Gregory La Vardera Architect | Gregory La Vardera

Designer: Gregory La Vardera

We are committed to bringing affordable modern design to the housing industry via the medium of Stock House Plans. Beginning in 2002 we launched our online houseplan catalog at lamidesign.com/plans and since then dozens of modern homes have been built from our designs all across the country. Our philosophy from the start has been to use the most accessible building techniques available, adapting the status quo to create good design. We believe that new technology and materials are great, but we also believe that much more can be done with the status quo construction techniques that are common today. That philosophy continues with our contest entry, the Lagom House. Using readily available techniques this is a house for Today. We can achieve a high performance and sustainable house right now. What are we waiting for?

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Entry: Lagom House

views: 4252
votes: 1
comments: 46
profile: The Starter House

area: 1489
bedrooms: 3
bathrooms: 2.5
garage stalls: 1
floor: 2
depth: 20'-0"
width: 38'-6"

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Comments on Lagom House

3/23/2010

Mario: Just a Great Design. Less is more. Exquisite Simplicity and effective. Congratulations. You have my vote already. Best regards Mario
3/18/2010

Greg La Vardera: Indeed Bob - a balcony over the door would bring light and air to the top of the stairs, of course with the sacrifice of a cozy window seat. But thats the kind of trade off an owner can call for themselves. The facade is a blank slate, and could take on different appearances according to the market, and the developer for that matter. I think in the realm of making Stock House Plans, which remember this contest is about, that a house design needs to be able to stand up to this kind of tinkering. I may be fond of this sort of european minimalism as I've depicted the house, but if the upper floor was clad in shingles in the mode of a craftsman house, the design still works. If somebody fit out the front facade with colonial double hung windows, and a pent eave roof over the door, the house would still perform the job it was set out to do. That resiliency is a strong point, and the minimalism that I've chosen to represent the house speaks to its ability to serve as a blank slate.
3/18/2010

Bob Swinburne: Normally I would agree about the facade being too much but due to the relatively small size of the house, such features tend to become more "fun" than overdone. You can get away with a lot on a small house that you can't on a big house. I note that there is a neat opportunity for a "Juliet" balcony over the front door.
3/15/2010

Greg La Vardera: Sean - really enjoyed your thoughts on the design of the yard. You should visit our blog where we wrote about the idea of a working yard, inspired by what was once more typical in the US. You can find it here: http://blog.lamidesign.com/2010/01/contest-house-compact-siteplan-to-match.html
3/15/2010

Sean T.: Lagom does appeal to me for it's understated size, it's thin on the extras and that is refreshing. The facade is a little stark, but overall still contemporary and utilitarian achieving it's purpose. I would revisit placement of the garden to make it closer to the kitchen and shrink the lawn to save on water or use a synthetic turf. Collapsible clothesline closer to the house, triple the compost to have a rotating batch. Permeable driveway and less to no turf grass in the front yard. Overall it is a very good entry.
3/14/2010

Greg La Vardera: Well "S", thanks for commenting. No doubt some will share your opinion, but also many will disagree with you. Fortunately for you nobody will force this house upon you, so your freedom of choice remains intact. However for the thousands of people in the US who prefer modern houses, that choice does not exist. In fact the only choice you see offered on the market is traditionally styled homes. So for those who prefer a minimal, and abstract facade I intend to attempt to provide a modicum of choice. Houses are personal, and they rarely please everybody. And good design inspires passion, both in favor and I am afraid against. The facade of the Lagom House is certainly polarizing in this manner. In the future you might consider making comments without an anonymous signature if you wish people to take your comments to heart. It always means more if you are willing to stand up for what you say.
3/14/2010

S: I'm sorry to say that I am unable to get past the signature image of this design showing the street facade - which is awful in my opinion. The facade lacks character, scale, approachability, and regard for any context that may be within range of the house. You would only be able to sell this facade if it was composed of such an interesting material that could attempt to bring some scale and character to redeem itself, which is not the case with your design. I can't see this facade being acceptable in any neighborhood anywhere. Looks like you have some other ideas that would be alot mor successful if you could revisit design 101 on the street facade. good luck to you.
3/12/2010

