diff --git a/lib/couchrest.rb b/lib/couchrest.rb
index 5c05b02..bec5ad9 100644
--- a/lib/couchrest.rb
+++ b/lib/couchrest.rb
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ require 'couchrest/monkeypatches'
 module CouchRest
   autoload :Server,       'couchrest/core/server'
   autoload :Database,     'couchrest/core/database'
+  autoload :Document,     'couchrest/core/document'
   autoload :Model,        'couchrest/core/model'
   autoload :Pager,        'couchrest/helper/pager'
   autoload :FileManager,  'couchrest/helper/file_manager'
diff --git a/lib/couchrest/core/document.rb b/lib/couchrest/core/document.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b076e97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/couchrest/core/document.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+module CouchRest
+  class Response < Hash
+    def initialize keys = {}
+      keys.each do |k,v|
+        self[k.to_s] = v
+      end
+    end
+    def []= key, value
+      super(key.to_s, value)
+    end
+    def [] key
+      super(key.to_s)
+    end
+  end
+  
+  class Document < Response
+
+  end
+  
+  class Design < Document
+    
+  end
+  
+  
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/couchrest/core/model.rb b/lib/couchrest/core/model.rb
index 463eed5..e41a3d3 100644
--- a/lib/couchrest/core/model.rb
+++ b/lib/couchrest/core/model.rb
@@ -68,15 +68,12 @@ module CouchRest
   #  
   #     Article.by_tags :key => "ruby", :reduce => true
   #  
-  class Model < Hash
+  class Model < Document
 
     # instantiates the hash by converting all the keys to strings.
     def initialize keys = {}
-      super()
+      super(keys)
       apply_defaults
-      keys.each do |k,v|
-        self[k.to_s] = v
-      end
       cast_keys
       unless self['_id'] && self['_rev']
         self['couchrest-type'] = self.class.to_s
@@ -314,9 +311,8 @@ module CouchRest
       # returns stored defaults if the there is a view named this in the design doc
       def has_view?(view)
         view = view.to_s
-        if generated_design_doc['views'][view]
+        generated_design_doc['views'][view] &&
           generated_design_doc['views'][view]["couchrest-defaults"]
-        end
       end
 
       # Fetch the generated design doc. Could raise an error if the generated views have not been queried yet.
@@ -495,7 +491,7 @@ module CouchRest
     def apply_defaults
       if self.class.default
         self.class.default.each do |k,v|
-          self[k.to_s] = v
+          self[k] = v
         end
       end
     end
diff --git a/spec/couchrest/core/document_spec.rb b/spec/couchrest/core/document_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a1e7bda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/couchrest/core/document_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../../spec_helper'
+
+describe CouchRest::Document, "[]=" do
+  before(:each) do
+    @doc = CouchRest::Document.new
+  end
+  it "should work" do
+    @doc["enamel"].should == nil
+    @doc["enamel"] = "Strong"
+    @doc["enamel"].should == "Strong"
+  end
+  it "[]= should convert to string" do
+    @doc["enamel"].should == nil
+    @doc[:enamel] = "Strong"
+    @doc["enamel"].should == "Strong"
+  end
+  it "should read as a string" do
+    @doc[:enamel] = "Strong"
+    @doc[:enamel].should == "Strong"
+  end
+end
+
+describe CouchRest::Document, "new" do
+  it "should create itself from a Hash" do
+    @doc = CouchRest::Document.new("key" => [1,2,3], :more => "values")
+    @doc["key"].should == [1,2,3]
+    @doc["more"].should == "values"
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file