Would you like to see the floor plans for the Tall House? Today is your lucky day. I’ve got four drawings for you — and the last one includes measurements (in meters) for those who are curious about dimensions.
If you do check out the measurements, you’ll see that the house has lots of rooms, but they are fairly small rooms. In fact, the largest room in the house is actually in the attic.
Let’s start with the ground floor. In the U.S., we would call this the First Floor (or the Ground Floor as I just mentioned). In France, they call this floor Rez de Chaussée — on drawings we might say RDC for short.
The big front doors and front windows are at the bottom of the drawing.
The area labeled entry and dining room was originally a passthrough for carriages to the carriage house in the back yard (not shown on these drawings). At some point it was enclosed with front and back doors, making it an enclosed space, but it wasn’t used as an interior space.
We’re adding heat and adding a ground floor powder room, and making this space a fully interior space. We’re keeping the big doors so that when the weather is warm, we can open up the space to the back garden and enjoy indoor/outdoor dining.
There are currently doors to the dining room and to the living room. We haven’t decided if we are keeping these doors or not. We are going to live in the space before we decide. The living room will have the piano and our other instruments, and we may be glad to be able to close those doors for sound.
Now let’s head upstairs to what we would call the Second Floor in the U.S.. Here in France, they call it the First Floor. On drawings, we refer to it as R+1 (meaning rez de chaussée + one floor).
The only floor plan change we made on this level is adding a doorway between the parents’ bedroom and the bathroom, converting it to a principle suite.
Besides the suite, the rest of this floor will be family spaces. The TV will live in the Family Room, the Studio/Atelier will be a dedicated creative space, with a sink for washing paint brushes. There is also a powder room on this floor.
Fun fact: When we bought the house, there was one toilet shared among all 4 floors, and it was in the space that is now the R+1 powder room.
Okay, let’s head upstairs again to what we would call the Third Floor in the U.S., or the Second Floor (R+2) here in France.
This floor is entirely dedicated to the kids. There are three bedrooms and one shared bathroom with double sinks.
All three of these bedrooms originally had fireplaces, but when radiators were introduced, the fireplaces were closed up — though all three still have marble hearths on the floor. We are considering re-introducing a small wood-burning stove into Betty’s bedroom, but the other two rooms are really too small too add even a petite fireplace.
Let’s take one more flight up steps up to the Attic, or Grenier in French.
The whole house was pretty rough when we moved in, but this floor especially. It was a depressing space that was dark and dingy, but it is turning out to be a really magical space, and one of the prettiest in the whole house.
This floor has a dedicated guest room with a clawfoot tub facing the window. It also has an enclosed storage room where we’ll keep things like holiday bins. This floor also has loft space over the staircase (the loft space is not shown on this drawing).
We’re not sure what we’re going to do with the rest of this space. We’re thinking about a hangout space for the teens, with maybe a foosball table. We’re also thinking about making this office space. Ben Blair and I both work at home and we’re not sure where we want to set up our work spaces yet. Floorspace-wise, this is the biggest room in the house, and might make sense as a gathering space when the whole family is together. Happily, we don’t have to decide now. (The measurements listed here are in meters. For reference, 1 foot is approx 30 cm; 1 yard is approx 90 cm. It’s easy to convert between the two using Google if you would like.)
In the future, we may add a powder room to this floor. But we want to live in the space first, and see how we use the attic, before we decide where the powder room should live (or if we even need one).
——
Okay. That’s the floor plan tour. I hope you enjoyed it! Another time, I’ll share a map of the property so you can get a better sense of the garden area.
If your family members or household members were moving into this space, how would you use these rooms?
I loved pouring over the floor plans.
I’m such a nerd for floor plans and maps. I could study them for hours.
Thanks for sharing. It’s such a great home and a wonderful use of space!!! Will you be using wardrobes for clothes? I didn’t see many closets.
There’s one closet — a linen closet next to the kids’ bathroom. Old houses in France don’t really have closets. They use armoires instead — and it’s easy to find awesome armoires.
We are thinking about adding some built-in style closets along one wall in the parent’s bedroom, but otherwise, we’ll use armoires.
So fascinating to see it laid out. Very different to how I imagined through just the pictures. I can’t wait to see it all come together this year. I know it’s tough to plan with Covid, but do you have a rough ETA of your move in yet? I was also wondering if there are fireplaces—or wood stoves—in any of the main reception rooms or are they just not marked on the plans?
