#  >  > Living And Legal Affairs In Thailand >  >  > Construction in Thailand >  >  > Building in Thailand Famous Threads >  >  An old style Thai home

## hillbilly

Come on and step through the door and visit hillbilly's antique guesthouse!



The inside is still rather bare but hopefully some Thai antiques will begin to fill up the space. :Smile:

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## hillbilly

The idea was to build a simple guesthouse on the back of our property. Not very big, only about 4m x 6m home. It has been designed to mimic a Thai home about 100 years ago.

However, this home does a electricity and eventually will have a sit-down toilet. :Smile:  

Please keep in mind that construction is still ongoing. The original budget was set at B50,000. Since I AM the BOSS of the house let's see how this project works out. :Wink:  

Here is a look from the outside.

 

The railings, windows, doors, everything is old! Much work has to be done to refurbish much of the material.

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## hillbilly

Now, I did say that the goal was to use old stuff as much as possible. To do the walls using the old bamboo mesh method was impossible. Technology has now taken over to achieve the handmade look.

One can buy sheets of this semi-plywood material.



This is the backside of the home where the semi-attached bathroom is going to go.

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## Anonymous Coward

You sure do some cool stuff there HB. Good work.

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## hillbilly

Speaking of the bathroom, try and guess what this is?


Some more doors and windows.

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## hillbilly

The concrete forms for the septic tank system arrive.


In the meantime more old furniture also arrives.


Along with another door. I think this one is actually for the bathroom.

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## hillbilly

Getting back to the bathroom, I thought you might enjoy a combination of Thai & hillbilly autocad.

You can see the outline on the ground. This bathroom will have a walkway from the house to the bathroom itself.

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## hillbilly

From the front window of the guesthouse looking out.


Looking at the guesthouse from my 'sala'.

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## hillbilly

Coming along!


The painting begins.



In a few weeks, I will have an update. Current budget? Pushing B100,000! :Sad:

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## Thetyim

I'm confused.
Does it move ?
Do you tow it around behind your pick-up.
Is it the antique thai equivalent of an Airstream

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## Spin

^ LOL, he can move it to a shady spot in the afternoons

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## Anonymous Coward

Perhaps he's creating the Thai version of poor white trash trailer park?

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## daveboy

Is it an antique hot tub?

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## hillbilly

^Sorta right, this is an antique Thai tub. The barrel had/has to be kept full so it will not leak.

In the past there was no hot water, but this tub will be blessed. Unluckily, it will only hold 1 person at a time. :Sad:

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## Spin

> hopefully some Thai antiques will begin to fill up the space


Ahh thats nice, the old folks will love your nice garden.

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## Fabian

> Is it an antique hot tub?


I thought it was an old cabinet.

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## hillbilly

Well you are right, it is an old cabinet. :Smile:

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## Anonymous Coward

> The idea was to build a simple guesthouse on the back of our property. Not very big, only about 4m x 6m home. It has been designed to mimic a Thai home about 100 years ago.


You've done some extraordinarily creative stuff, both with the guest house and the original "shack". I wonder if you'd share a bit about the thought process that went into the concept and the design. Who came up with the idea of building the old style home and how did the design come about? Is the wood floor made from old stuff or new?

I know, so many questions, but you do such a great job of expounding....

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## kathy cannon

How cozy, I think its great.

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## Fingers_in_pies

How big is your plot of land? are you planning anymore guest houses? 

I think it's a great idea, when i finally get the mooban house on the go i was thinking of building some teak guesthouses for my family.

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## hillbilly

So many questions have been asked. 

The reality is I really don’t have any answers.

When we decided to build a guest home it was with the thought in mind of ‘the kind of home my mother lived in’. Well we all know that memory does tend to fade.

So when we have time the family and I cruise Thai villages and take a few pics. Show these pics to the old folks and then it gets interesting. I thought they were all poor farmers, but there is a hierarchy. :Confused:  

Add in some commonsense, tales from the old, and budget restraints of today; and there one goes. A home from the old generation to appease the present generation.

Don’t really think, that I will add any more guest homes to this 3 rai section. I hate the crowded feeling.

Concerning home stay projects. The wife and I have been discussing this lately. :dev+ang:  

Let’s say we charge B2000 per day. But the guests run up a B3000 phone bill daily. Well, you can see the problems…

However, if any of you_ honest_ TeakDoor members would like to stay in a Thai village, let me know…

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## ChiangMai noon

> Let’s say we charge B2000 per day.


with UBC and ADSL internet access I assume.
 :Smile:

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## hillbilly

^No. I would only bill for the 'atmosphere'. :Smile:

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## spaceman111111

Hillbilly..is your country home outside of Phrae?

