Old house to B&B

[Meadowbend99]

Hi all,

I have a client with a large old house which they are trying to turn into a B&B and be able to hold events. It has 3 bedroom suites, a business area and home theater upstairs. It is a house with a large open decorative staircase off a central hallway. On either side of the stairway downstairs are large cased openings to living and dining rooms. The kitchen area would be off limits to guests.

I'm trying to figure out the best way to get them operational. If we permit it as R-3 with accessory A-2 space would need to be under 750 SF. If I can count the Dining and Living as separate rooms then it might work, but the cased openings are pretty expansive. The dining and living are 370 SF each separated by a large open hallway. There is also a study that would be used (off that same hallway with a door), 411 SF, and a possible family room (off the kitchen), 446 SF. If the assembly space is accessory, does that mean all assembly spaces can't total more than 750 SF or each one can't be more than 750 SF.

If there were a way to not necessitate a sprinkler system, that would be ideal, but I don't see how to get around one. If we can permit it as R-3 then we might be able to get away with a 13D system, but our occupant load is over 100. Obviously separating the A-2 and R-3 spaces with a 1 HR would be impossible without significantly impacting the character of the house.

We are permitting through a county, the planning dept. tends to be fairly easy to work with but the Fire Marshall not so much, using 2012 IBC & IFC.

Suggestions please!
https://ibb.co/bZsRAe

https://ibb.co/nQ57GK

https://ibb.co/ndKZwK

 

[cda]

House/ Building in a Texas county area

You never know what you are going to get.

Sounds like best option set down with the fire marshal and pitch different options


Maybe pitch it as a R-3 only, especially with the small assembly area

 

[RLGA]

Small assembly spaces may be classified with the main occupancy, or Group R-3 in this case. Each space is evaluated separately when considering the 750 sq. ft. limitation. No separation required. A sprinkler system will be required because of a change of use of the building. Compliance with IEBC Section 407 or Chapter 10, depending on compliance method used, is required.

 

[JCraver]

Are the owners staying in / living in the house, like a typical B&B? If yes, why aren't you building this under the IRC?

2015 IBC - 301.5.2 Lodging Houses. Owner-occupied lodging houses with five or fewer guest rooms shall be permitted to be constructed in accordance with the International Residential Code.

 

[cda]

Texas true county areas have some strange building rules

 

[SCBO1]

My neighbors in a wheelchair and asked if he can get to the bedrooms or the upstairs theater on his own?

 

[ADAguy]

neighbor makes a point and what of guests? A LULA will work at lower cost then an elevator. There are also accessible one stop packaged units that might work without shafts.
Now as to bathrooms, are they being considered?
Is the building on grade or elevated?

 

[Meadowbend99]

Hi all,

Thank you for the comments. This is an existing residence, built 2006, which would be used for wedding and commerical events. The owners will not live in this building but there is another house on the site, which will be lived in. There is an elevator that meets ADA guidelines, they will install a lift on the front of the house and the back will have a ramp. One of the 3 upstairs bathrooms can be converted and they'll look into doing that once they have funds coming in. There is also a detached Ballroom 20' from the house with accessible toilets.

Pcinspector1 - Your neighbor should able to navigate pretty well in the house.

 

[ADAguy]

Interesting, I recently attended a wedding on a similar property In Chino, CA.