As some of you have read before from me, in earlier questions, I am designing a house that it is unlikely to ever be built—but I started working on it to stave off depression and isolation during the Covid lockdowns—especially since January. This has become an all-consuming passion.

The house is almost doable except for all the extra things that typically come when planning an ideal house. What I am working on is kind of a rustic, vintage c.1900 farmhouse that was inspired by several that were in my family during my childhood and teen years.

Since houses of the 1888–1912 vintage were usually either on high foundations over crawl spaces, or had a full or partial basement underneath, it would not be suitable to build on a slab foundation.

I do, however, like the look of brick kitchen floors which were atypical of the Colonial period in America—and replicated in the various ‘Early American’ phases of the last century, such as the American Bicentennial (1976), I also like the black-and-white checkered floors of limestone and granite, or marble—the more formal ones in vintage entryways of houses and old apartment buildings—and more rustic ones in other rooms such as kitchens.

Most of these floor types come in pavers that can be applied to a subfloor. While far from lightweight, ideally a floor could be made strong enough to support them.

But would it seem unnatural to have a crawl space or basement beneath them? And what about the settling and shifting of a house as seasons change and traffic flows through and the house is lived in?

Is the only option to stick with standard hardwood and floor tiles?