The Myers’ Home is designed to be easily adapted from two rooms to five as the demographics of a family change. Homeowners in rural landscapes, like Hale County, often increase the size of their home through small additions to the property over a longer period of time. This 5th-year student team was inspired by American residential “kit home” precedents: the regional Jim Walter Homes and ubiquitous Sears Modern Homes by Sears, Roebuck and Co., which were built as “shells” with unfinished interior space.
A two-story, “shell” home that can easily expand for generations.
This design for the Myers family uses an attic truss and non-load bearing interior walls for an adjustable ground plan and attic space. The home offers a flexible ground floor interior with two rooms and one bathroom that can be changed to adapt to their needs and those of future inhabitants. The second floor provides space for added rooms, a bathroom, and storage for generations. A centralized core combines the stair, bathroom, laundry, utilities, and attic plumbing hookups to organize the plan, acting as a spatial divider.
The long front porch engages both the site and multiple spaces in the
home but is structurally separate from the main shell. Keeping the home’s primary structure inside the outer envelope, with low maintenance zero eave conditions, prioritizes the longevity and lifespan of this “generational home.”
