A moment of clarity......... Okay, now that that's over. We are not working with an architect, instead we are working with a designer. All his drawings have been based upon our ideas, what we've seen, what we have roughly drawn up. The plans that he drew are a culmination of two plans put together and yes, the elevation on one of them was very craftsman, hence the designers craftsman elevation. I was at the end of the line when "vision" was being passed out so it is difficult for me to envision what this may end up looking like. However, I am appreciative of the feedback on this forum. We are not necessarily looking for a Tuscan home inside and out but are hoping to achieve something that is open, takes advantage of the view, has a relatively small footprint and does not cost a fortune to build. My wife and I spent hours yesterday looking at homes and can better understand material usage and look, seems like arches, use of stucco and stone, rounded pillars and the like. Right path you think? I guess the thing to do is find a picture or pictures that strike our fancy and take it back to the designer. Interior... too many windows? How does one frame a view? I guess the feel that I was attempting was one where you felt part of the view, not necessarily looking at the view. The entrance to the master I agree is an issue, perhaps we can create some sort of an alcove that separates it from the guest area of the home. All our home living experiences and homes in this part of the country have a master closet accessed off the bathrooms, very seldom is a closet accessed from a different door off the bedroom so to us, that is not a big deal, nor is the bum to bum in the bathroom. In fact, we toyed with only one vanity to begin with but ruled that out. Square footage is a concern, right now we are at 2,800 feet total, up and down and don't want to go much larger than that, can we create a private entrance into the master without enlarging the house to much? Stairway... not sure I grasp the concept of it being cumbersome, we do not want a stairway leading down to the lower level to be tucked away in a corner which in our minds provides the impression that downstairs is nothing more than an afterthought or an inconvenience to the floor plan, we would like to have it be part of the house itself. Okay, gotta run, work calls... Thanks everyone again for feedback!

Whether to have an upstairs laundry room is always a debate. I've appreciated having one where I was during the day -- usually around the kitchen, which is where the children were. Kids mean multiple loads of laundry to transfer from washer to dryer. We've always had single-story homes, but my childhood home was two-story with a laundry chute; you only need to carry the clean clothes upstairs. When I asked for more windows, I was thinking about SIDE windows. Builders cut costs by using smaller and fewer windows. Every room benefits from having natural light from two directions if possible. The plan has a DR, but the family eating area looks cramped, IMO. (12 X 12 is minimal, not counting 'walk-through' area.) Small children are in and out to play. Do you want them trekking through the house to use the toilet? I'd put the powder room near the existing laundry -- only make a larger back hallway. This is the 'staging area' for families. If you have a nice back hall, a lot of 'stuff' never makes it into the kitchen as clutter. (Maybe you'd have some toilet facilities on your lower level, too.) A deck or porch will make the lower level darker. If you can, you'll want a couple of side windows; don't rely on only light from the rear of the house. I wouldn't build this size house before I knew I was going to fill those three empty bedrooms before I was 40, but...I'm not you. I hear you -- you are sick of the condo and want to get started! I just wouldn't want to be stuck with a too-big new home that you can't sell -- because it cost too much to build, and because homes will not appreciate again as they did in the past.

