US20070209298A1

US20070209298A1 - Housing positioning system and method

Info

Publication number: US20070209298A1
Application number: US11/370,873
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert Eaton
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-03-09
Filing date: 2006-03-09
Publication date: 2007-09-13

Abstract

The housing positioning system and method encompasses a residential subdivision having rectangular adjacent building lots including adjacent driveway areas perpendicular to a street and separated by a fence having a partial gradient. Dwelling units are placed on the lots so that a front wall of each dwelling unit faces the driveway area at approximately a 45° angle. A structure having an exterior wall disposed perpendicular to a centerline of the driveway areas includes a common internal wall to form separate garages servicing each of the respective dwelling units. Additionally, the structure may have a rear wall that is essentially parallel and proximate to a rear lot line. Alternatively, each dwelling unit may have an attached garage. For each property, a storage shed may be disposed adjacent to the garage. To limit yard maintenance, the driveway areas may wrap around a rear-facing wall of the dwellings.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to buildings, and more particularly to buildings having a specified spatial relationship.
2. Description of the Related Art
As it has been reported for quite some time now, the housing market has been rapidly becoming more and more unaffordable across the country. For example, the median price for single-family homes in San Diego exceeds $500,000, excluding all but approximately 11% of the population from home ownership.
The increasing cost of urban land suitable for residential housing has resulted in a variety of creative lot and building arrangements. However, use optimization of available land remains problematic when it come down to balancing the needs of the population for affordable, individual housing units against the desires of the population to have suitable yard space, adequate space for ancillary buildings, such as garages, tool sheds, and the like, while also providing for privacy, ease of ingress and egress from all structures on each lot, and compliance with building code requirements.
The aforementioned use optimization of lots by placing dwelling units, garages, and the like structures must be accomplished in a way that also provides aesthetic appeal to the home owners, as well as to the community at large. For example, Japanese Patent No. 2003-268,991, published Sep. 25, 2003, discloses space optimization within a building, i.e., a single room dwelling with a loft that secures sleeping space for two while protecting their privacies by use of a movable partition wall. However, the patent does not disclose, nor does it suggest a system and method for optimizing land usage vis-à-vis positioning a building in a specified manner on a building lot.
None of the aforementioned patents or inventions describes the instant invention as claimed. Thus, a housing positioning system and method solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The housing positioning system and method is a technique for arranging, i.e., positioning, improvements on tracts or subdivided lots so that individual privacy is enhanced while maintaining the desired esthetic of separate housing units, as opposed to condominium, apartment or townhouse style dwellings. The system and method of the present invention comprises a residential subdivision having rectangular adjacent building lots, including adjacent driveway areas, perpendicular to a street and separated by a fence having a partial gradient. Preferably, rectangular dwelling units, each of which preferably has a square-shaped perimeter, are placed on the lots so that a front wall of each dwelling unit faces the driveway area at approximately a 45° angle. Additionally, it should be noted that the present invention contemplates dwelling units of a variety of shapes other than rectangular.
Preferably, a structure having an exterior wall disposed perpendicular to a center line of the driveway areas has a common internal wall in order to form separate garages, each of which services a respective dwelling unit. Additionally, a rear wall of the structure may be disposed along, or proximate and parallel to, a rear lot line. Each garage may have a storage shed adjacent to the garage. To limit yard maintenance, the driveway areas may wrap around a rear-facing wall of the dwellings. Alternatively, attached garages may be an option yet still sharing the driveway.
These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified top view of a housing subdivision, according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a detailed top view of the housing subdivision, according to the present invention.
Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention is a system and method involving a technique for arranging improvements on tracts or subdivided lots so that individual privacy is enhanced while maintaining the desired esthetic of separate housing units, as opposed to condominium, apartment or townhouse style dwellings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the system and method of the present invention comprises a residential subdivision 100 having rectangular adjacent building lots including adjacent driveway areas 156 perpendicular to a street S and separated by a high privacy fence 117 a, a lower fence 121 a and a partial gradient fence 120 a. Fence 117 a runs to a rear property line in the alternative in which garages 123 are attached to their respective dwelling units 105.
As shown in FIG. 2, to maintain privacy, pairs of dwelling units 105 that do not share a driveway area 156 are separated by a fence including a high component 117 disposed from the back of the properties followed by a partial gradient component 120 that transitions to a low component 121 disposed toward the front of the properties. To provide compatibility with generally universal land use codes, the fence high component 117 disposed from the rear of the properties may have a height not to exceed 6′, while the fence low component 121 disposed toward the front of the properties may have a height not to exceed 3′.
The fence gradient component 120 forms a partial gradient that transitions from 3′ to 6′ so that it extends between two predetermined distances from a reference point, which may be located at the street, or along the fence line between the corners of the units 105.
The dwelling units 105, each of which preferably has a square shaped perimeter, are placed on the lots so that a front wall 140 of each dwelling unit 105 faces the driveway area 156 at approximately a 45° angle.
The single, detached dwelling units 105 may be constructed in a manner to conserve property square footage, yet have 1, 2 or 3 bedrooms, and may be one story or multiple, preferably two stories. For example, it is within the scope of the present invention to provide, as an alternative embodiment, a one bedroom unit having a second story as a lofted bedroom.
The lofted bedroom may overlook the living room. The living room may have a vaulted ceiling. All units may preferably have a space dedicated to business needs of the homeowner, e.g., desk, filing cabinet area with ample electrical outlets and cable hook-ups for high speed Internet access.
Units 105 may also be outfitted with an indoor barbeque grill. Optionally, units 105 may be equipped with wall reinforcements to accommodate lifting devices installed as needed at the stairwell to make units 105 accessible to persons requesting/requiring such assistance.
Preferably, all units 105 having two or three bedrooms are provided by two stories of habitable space. Due to the preferably square shape and diamond orientation on the lot, all of the housing units 105 make efficient use of small sized lots parceled for multiple unit communities having homeowners' association fees.
The dwelling units 105 may be positioned to form a community having two units up to a number of units in excess of 100. The dwelling units 105 may be sold as individual properties in the manner of the traditional single family home, or in a Homeowners Association Community. The community settings may be constructed for different homeowner types, i.e., seniors, couples, intern business executives, doctors, attorneys, other professionals, and the like.
The efficiency of the present invention passes on lower cost and lower maintenance requirements to the homeowner.
Additionally, the dwelling units 105 may be built in the traditional manner, i.e., non-preassembled wood frame and concrete foundation, or the units may be pre-assembled or manufactured in the form of a plurality of modules.
A structure having an exterior wall disposed perpendicular to a center line of the driveway areas has a common internal wall CW so as to form separate garages 123 each of which services a respective dwelling unit. Additionally, a rear wall of the structure may be disposed along or proximate and parallel to a rear lot line. Each garage 123 may have a storage shed 115 adjacent to the garage 123. Alternatively, garages 123 may each be attached to a respective dwelling unit 105, yet still share the driveway 156. To limit yard maintenance, the driveway areas 156 may wrap around a rear-facing wall of the dwellings. Moreover, in the remaining areas of yard, pressure treated long and narrow wood boxes (not shown) may be built of a size to accommodate plastic insertable pots (not shown), thus making gardening much easier than in the past with traditional landscaping. Alternatively, for example, yards may comprise paved brick patios and walkways. Wood chips and decorative rock areas may surround the patios and walkways.
Although the present invention may be utilized to provide more affordable single family home units it should not be restricted to this affordable housing concept. Dwelling units, according to the present invention, may be constructed in all price ranges, from affordable housing to high end housing having amenities such as granite/marble counter tops, fine cabinetry, top of the line appliances, plush carpeting and the like.
It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A housing positioning system, comprising:

