My Man Cave(s) | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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My Man Cave(s)

I have been looking at property in Northern Arizona lately and it got me thinking if I do go for it, I should design my own building. I have been messing around with a old drafting program (Visio) designing my ultimate man cave / shop / house. It will all fit inside a 60x80 building. I have two versions so far. I really like what I came up with for the master suite. The walls dividing the sleeping area from the changing/bathing/pooping area would not go all the way to the ceiling to keep it more open. The doors into the living space from both bedrooms would be hanging sliding doors, as big as would fit. The 2nd room would probably end up with a shower and no tub, since no one uses tubs anyways. I would also put a spa outside on the patio for soaking. Walk-in pantry, mud type room separating the shop from the residence with half bath, large kitchen with hang out counter, huge main room with French doors along the entire residence portion of the house for light and inside-outside living areas. Maybe a window from the kitchen looking into the shop area, but maybe they should be completely separate.

In the shop area, that divider would be a retractable curtain to keep shop dust off of the RV, boat and my future Porsche 997. I know I didn't locate the air compressor, water heaters, etc. I would also maybe add a entry door, or just use the French doors or shop OH doors. Probably all outside windows/doors would have security roll-ups for piece of mind. Let me know what you would do different.

My Man Cave.jpg

My Man Cave v2.jpg
 



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I like the layout of the garage in the second one.

How high is it going to be? Loft for a second floor maybe?
 






Are you going to have an in ground lift in the garage? How high is the ceiling? Will the garage have steel cabinets with ball bearing roller drawers? How about a spray booth or a sandblasting cabinet?
 






I like the layout of the garage in the second one.

How high is it going to be? Loft for a second floor maybe?

Are you going to have an in ground lift in the garage? How high is the ceiling? Will the garage have steel cabinets with ball bearing roller drawers? How about a spray booth or a sandblasting cabinet?

The layouts are based upon the pad and access space available. If the layout with the garage doors on the side of the building works, that is the one I would like best. It puts the main work area closer to the access doors from the residence.

The ceiling height would have to be at least 14' for a 13' garage door for the RV. RV is about 12.5' tall.

No loft because with all that wall space there should be plenty of room for storage. I thought about a loft over the end bay, RV in the middle, but it would kill that open feel I like so much.

I would have a two post lift that bolts to the slab.

Steel cabinets with ball bearing rollers would add a lot to the cost versus shelves and wood doors with 1" plywood tops.

No sandblaster or spray booth because I don't really do either of those.

I already modified them to fit inside a 60'x90' space, because 8' more shop space and 2' more residence space made a huge difference. Shop would be nearly square, 58'x60', and the residence space is 32'x60'.

My preference just because I think it flows better and the workspace is closer to the residence entry door. Might also help define the garage versus residence space when approaching the building.
My Man Cave a.jpg


Second choice depending upon lot restrictions
My Man Cave v2a.jpg


Really wouldn't matter which one I went with, playing around with designing my own ultimate residence is fun.
 






Or this would be fine. Put the RV on the other side moves the work area closer to the entry door for the residence. RV needs to go in forward instead of backwards, which is six on one, half a dozen on the other. Would need man doors on both sides. I had it figured out with two of the doors being 10' tall and one being 13' for the RV side, but maybe they should all be the same 13' height so I can switch things around if I get the urge.
My Man Cave v2 parking.jpg
 












Brian, would this be a getaway spot, or are you going to be moving out there?
 






Brian, would this be a getaway spot, or are you going to be moving out there?
I would have to live there at least half of the year to make it worthwhile. Would like to permanently relocate someday. I am tired of California, the people here, and the cost of living. I could build that entire building with whatever I want, with the property for under $300,000. Out here a decent house is $750,000.
 






What will the building look like: brick, cinder blocks, stucco, siding or something else? What about the heating/cooling system & lights? I guess everything will have LED fixtures. The latest trend is a split unit for heat & A/C.
 






Way too many details for me for now. I came up with this idea because it would fit inside a steel building. Don't have a clue about anything else. I saw some barndominiums on youtube that got me thinking about a shopdominium.
 






Would like to permanently relocate someday. I am tired of California, the people here, and the cost of living
Come to nc I did and love it
I won't even look back
 












Come to nc I did and love it
I won't even look back
I have been through that area and loved it, and the people. Everything is so much of a slower pace than California. But, its too far away from family and friends. Except you, of course.:D

If you lived in the Southwest, you wouldn't look back at NC ;)
I love the desert, its a part of me that I miss whenever I am not there. High desert for me is the only place I would want to relocate. That part of Arizona has vista's and sunsets that take your breath away.

The man caves are just a exercise for the present. The minutia isn't important right now. The only real details is I could have a 60x90 insulated metal building built to my specifications for around $50,000. Average lots I have been looking at are under $100,000, with or without utilities. Double that (maybe a little more) total to build a very nice residence inside the metal building, and a shop with most everything I would need/want. Utilities are not necessary since I would rather not be dependent upon outside sources. Solar and a well, with a backup generator and propane for cooking (the only thing I would have to source outside the property). Geothermal radiant floor heating throughout the shop and residence would be expensive initially, but basically free after that. Its nearly silent operation is also appealing because my heater and a/c unit at the house is an annoyance. Dirtwork, permits, etc., are very inexpensive when coming from a place where the permits cost as much as the buildings. When it was all built, I would have a awesome residence with minimal monthly expenses that was in the country but still close to a city with a great hospital, hardware stores, auto parts stores, Walmart Supercenter, craft breweries, eatery's, etc. I would be at least doubling my spendable income, which means more trips to cool places like Moab, Colorado, Shaver Lake, etc. That's my retirement dream, don't blow it with factual data.:thumbsup:

It would be optimal to be up on a hillside/hilltop, with a flat space about double the building size. It would make it easy to park the RV, plus allow me to have a couple of RV hookups for friends to visit. Horse facilities down below. It would also let me take advantage of the views in that area. I saw one lot on-line that was up in the foothills of the Hualapai mountain range facing west, where you could see the Colorado River about 30 miles away. The residence main wall would have to be facing towards the west for sunsets, of course, and be nearly all glass.
 






I would have to live there at least half of the year to make it worthwhile. Would like to permanently relocate someday. I am tired of California, the people here, and the cost of living. I could build that entire building with whatever I want, with the property for under $300,000. Out here a decent house is $750,000.

Sheez. We've been looking around here, and $750k is a starter home, or a complete tear down, on a ****ty small lot.

And, if you bought up in the hills around here, the homeowners/fire insurance will be more than the house value after all the crazy fires around here.
 












Thanks everyone. I moved up to a 60x110' building so I could have a 60x60 shop/garage, 60x36' residence, and a 60x14' patio out front. With wraparound patio, the actual patio width in the front of the house will be about 80x14'. Patio might need to be a little deeper so I might shave a little off the residence or shop. Probably won't miss 2' off the shop depth. I also added a office/spare room and moved the master to the other side of the house. I think this will work out better with the view. Looked at those glass doors that all stack up so the entire front could be open on nice days (360 days a year?), but for the money, I would have a pool instead. Think I will need the garage doors on the side of the building to make it work with minimal dirt work. Trying to keep it as small of a footprint as possible, but with more space than I will ever use.

Like I posted earlier, this is just an exercise at this point. I might also add a overhead patio area to the garage doors, and swap the three door side with the one door side, depending upon the layout when this gets closer to turning into a real house.
My Man Cave v3C.jpg
 






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