Thank you all for your comments! The weather is getting cold and I hope everyone stay warm and safe. Littlebug- For UPS person or guests, I expect them park on the N St and walk up to the front door. The bottom right corner of the house is close to the community gate. There are about 30 houses on N street and only 10 on W street. So people entering the subdivision will see the front first. In case we do not have enough parking spaces there, they would find a spot close to the front door on the W St. Since the sidewalk is adjacent to the curb (without any grass between the curb and the sidewalk), the walk does not seem too bad. I understand the current layout with garage in the back is not ideal for guest parking. The lot is too narrow (70ft x 130ft) for front-or side-loading garage. Annkh- Yes. Very good suggestions on the window sizes. On the east side, the wall to wall distance is less than 20ft. The current neighbor does not have a single window. We currently have three windows in the bedrooms and one in the 2nd floor kids bath. They are for lighting and ventilation. On the wall facing the west street, we had small windows to limit heat exposure in the summer as we are building in the hot climate of deep south. I went ahead and did some changes. On the east side, the bedroom window sizes are increased from 2050 to the standard 3050. On the west side, I added two 3050 windows (one in dining and one in garage). I feel good about the window addition in garage. Just not so sure about the one in dining. Other than heat, it may cause problem for furniture placement. In addition, the small game room windows on front and west have been increased from 2010 to 2020. The two windows in the kitchen have been enlarged too. I made some small changes to the window header height. Some of the windows on the elevations look too close to the eaves so I moved them down about 6”. Not sure if that is that is right. I will verify with the designer and talk to builders. The current design has two small kitchen windows below high cabinets. I proposed to move them up to allow better lighting. Kirkhall-That is an important point and very good question. I always think that the front is on the N street as that is the front setback at on the plat. It is an empty lot in an established subdivision so we have our address already. I need to check with the city to find out where the house address would exactly be located. Or shall I also check with the post office? Lavender Lass- Thank you for your continued support and wish you a very happy new year! We are moving slowly. Just started to get cost estimate on the build. The W street is not busy. There are only about 10 homes up on that street. Our house is close to the sole entrance gate. No through traffic. Windows on the west side wall are limited and relatively small as we are concerned about the very hot summer climate here. Yes. Guests are going to park on the street in front our house. The house has a front setback of 20ft along that side so I think that is supposed to be the front unless we apply for a variance. AnnieDeighnaugh- I appreciate your comments. We have struggled a lot regarding the kitchen layout and tried different designs with help from people in the kitchen forum. I understand that the up-down island orientation would make a lot of sense in normal situations. In our case, the area is about 15ft by 16ft which is limited by the walls supporting the second floor game room. We need another 1-2ft to rotate the island 90 degree. The sink is placed on the corner so that we have more prep area to the left of the sink and in front of the fridge. Based on the prep sink size, we would probably about 2’6” landing to the other side of the sink behind the cook area. I was first worried about the island as a barrier between the cooktop and the fridge too. Just hope the problem won’t be that severe as it does not cut into the traffic much and we do have about 4ft island clearance both ways. Yes. There is a potential problem with the oven door and the pantry door being open at the same time. We may change the swing door to a pocket door to the pantry. The game room has windows along three walls. The ones on the back provide some views to the back yard and the rest are just for lighting/ventilation/exteriors. I did increase the small windows of 2010 to 2020. The front elevation needs a lot of work to make it look right. I have no idea about the front door-pediment-roof pitch proportions. I would bring the issue to the designer and certainly appreciate any comments here. Many Thanks! JF Attached are elevations with some changes to the windows. I did it on the CAD file from the designer just to illustrate some of the ideas (more windows, larger windows, lower window header, front door with vertical panels). Front Back Left Right

Can all of your clients negotiate stairs or a slope? You need to follow ADA rules if you are running a business out of your home where clients have to visit you. If this was an existing home and you had to make unreasonable modifications to make it ADA compliant you could maybe get by with stairs, but since you are building new and are putting in the office specifically for your business, I believe you have to comply with all the ADA requirements "Private businesses that provide goods or services to the public are called "public accommodations" under Title III of the ADA. Public accommodations must comply with basic nondiscrimination requirements that prohibit exclusion, segregation, and unequal treatment. Additionally, public accommodations must remove barriers in existing buildings where it is "readily achievable." This means that removing the barriers is easily accomplishable and able to be carried out without much difficulty or expense, given the public accommodation's resources. To comply with the ADA, a business must take alternative steps to ensure that disabled persons can still reap the benefits of the business or building if barrier removal is not readily achievable." " The ADA requires that newly constructed facilities, first occupied on or after January 26, 1993, meet or exceed the minimum requirements of the ADA Standards for Accessible Design. "