To add or not to add....

Once we started thinking about what to do with the remodel, or the revival, we really took into considerations two things:
1. Budgets - how far can we go with our available budget, and how can we get the most bang for the buck without compromising the quality of the build and the integrity of the era of the house.
2. Land - how much can we expand, and how will that affect the overall property experience ... and long term value.


So with some expert help, we started learning about laws. Ugh... yes, we first had to figure out what size, height, shape and style we could build. These were the results of our findings: 
The lot coverage in our neighborhood only allows for a maximum of 30% coverage. Meaning that current house + garage + addition could not be more than 3000 Sq Ft (our lot is 10,054 Sq Ft). Currently the house is 1440 Sq Ft and the garage about 588 Sq Ft for a total of 2028 Sq Ft.  Meaning that we can add close to 800 Sq Ft.
In terms of the height, we found out that it is near impossible to build up in Palm Springs.  Which is fine because we're keeping our mid-century long and low... the way it was meant to be. 
One thing we did find out was about setbacks and how we needed to stay away by 25 ft from the street in the front of the property, 10 ft from the property line on the side and 15 ft from the rear property line. 

Linda (as of January 14th 2011, with current setback dimensions

The obvious solution is to add to the rear left of the property, extending as far back and to the side to accommodate for more room. We didn't want to add behind the garage, even though that is where we have the most room, as we believe that living in Palms Springs really means you have to enjoy the outdoors. We're thinking that the space from the pool to the grapefruit tree will offer a great opportunity to create a nice outdoor space using some creative landscaping. But we're far away from this.... check back in a year or so.
So, we did some drawings to see what we could do, and this is what we thought might fit best with the lot and current property.. of course that would entail getting rid of a large palm tree, a (illegally built) brick shed and move the pool. Move the pool?!?!

Mid January 2011 ideas for expanding Linda

Well, we did like this idea. The one issue we had was that we were limited on both the left and rear side with the setback limits (10ft / 15ft). But maybe there was a workaround?
So after a bit of research and visiting the Palm Springs Planning Department, I found out that we could do a request for setback alterations, granted we had some valuable reasons (or hardship) for needing more space. So we filled out the application... let's see what happens!