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## Deaner

Looking forward to the rest of this thread HB. Nice one!  :Very Happy: 




> However, if any of you honest TeakDoor members would like to stay in a Thai village, let me know…


Honesty is the best policy - when there is money in it. ~ Mark Twain

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## hillbilly

An update will be coming in about 2 weeks! :Smile:

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## hillbilly

> Hillbilly..is your country home outside of Phrae?


A couple of provinces further south, P-Lok province. However many of the original workers for the main house came from Phrae.

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## georgem

It is truely a Thai home,open and comfortable!

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## The_Dude

Very nice pics, please post more. Great ideas.

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## hillbilly

I think this guest house project is almost complete. Everything has been painted and the landscaping is done for now.


Here is a view that show the outside bathroom. This style was done to replicate Grandma's home when she was growing up.


A closer look. You can see a solar light on top of the old wagon wheel.

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## hillbilly

Come on in and take a look around! :Smile:  


The living room. Well actually it is the only room. No AC is this house but we do have 2 fans. You can also see some of the old furniture that we have had refurbished.



Looking the other way in the living room.

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## hillbilly

Now let's go to the bathroom. First we have to step through this door/window. Yep, that is how they use to do it. :Smile:  


This is what you just crawled though. You are now standing on the porch of the bathroom.

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## hillbilly

Here is the old-style Thai bathtub. However, the shower is new-style Thai. Luckily we don't have any close neighbors because I did not pull the blinds down when I tested out the tub! 


While the wife wanted the guest house to be as old looking as possible, she insisted on the Western-style sitdown toilet.

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## hillbilly

The picnic area for the guest house. This is still undergoing thinking. One of these days, I will invite everyone up! :Wink:

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## HermantheGerman

> ^Sorta right, this is an antique Thai tub. The barrel had/has to be kept full so it will not leak.
> 
> In the past there was no hot water, but this tub will be blessed. Unluckily, it will only hold 1 person at a time.


 
Ohhh c'mon Hillbilly,
I'am sure if I put "Fingers in pies" avatar inside your tub you will manage to squeeze in there somehow.  :Wink:

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## ebeth

In this very long epic- I started out with the teakhouse....41 pages very interesting story- and then went on to this short one. Only one thing I do not understand in the designs! Why, with all your effort and all the landscaping and everything. Why do you paint the loos in those crazy colours? To bright for a place like yours. Whatever happened to a simple white...

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## a. boozer

A brilliant concept, and nicely done. Congratulations!

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## hillbilly

> In this very long epic- I started out with the teakhouse....41 pages very interesting story- and then went on to this short one. Only one thing I do not understand in the designs! Why, with all your effort and all the landscaping and everything. Why do you paint the loos in those crazy colours? To bright for a place like yours. Whatever happened to a simple white...


I love your questions! I appreciate your patience and tolerance as you muddled through my adventures.

The only response that I can possbily give is this. Have you ever been married to a Thai? :Smile:

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## Luckydog

Good on ya HB. Tell us when its finished and I will come to stay. What is the rate going to be? Can I bring my beloved Dogs? Oh yes an' her in doors. WOT? Dogs ok, but not HER? Mmmmmmm I accept.........

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## ebeth

"The only response that I can possbily give is this. Have you ever been married to a Thai? :Smile: "
Well I cannot say that I have. But I have had the experience of building a house in Northern Thailand with many 'funny' discussions about how to do the different things.... Perhaps you need a new project further North  :Wink:  I would like to sell it... Still a very green/yellow loo but some battles aren't worth fighting :dev+ang:

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## Mowgli

> Originally Posted by ebeth
> 
> 
> In this very long epic- I started out with the teakhouse....41 pages very interesting story- and then went on to this short one. Only one thing I do not understand in the designs! Why, with all your effort and all the landscaping and everything. Why do you paint the loos in those crazy colours? To bright for a place like yours. Whatever happened to a simple white...
> 
> 
> I love your questions! I appreciate your patience and tolerance as you muddled through my adventures.
> 
> The only response that I can possbily give is this. Have you ever been married to a Thai?


Ha ha! brilliant answer!
BTW, I love what you've done. I've modernised a large traditional Thai stilt house near Chaiyaphum and have been thinking of doing similar to what you've done...... but include a small (but raised) dip pool you can step into from the balcony.

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## Smithson

Great place, nice and simple. Do you have a rough estimate of the total cost?

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