Greg La Vardera: Juan - thank you for those thoughtful idea. Yes - I agree, there are many ideas for architectural elaboration that could be applied to the house, if the owners have the means. Our overall goal was a design that was accessible to more people, and so we sacrificed some of the razzle dazzle that makes it easier to gather votes. WE are UNWAVERING in our commitment to this approach however, and the house remains a blank slate onto which the owners may paint their lives.
3/11/2010

Juan Gomez-Velez: Greg, your house is deceptively simple, straightforward, well scaled and very appealing. It's elements are accessible while set up in an advanced constructive system that evidently is efficient and effective. I still marvel at the complexity of cavity walls and wooden substructure used in temperate climates. Where I live, the humid, Caribbean tropics such things are solved with stouter and simpler means. You have a great entry, that is strikingly contemporary while remaining friendly within the rather featureless and nondescript of current housing developments. You have always been a seasoned, thoughtful and keen designer, striving for excellence in a market driven practice, where you must appeal to a broad specter of potential buyers. My most heartfelt congratulations on a great project. If you asked me ( and I'm prejudiced ) I'd have expressed your patio side attics strong outline along the street side facade, as if they were punching through the roof envelope. My two cents. I know, it would have made it costlier, added numerous corners and required unnecessary dewatering paraphernalia and insulation, creating stains and additional maintenance. Stil, I'm rather whimsical and childlike when I see such a scrumptious design as this one that I am tempted to stick my finger in it, as if it were a cake. Again, a most warm, sincere and heartfelt expression of admiration and respect.
3/11/2010

Greg La Vardera: and you got me thanks! ;-)
3/11/2010

Kieran Gaffney: You got me vote!
3/10/2010

Greg La Vardera: Thanks Kelly, and welcome to other visitors that have clicked over from the TreeHugger article. Let me know if you have any questions about living in the Lagom House.
3/10/2010

kelly: great house design
3/10/2010

Greg La Vardera: GOOD QUESTION: Exercise area? Its intended that the third bedroom be used as an exercise room until the 2nd baby arrives. At that time if you decide that you still need additional excercise (lol!) a tread mill or other equipment can live in the large bay window of the master bedroom.
3/8/2010

Matthew O. Daby: Greg, by the way, I have also linked your blog article on my website here.... http://www.modabydesign.net/Blog/Default.aspx
3/8/2010

Greg La Vardera: You are welcome Tim - wish I could do more!
3/8/2010

T Brennan: Greg, thank you for the vote. I also appreciate the display and commentary of my project on your Blog. I think it is great that you have decided to find a series of projects that focused on resolving the issues presented by the freegreen client profiles. Keep up the hard work and best of luck.
3/7/2010

Matthew O. Daby: Greg-As to not repeat all of my comments from your blog, I will simply say- I appreciate that your design stays realistic. It addresses the practical(and neccesary) issues of the program head on with a clear concept. Your entry, as well as mine, and the others you featured on your blog seem to be some of the best at understanding what it takes to design a truely attainable starter home. Cheers.
3/5/2010

Greg La Vardera: Thanks archaalto - you really raised the bar on the commentary and I know the architects reading it certainly appreciate it, if not as much the laymen. Hence my efforts to try to use language like design "themes". Its so easy for us to stray into our own private language. In the end it proves my point - that the Lagom House can trigger this discussion at both levels - the concern of a consumer, the thoughts of a designer - is why its able to be both good design, and good product. Something that we architect tend to forget. As far as the language of the Lagom house being part of a larger range of houses you have to take a closer look at the XHouse3. They share the same DNA: http://www.lamidesign.com/plans/planscat/0967/0967pg.html
3/5/2010

archaalto: Thanks for the reply Greg, and i apologize for the timing and location of my comments. they were probably a better fit on your blog, but somehow I find the context of the competition much more engaging and relevant, especially when looking at the other designs that were submitted. and please don't get me wrong-I voted for your submission! ; ] but to clarify a bit, I really do think you are on to something with your entry-- i guess the refinements I mention would allow the decisions you made that informed the final outcome to act as a "language", rather than a "theme". it could be argued as semantics [or simply my nitpicking], but the language you have made here could allow for more variations on a system, rather than a re-orienting a singular theme [which to me sounds like a term for restaurant design]. and I totally agree that a common language leads to good design. I definitely follow your on your reply about flexibility, but the image of the exact same configuration of the house being repeated down the block is why I focused on that particular issue [image 7]. and even though you say that the design is not meant to be for "everybody" for "every site", that is what that particular image implies. it is always easy to critique someone else's work from an armchair [especially since I didn't enter the competition], but I felt your entry was worth commenting on. Many of the other entries do not display the same amount of rigor and thoughtfulness as the Lagom House. I also wanted to let you know that I appreciate the hard work you put into your entry and wish you the best of luck!
3/5/2010

