Well it is often a preference thing but 99% of people probably prefer 9 foot ceilings at least in the open areas. I am a bit of a real estate junky and I also rent vacation homes - many of which are old and have 8 foot ceilings. I am 6'1" so that jades me a bit. We have 11 ft in great room/kitchen, 10 in other downstairs areas and 9 for bedrooms. It is a large house so those proportions work. We have a vacation home with 8 foot bedrooms and that works well - and they are small rooms. That house has 10 ft open great room - and that works well. Higher ceilings allow a much better view and better sun light into a room. Even tall windows can't compensate. The larger the room with 8 foot ceilings, the darker it will be. Some people like dark but most don't. I personally like darker bedrooms so the 8 ft ceilings can work there. We were just at a rental house with 8 foot ceilings in a large room and we couldn't get over how dark it was. Lights on during the day is just a shame. You mention heating. You have a design with a very deep overhang on the south side of the house. That decision will cost far more in heating than an extra foot in wall height. An extra foot in wall height means an extra 12% in wall losses. In my house wall losses are about 20% of heating losses so the extra foot is roughly 2% extra heating. A good southern wall of glass can easily save 50% on heating costs. You have a design of a dark house with that overhang also. You only allow northern light into the open area. Northern windows only hurt in regards to heating. They also give the least sunlight into the house. Add in 8 foot ceilings and it is going to be dark. And for some more completely unsolicited advice - 30 inch deep counters make overhead space harder to reach. And windows at 1 foot above the floor have to be tempered by code and that is roughly double the cost. Code (everywhere?) requires that windows need to be 18 inch above the floor or they must be tempered. Building on a slab yet you are concerned about heating? I am wondering where you are building. Generally, slabs are used in the South where heat is in excess. Where I live in mixed climate, slabs are used in the most basic of construction - typically townhomes. In a colder area, locating ductwork for HVAC is harder to do with a slab. You can do it of course but it is harder. I could ramble on and on about this but that is a different topic.

you will save quite a bit of money from changing from 10' plates to 9'. framing costs lower, drywall costs lower, less siding, etc. Not to mention save money on heating and cooling. PLus this thread mentions possible design issues with it and added costs associated with it. Our current design uses 9' plates in general, but the entry and dining bump up to 10' plates. we are using an 8' full glass front door. the living space is 9' plates with a 10' tray ceiling built into the trusses. kitchen is also 9' and we are using 42" high cabinets. in the kitchen consider indirect uplighting/cove lighting as a main source of light. Ironically most people load kitchens with cans. Cans are one of the worst lighting sources for a kitchen since it cast shadows on the work surface since you are blocking the light. Undercabinet lighting set to the front edge of the upper and indirect uploading will provide overall better lighting of the space. not having soffits will allow lighting above your cabinets.

If it were me, I'd prefer to pay as I go. Help and sufficient time allocated as needed. Fair for both as far as the hours go. Do you think you will need 160-200 hours of her time, with the package? Or are you fairly independent and somewhat sure of your taste and decisions, able to research options on your own. The other thing is, what happens if you do the package then you find she doesn't really understand your style or you don't care for what she has to offer? What draws you to this designer? Have you seen her work and liked it? Have you checked out others? This post was edited by snookums2 on Sun, Nov 10, 13 at 21:57

The architectural forms of the OP's inspiration house and the Cape Cod house above were brought to America by the earliest English settlers in the second half of the 17th century. The remaining exampes in England are in the Cotswold region of England; the examples, old and new, in the US are often referred to as Post Medieval English. Cotswold Cottages: In the US: (not as many wall dormers) 1668 The inspiration house got the proportions right but the OP's architect did not. However, the inspiration house architect deviated from the style with the use of a segnented arch transom over the center monumemtal window, possibly a southern thing.