"Bob" wrote in message
oups.com...
We want to add on to our antique farmhouse. We would like to do a 24x24
1st floor addition. Much of this space will be family room, but should
it have a cathedral ceiling or traditional ceiling with unfinished
space above it?

Our debate is whether we should do just a cathedral ceiling over that
family room, or make the ceiling normal and then add a bonus room over
that, which would tie into the existing 2nd floor.

A room that big, on a house that old- I'd frame most of the addition
cathedral style, with maybe exposed barn-frame tieing the upper structure
together. If part of the addition is bumpouts from other rooms, I'd put a
loft above, set up as a playroom/office/guest room area. (Guests don't need
a private bedroom, but a little isolation is nice.) Have fun with the loft-
make the 'old person' entry a door from the existing upstairs, but put a
ships ladder and sliding pole down into the family room. Kids will love it.
Seen it done in several houses, always a hit.

aem sends...