standards. This article…
I am often asked by my clients if we should use a masonry exterior wall or one that is framed in wood. Masonry walls consist of concrete blocks stacked up from the slab to the full height of the wall. They are placed in beds of mortar and strengthened with embedded reinforcing steel and hollow…
Looking to Build your own home yourself? Here are the Pros and Cons – in a Tough Economy Should you build your own home without a contractor? There can be a strong incentive for the owner to take on the building project and hire the subcontractors and buy the materials directly. Managing one’s own building…