ROLLE: Luv to see more of your wonderful MODERN works
3/4/2010

Greg La Vardera: Peter - this is funny. If you enter "Lagom" into Google translate it returns in english: "Moderate". If you reverse it and enter "Moderate" and translate to swedish it returns "Måttlig". However, if you enter "Just Enough" and translate it gives you "Lagom"! TDMC, Kevin - thanks for your support guys. Long live PushPullBar.com!
3/4/2010

Greg La Vardera: To reply to Chris, I'm afraid that my intent was never to appeal to the entire market of average home buyers/owners. My intent was to appeal to those who prefer modern design and modern houses. As for your opinion that there is little street presence all I can say is that attractiveness is in the eye of the beholder. There is much precedent for this manner of stark aesthetic and it will find many admirers among the market that I serve. However, I agree that sustainable practices need to be widely adopted, but I'm afraid that the designers of traditionally styled homes will have to step up. Its a pity that so few choose to enter the contest.
3/4/2010

Greg La Vardera: archaalto, thanks for your thoughtful comments. I never expected to receive real architectural critique here. For the benefit of others, archaalto is a regular reader of my house plan design blog, and often contributes valuable feedback. Archaalto, thanks for coming here to contribute. Perhaps on some other occasion we can talk about your timing. ;-) I understand your comments as I've traveled much the same thought path in the design of the Lagom House. However I think at the end of the path I simply reached a different conclusion. Your comments stem from a single driving characteristic of the house, which you did touch on. And that is that the house's form is driven by its effort to be a sustainable machine. It carries that as far as is possible manifesting itself in a number of ways - including the severe geometry. Also what you regard as inflexibility. On this I disagree. Within its small footprint there are a range of ways an occupant can use the given space. I think what instead you are reacting to is decisiveness with which the form of the house is determined. And this gets at precisely what distinguishes the Lagom House from the bulk of the other contest entries. Most clearly pursue strong themes in their design. That is the way that great architecture is made. However few of the contest entries manage to combine this kind of strong design direction with the actual feasibility of building the house for an average consumer. This comment is way too long, but it warrants saying. I think the issue you sense is an unexpected disconnect between a strong design and aspiring to the average consumer. Great architecture never appeals to everybody. And hence the Lagom House will not either. But I would never settle for the idea that houses designed for the average consumer should pursue the widest appeal. In fact that is one of the many things that is so wrong with our housing industry today.
3/4/2010

tdmc: Well executed, well scaled. Excellent suburban opportunity, or small estate development
3/4/2010

Peter Guthrie: lagom kul!
3/4/2010

Kevin Hui: Bravo.
3/4/2010

Chris: While I agree with many of the comments about practicality and sustainability (for which I also give it high marks), my problem is that the house is not particularly attractive. It has very little street presence, especially the leeward side. Real, practical, and sustainable must be attractive for the idea to get traction with the average home-owner/buyer.
3/4/2010

Keith Ragone: very cool...love to see the others
3/4/2010

archaalto: I admire the perseverance in exploring a new construction type from [literally] the ground up, as well as the rigorous approach to sustainability. it is very clear that this entry attempts to re-define the status quo of residential construction while still making the result affordable to all. Well done! The only drawback that i can conceive is the inflexible nature of the house's configuration [lacking customization & still retaining sustainable goals], and the aesthetics being completely dependent on the side of the street it happens to be located on. I understand the author has a background with stock plans and trying to re-define what stock plans could be and i commend this entry for that reason. With that being said though, the massing approach feels a bit too hard lined as a result of trying to capitalize on passive solar and natural ventilation [of course that could be a critique of any sustainably oriented project]. the re-configuration of the entrances is touched on, but a big concern could be the tall wall on the north side when it happens to face the street. this brings up some issues like large long term shadows in winter, ice and snow build up, choice of landscape, all depending upon climate, etc. as a prototype it is successful, but it feels only partly successful if trying to apply it as a solution to any site. I am interested to see this idea developed even further. Thanks for sharing.
3/4/2010

