Look, no steeple! And a ram, and in the back, a cover on the side entrance.

The excitement is palpable, at least if you are in my office. Lee and I had a great time yesterday going over Ken’s first draft of plans for the “new” Hermit Haus building.

Ken is a lot of fun to work with, because he really listens and can take our suggestions and make them feasible. He always is careful to remind us that we have a budget, too. Smart man.

I”m sharing some images of the preliminary drawings, since they aren’t exactly what we’re going to do, and they are just rough floor plans, not the detailed plans we will eventually get (which will have every electrical outlet, light fixture, plumbing fixture, and so on).

What did we change from this perfectly nice first draft, you ask? What did we love and keep?

Exterior

We really like the new exterior facade, which makes a larger covered entry area and provides a nice wheelchair ramp that will look a lot better than the machine that is there now. There are also improvements to the downstairs front entrance, and a distinct lack of steeple. Note that there are also some windows above the entrance! That will bring in welcome light. We are thinking of putting in front doors with windows in them, too.

I liked that windows will go back in the fellowship room. That will look good from the outside, too. But, I was disappointed to see no windows on the other side, where the offices will be. That’s because the ramp will cover some potential windows. Ken has graciously added a window in what will be my office, so I won’t feel like I really AM a hermit in a cave.

The bathroom area will look different in the final plan.

Upstairs

Upstairs, of course the stairs to the basement will be fixed; otherwise the sanctuary area is unchanged. In the design, Ken had two bathrooms, but Lee reminded him that we were going to put the HVAC upstairs, so we are going to have one upstairs bathroom that is large and universally accessible. This will leave space for audio-visual equiment and such. It will still be a big, beautiful restroom. Stage access will be tweaked a bit, too.

Downstairs

Lee asked for the front offices to be reconfigured slightly, but otherwise we liked the larger offices and the way they are separated from the more public areas. We think the open reception office will be nice for Mandi, so she can talk to visitors and such, but will need to use one of the other offices for secure storage. That way we will feel safe hosting events when we are not there to supervise the whole time.

We love the separation between the business area and the event space.

We were really pleased with the large kitchen with plenty of storage, but I asked to have one of those “garage door” type openings in it, so that people can serve through there, but it can be closed off when the kitchen is not in use. It looks like we would have space for a place for us to eat in the kitchen, too.

Lee had the idea of turning the men’s and women’s restrooms into one larger restroom for everyone. Having stalls and separate sinks would let the flow be more efficient in and out when there are large groups present.

One other thing we are adding is that we are going to frame out space to put in an elevator, when we have the funds to put one in. That will provide better  access to the basement for people who have trouble with stairs.

So, are you excited? We are! We look forward to getting our plans in a few weeks and arranging funding to get started with our dream!