Open House Plans & Single Story Home Plans From

Like all of Ms. Coleman's designs, Islander 2 was originally designed for a client who wanted an energy–efficient, passive solar home. You can build this house facing in whatever direction suits your needs, but if you're interested in building it as a passive solar home, please read the section below titled Passive Solar Info for specific information on orientation.

First Floor
As you enter this simple one story home, passing the bench and coat closet in the foyer, you see the open living and dining areas, and the view through all the windows on the far wall. The same is true when standing in the kitchen. The kitchen includes a large peninsula area and a walk–in pantry, and it's next to a laundry room and a half bath. Double French doors in the dining area lead to a side porch that runs along the entire side of the house, and another pair of French doors lead to an optional deck at the rear of the house.

The sleeping rooms are on the other side of the house. The master suite includes a walk–in closet, and both a tub and a shower in the bath. Two additional bedrooms share a full bath. All of the doors inside the house are 3' wide for possible wheelchair access.

Daylight Basement
The house comes with foundation plans for a basement that is unfinished.

Garage
The garage is semi–attached, and can be entered from 3 different directions. It is separated from the main house by a mudroom in the laundry area.

Passive Solar Info
To maximize its passive solar design, the front of the house should face north. The home has some interior mass to help maintain interior comfort. The 35 pages of specifications that come with these plans (see Please Note below) will give your builder precise details on all the passive solar issues pertinent to the construction of this house.

Construction Info
You have the option of using scissor trusses if you want to vault the ceiling on the main floor, which otherwise has an 8' ceiling. The entire kitchen, dining, and great room are designed to be open.

The plans for this house call for 2x6 stud exterior walls. However, they can easily be changed to 2x4 stud walls by your builder, or to SIPs walls by a dealer in your area. If you plan to change the walls, we recommend that you purchase the plans in CAD format.

Foundation Info
This house was originally designed to have a basement foundation. However, if you prefer a crawlspace or a slab foundation, these are fairly simple and inexpensive changes that your builder can often make for you. If the basement design is not displayed in the Floor Plans, it's because it is unfinished.

Please Note
All of Ms. Coleman's plans include 35(!) 8.5"x11" pages of specifications to help your builder construct this house exactly as it was designed. These technical specifications are organized to follow the CSI (Construction Specifications Institute) format, and apply to the various aspects of the built home. They also include complete details on passive solar issues.