Can’t wait to see you living in this space…living my best French life vicariously through you, lol!
For me personally? I would snatch up some of that space for an art studio. I’m a painter, so the idea of a space big enough to hold Big canvases and a drying rack and tables with that kind of natural light?! Makes me giddy inside with envy.
Thank you for showing the house plans- I love following your renovation adventures. What a lovely, well thought out home you are creating. I like how you have the “public space” all on the bottom level. We too have several rooms in our house and we have changed the purposes of them endlessly (it seems) as the family has grown up. You are right when you say that you might need to live in the spaces first to realize what your present needs are.
This is so so fun, thanks for sharing.
Great to see the layout on paper. I agree 100% with your idea to live in the space to make some decisions. I live in an old house & wanted to tear down walls immediately for a more open feel. But living here has created new thinking & possibility. One thought on your newly gorgeous attic space: in your shoes, I would use the space for BB/your office vs holding solely as guest room. Unless you plan to have constant guests. Why save this sunny open spot for occasional use when you/BB could enjoy it daily? (When guests come, use your plan B spaces.) Like saving your fave clothing for the rare special occasion vs loving it up on the regular.
I am thoroughly enjoying your renovation as if it were my own! I so appreciate the size of the rooms as well. While open floorplans found in a lot of American homes are lovely, I prefer cozy spaces in my daily life and have found that our best parties are when everyone was a little squished.
Yes-I would actually put the crafting things/art studio on the top floor, and use the atelier as an office. But I’m sure once you’re in the space you’ll have a better idea. Like maybe it would be handy to somehow have it closer to the kitchen-or off your bedroom works better. We’ve switched our four kids’ bedrooms around a bunch of different times-just because it works better depending on the season of life we’ve been in. I can’t wait to see it once you’re all moved in!
I have loved following along with your renovation. It is surprisingly smaller inside than I expected…but I like that…cozy…livable. Whatever you end up doing with the attic room, a window seat (with storage within) would be fabulous at that window. Looking forward to seeing you all living there, enjoying your new home. Thank you for sharing.
Question- is the wall between the kitchen and the dining room a baring wall? The only design change I would do is to try to make that area of the house an open space. I think it would open up beautifully looking out towards your backyard.
We explored it and quickly decided against it. When we saw the drawings it didn’t work as well as we thought it might.
Having just moved to a new house after a year of working from home due to the pandemic, I’d make the guest room space an office an art studio for you and give your partner the second floor studio space. Big windows and light are well-deserved.
The back area could include a sleeper sofa/futon so it could be convertible for guests but be a multifunctional hangout space during other times.
All the best!
Having doors on the music room/living room sounds like a great idea. Our main floor is one big space and while I’m generally quite satisfied with our home, not having a separate room on the main floor that would provide a bit more privacy or a sound barrier is probably on the top three things I would be looking for in a new home.
Is there a drain in the parents’ bathroom floor? Or is the shower enclosed? I really like how that space is divided between wet and dry areas because I like bathroom floor drains, so practical.
I just love how you are working *with* the house instead of trying to tear everything out and force it to conform to a new construction standard. I am so inspired! We are in a 123 year old home in Chicago (old for the Midwest not old for Europe 🙃) and planning our renovation. A big decision for us was also to keep the walls (original built in, original pocket doors), but it definitely requires creative thinking and the right team to keep original features and still get some of the modern features.
It’s going to be phenomenal and I don’t think there’s much at all that I would change to make it work well for our family.
Having a sink in the atelier is brilliant: no worries about paint ruining a sink that you want to look clean!
Y’all have worked from home for a long time, so you know what works best for you. In our family, having a dedicated office/work space would be important, but that may not be the case for you.
I too have loved watching your renovations! I’m curious as to the response from people in the town. Do lots of people do this kind of renovations? Or is it unusual?
Built-in closets? These days, everyone is writing. reading, and talking about shedding excess stuff. In her NY apartment, your sister, Jordan, has beautifully demonstrated alternatives to built-in closets.
I am very excited to see how you changed your garden/entryway.
Are the doors from the dining room opening in for security reasons? I assume there is very little crime in this charming, fairy tale town.
A long time ago in your Oakland house, someone asked if you could share the floorplan and you declined, stating safety issues. What has changed?
Thank you for sharing! What an adventure this has been for your family. Thanks for taking us along.