Two homes have

the same square footage yet one seems so much larger than the other does.

How can that be?

No, it's not

smoke and mirrors. It's because of sight lines. Sight lines are what you

see from any given point in the home, whether it's a doorway, a threshold

or even sitting down.

When sight

lines are obstructed by a wall or a door the home will feel smaller. Open

things up with a hint of what lies beyond, add a strategically placed

window, and the home will always look and live larger.

People talk

about "the good old days." But the "good old days"

weren't all that good for the average homeowner during the 50s and 60s

(unless he happened to be a bear who liked living in caves).

The typical

non-custom home built before 1980 was an unimaginative combination of

small, boxy rooms, dark hallways, and tunnel-like stairways. Front doors

often opened to small entries that felt more like solitary confinement

than "welcome to my home."

It wasn't really

the builders' fault. (You'd expect that from me, wouldn't you.) It's just

human nature. People always have wanted more for their money, so builders

gave them more rooms.

Houses were

often described in terms of how many rooms they had: "Mr. Gatsby?

Oh yes, he's the chap who lives in that 40-room swankienda up on the hill."

So, builders figured if people are into counting rooms, then by golly

they'd close off as many spaces as they could and start counting!

Remember swinging

doors that separated dining rooms from kitchens? Compared to today's open

concept designs, the homes of the good old days were claustrophobia waiting

to happen.

We live more

openly today than we did 25 years ago. Our lives are busier and our schedules

are fuller. In between work, school, soccer practice, karate lessons,

Scouts, Tae-Bo and the chiropractor, we're looking for more time together.

Open homes encourage that togetherness and keep us in touch.

Today the best-designed

homes always take into consideration what a person sees when they open

the door and not just the front door. A bedroom with the door to one side

will seem larger than if the door is in the middle of the wall and additional

furniture will work better.

Checking a

home's sight lines can be a lot of fun. All you need are house plans,

a ruler, and a pencil.

Start from

the middle of any doorway or opening and draw a straight line to various

focal points in the home. Does the line stop in that room or does it pass

through several? Does it intersect a featureless wall or will you get

a glimpse of a fireplace or a window and the courtyard beyond?

Once you've

mastered the technique of judging doorway sight lines, you're ready to

move on to Sight Lines 202 testing sight lines from various sitting positions

in the home. What will you see from the breakfast table? The family room

sofa? From your bed as you read the Sunday papers?

As you move

through a home, it's far more interesting to get a preview of what's to

come with subtle hints and intriguing clues of the spaces beyond than

to be cut off from the rest of the home unless, of course, you want to

be alone.

David Weekley founded David Weekley

Homes in 1976 at the age of 23, and now serves as the chairman of the second-largest,

privately owned homebuilder in America.

In the Atlanta

area David Weekley Homes has several communities:

The Park

at Mill Creek (Gwinnett);

Beacon Hill

at Windward (North Fulton);

Medlock

Bridge (North Fulton);

Spalding

Park Place (Gwinnett);

Monarch

Village (Henry);

Summer Grove

(Coweta);

Walden Park

(South Fulton);

Burnt Hickory

Registry (West Cobb).

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