Basic Plan Sets

We have recently decided to offer an abbreviated version of our cottage plans which we are calling "Just the Basics" or "JTB" for short. 

Normally, we design our cottage plans to meet requirements for our home region of the country. But most people live elsewhere and the information and details we provide may not be applicable for where you are hoping to build your cottage. Our specifications for our region may be useless to you. Frost levels and footing depths, soil capacity, snow loads, wind loads, earthquake specs, insulation values, all vary widely. Even variations such as stick framed or trussed roof systems, 2x4 vs. 2x6 exterior walls, concrete slab floor or crawlspace, cannot be fully addressed by any one plan set.

You may need to have a local professional review our plans and add certain specifications and details to suit your region and locality. 

We are happy to design the cottage as a livable home and let the construction details be localized for you, by you, to fit whatever your local conditions require. Therefore, we have created our series of plans we call "Just the Basics."

These plans may be all you need. They contain enough information and details that almost any experienced builder, with your input, could build your home successfully. But if you need to add specifications and details in order to get a building permit you can use our JTB plan set to give your local architect or engineer a good head start on your final design.

When you purchase our JTB plan you are licensed to build one time. You are licensed to have your architect add the details needed to get a building permit. You may make minor changes to the copyrighted design so long as the design remains substantially the same.

Our JTB plan sets include 3 sheets, 18" x 24".

Page 1 shows you the cottage you're building with 3D perspective views of all exterior sides of the cottage. Also, there is a 3D floor overview showing you the room layouts, doors, windows, cabinets, fixtures, etc.

Page 2 has a floor plan in 1/4" scale with exact room dimensions, locations of all doors, windows, cabinets, fixtures, etc. It also shows the roof lines, overhangs, ridges and valleys. Also on page 2 is a foundation plan showing the dimensions of all exterior walls for the cottage and the porch. 

Page 3 has the 4 exterior wall and roof elevations showing door and window label sizes, roof pitches, building height and wall height.

On the JTB plans we use all 8' ceilings so if our full plan views show a high window in a cathedral ceiling, they will not exist in the JTB plan. But you can have your architect add that. 

Exterior and interior walls are framed with 2x4s.

The cottage is designed to be built on a concrete slab and foundation.

Our full plan set is still a viable and relatively cheap option for our customers in our home region of SE Pennsylvania who need a fully detailed plan for construction and/or financing. Your architect may need to add details and specs for local conditions and requirements.