a residential subdivision having rectangular adjacent building lots, the building lots including adjacent driveway areas perpendicular to a street;

dwelling units disposed on the lots so that a front wall of each dwelling unit faces the driveway area at approximately a 45° angle; and

a structure having an exterior wall disposed perpendicular to a centerline of the driveway areas, the structure being proximate to a rear lot line, the structure having a common internal wall to form separate garages, with each garage servicing a respective dwelling unit.

2. The housing positioning system according to claim 1, further comprising a fence disposed between the adjacent driveway areas, whereby the driveway areas are separated.

3. The housing positioning system according to claim 2, wherein the fence has a partial gradient component extending between two predetermined distances from the street.

4. The housing positioning system according to claim 1, wherein separate storage sheds are disposed adjacent to a respective one of the separate garages.

5. The housing positioning system according to claim 1, wherein the driveway areas wrap around a rear facing wall of the dwelling units.

6. The housing positioning system according to claim 1, wherein the dwelling units are comprised of a plurality of modules.

7. The housing positioning system according to claim 1, wherein a fence is disposed between pairs of dwelling units not sharing a driveway area so that privacy is maintained between the dwelling unit pair.

8. The housing positioning system according to claim 7, wherein the fence further comprises:

a high component disposed from the back of the properties;

a partial gradient transitioning component; and

a low component disposed toward the front of the properties.

9. The housing positioning system according to claim 8, wherein the high component has a height up to six feet.

10. The housing positioning system according to claim 8, wherein the low component has a height up to exceed three feet.

11. A housing positioning method, comprising the steps of:

creating rectangular adjacent building lots from a residential subdivision;

creating adjacent driveway areas perpendicular to a street;

disposing dwelling units on the lots so that a front wall of each dwelling unit faces the driveway area at approximately a 45° angle;

arranging a structure so that an exterior wall of the structure is disposed perpendicular to a center line of the driveway areas; and

placing a common internal wall within the structure to form separate garages out of the structure so that each garage services a respective dwelling unit.

12. The housing positioning method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of disposing a fence between the adjacent driveway areas, whereby the driveway areas are separated.

13. The housing positioning method according to claim 12, wherein a partial gradient component extending between two predetermined distances from the street is created in the fence.

14. The housing positioning method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of disposing separate storage sheds adjacent to a respective one of the separate garages.

15. The housing positioning method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of wrapping the driveway areas around a rear facing wall of the dwelling units.

16. The housing positioning method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of manufacturing a plurality of modules from which the dwelling units may be constructed.

17. The housing positioning method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of disposing a fence between pairs of dwelling units not sharing a driveway area so that privacy is maintained between the dwelling unit pair.

18. The housing positioning method according to claim 17, wherein the step of disposing a fence further comprises the steps of:

disposing from the rear of the properties a fence high component;

disposing a fence partial gradient transitioning component from a front end of the fence high component; and,

disposing a fence low component from a front end of the gradient transitioning component towards the front of the properties.

19. The housing positioning method according to claim 18, wherein the step of disposing of a fence further comprises the step of building the fence high component to a height up to six feet.

20. The housing positioning method according to claim 18, wherein the step of disposing a fence further comprises the step of building the fence low component to a height up to three feet.

21. A housing positioning system, comprising:

an garage structure attached to each pair of the dwelling units, the garage structure forming two separate garages serving each one of the respective dwelling units of the pair.

22. A housing positioning method, comprising the steps of:

creating rectangular adjacent building lots from a residential subdivision;

creating adjacent driveway areas perpendicular to a street;

disposing dwelling units on the lots so that a front wall of each dwelling unit faces the driveway area at approximately a 45° angle; and

attaching a garage structure to each pair of the dwelling units, the garage structure forming two separate garages serving each one of the respective dwelling units of the pair.