Leaving a door on the garden level?? Thoughts, please.
We’re converting the bottom 2 floors of a brownstone into a duplex. The parlor level will have a deck with stairs to the backyard. The garden level is configured to have 2 small bedrooms towards the back. Here’s our dilemma: we were thinking of placing a glass door in one of the bedroom to allow…
We’re converting the bottom 2 floors of a brownstone into a duplex. The parlor level will have a deck with stairs to the backyard. The garden level is configured to have 2 small bedrooms towards the back. Here’s our dilemma: we were thinking of placing a glass door in one of the bedroom to allow access to the backyard and natural sunlight in, but at the same time, we are hesitant to put a glass door in a small bedroom because it would constrict placement of furniture, and because of safety issues. Is it stupid to give up access to the backyard on the ground level or are we unlikely to use the bedroom door anyway?
I’m not sure how to do it, I got the PDF from my architect. I’m at avery.kotler@napster.com. If you email there i’d be happy to send you ours anyway.
Colonel – if you can figure out a way to convert huge hard copy drawings into a pdf, I’d be happy to send the plans to you. Otherwise, I’ll tell you that we have squeezed 3 bedrooms and 2 baths on the garden level and a kitchen, LR & powder room on the parlor floor.
We are also now doing a renovation and creating a garden/parlor duplex. For what it is worth, we went with the door on the garden floor. I’d be curious to see your plans, if you feel like swapping, I can send you a pdf. Ours does have a small extension but I can send you the alternate plans that did not include the extension. Good luck!
You don’t have to let people go through your bedroom, but yeah: closing off the yard access is a silly idea, even if someone blocks it with furniture.
I’d look at fire codes, though: I’m pretty sure you are required to have egress at both ends of a multi-family dwelling.
hey everyone – thanks for the comments. the more I think about it, the more sensible it is to leave a door on the garden level, even though it is sort of annoying for the person whose bedroom it will be to have people traipsing back and forth through his/her room. Vai – we already have another bedroom at the front of the house, we are squeezing every last drop of space out of the layout. And yes, the glass door will be double-paned etc.
You should definitely have access to the rear yard from the garden level. You could have a security gate at the exterior if you are worried about that. And a door would take up the same amount of space as a window.
Is it too much to change the layout and have one bedroom at the front of the house and one bed at the rear of the house?
I think you should definately put a door in the room for light and view, means of egress, etc. I would use french doors, very tall and narrow…. it would be lovely if the doors were a single undivided pane and would open out, rather than in. Go for the light… and in a smaller room, it’s even more important. Even if you don’t use it as a bedroom, it could be a lovely office or studio with the natural light.
we put in a glass door in our back bedroom…the amount of light it adds to the room is astonishing…i’d post a photo but dont know how 🙁
it isnt any draftier …it actually adds some heat with sun through out the day. if you get a great door it isnt an issue.
Door. Would feel claustrophobic having to go all the way upstairs to get back into the garden.