Greg La Vardera: Thanks for the insightful and generous comments. For a house design like this to do well in an open contest we really have to count on people looking, thinking, and understanding. We've tried really hard to make the ideas and substance of this proposal clear and not fall back on flashy design cues to capture eyeballs. Its very gratifying to see people get it - thank you all.
3/4/2010

Deb Barman: Hi Greg, I like all of your designs. However, as a true lover of ranches, I will always prefer your Plat House to any other.
3/4/2010

Manuel R Diaz: Hi Greg, beautiful design very good use of natural ventilation I think it is a way to fix housing problems around the word whit a compact and easy to afford. Kudos.
3/4/2010

Linda Mikell: Hi Greg, I read every word with interest. What a terrific design. So purposeful. Congratulation!!
3/3/2010

Johnry: This design is great! I can even feel the ambiance inside.. Good Job on This :)
3/3/2010

Mark: Let start building them
3/3/2010

Sue Anne: This plan offers modern design, modern construction techniques, and the revival of features that worked so well in the past--all in one package. I love the small landing between the kitchen and living areas--I've seen this feature in row houses in Wilmington, DE (very near Phila., like the architect's region of NJ) and it creates a real sense of transition and variety in a small house. I'm also a fan of the discreet kitchen so rarely found in newer houses. This design shows a rare balance between openness and division that preserves functionality in the working areas of the home--kitchen, study space, etc. And that balance carries over into the back yard, too!
3/3/2010

Susan Janaro: Greg, I love the design!!! It is so environmentally friendly and has a good living space design as well. Love the backyard partitioned into working and playing sections. Good luck in the contest! Cousin Sue
3/3/2010

Chad: ...what James said.
3/3/2010

Greg La Vardera: Vilken kul kommentar!
3/3/2010

Regan Young: Vilket kul hus!
3/3/2010

Andrew: Great design and presentation! One of the only houses I've seen thats fits the profile and could come in at a reasonable cost. I could totally see one of these getting built. Bravo.
3/2/2010

Greg La Vardera: Lagom - its explained in the text on the first drawing - a friend who lived in Sweden for several years was describing to me this idea of "lagom" and how it typifies the Swedish people and how it is embodied in the houses they build there. You can read about in my blog here: http://blog.lamidesign.com/2009/12/contest-house-owner-profile-and-our.html
3/2/2010

Donna: where did you come up with the name for the home?
3/2/2010

Greg La Vardera: James - thanks so much for your comments, and for your vote - you made my day. Every designer here in the contest has the hope that somebody will look at their design and truly get it. And you got it - you understand what I'm doing here. The intention with the Lagom House was not only to provide a design that people can build for real, but one that pushes the envelope in its own way. In the end the fact is that this house will be built. And it will be affordable, and lots of people will live real lives here. Thats because unlike most of the homes in the contest, win or not, construction prints of this house will be created and they will go up for sale in our catalog. Never the less, just like everybody else we would like to win! So thank you for your vote.
3/2/2010

James: I voted for this home. After spending a lot of hours over the last few days pouring over the houses, I kept coming back to Lagom. There are a lot of really cool houses on this site, but most don't stand up to scrutiny. They aren't designed for real people in real families living in a real neighborhood. And given the number of exterior corners, floor-to-ceiling windows, high-end finishes and innovative (read costly) construction details I see, many of these “starter” homes would cost at least twice what Lagom would. This house offers the versatility needed in a starter home for young professionals. It's innovative, yet eminently practical and livable. It's inexpensive to build and maintain. It nicely combines public, semi-public, and private spaces. It easily provides more context than any other home in the contest. Other contest houses are probably more likely to be featured in Dwell and unhappyhipsters.com (check it out), but this home is the one that I could have afforded and enjoyed most when I was starting out. Good work, Mr. La Vardera!

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