Sorry to say it, but yes, those prices are probably correct. We're in PA, (DH is originally from WV!). We were looking to build one of their plans,(Lansdowne Place) or one by Living Concepts with the similar angled garage. We were quoted prices up to 1 million, (not including our land because it is paid for). I had/have most of my finishes picked out too and that was also not a finished basement. Even after I went to a house designer and had things "tweaked", we were still getting quotes over our budget. We just scrapped those plans. Started over and simplified. That was harder for me than DH, but it had to be done. (We've been at this since late 06 and hopefully breaking ground sometime this year!Maybe LOL!) Took away all the gables, angled garage, complicated corners and bumpouts, simplified some finishes and you know what? We are actually getting a better, more efficient design and timeless too. Plus, we are now able to get our basement finished, which was important for us. Sacrificing was at first painful, but now we are very happy with the design. It fits our budget and our lifestyle. You are already on the right track of researching and choosing finishes, while still keeping in mind your budget. Good job and good luck!

We are trying to get our front porch prepared now and have run into a very costly issue I wanted to ask for input on. The porch is going to have a 4 inch slab and we are surrounded below the porch with poured concrete walls. The space below the floor level to the top of the poured walls is about 24”. So we have that distance to fill and prepare for the concrete porch. We first want to know if anyone has some thoughts on how to secure the exposed area at the top of the safe room in that 24” area between the pad and the wall? We just feel that a simple brick edge perimeter is not enough since we are coming up in a secure 8-10” thick poured safe room. We thought of putting concrete board on the exterior prior to the brick ledge coming up to cover for aesthetics? We also thought of metal plates for protection? This would not just be for security but to continue providing safety from storms or fire etc. The other part of this dilemma is our room has a span up to 15 feet between the walls. Our builder priced a fabricator making metal floor trusts to support the pad and build up the deck to floor level above the poured walls. The fabricator hit us with a $28,000 estimate to do this! (that’s not concrete or flagstone, ONLY steel) We know there is a much cheaper way. We are not totally opposed to putting some support posts within the room to save money if need be. Does anyone know what we can do to span this area and hold up the pad while not costing us a fortune in trusts? I was wondering if buying stock trusts and/or channels or even beams to support the pad decking would be far less than custom metal fabricating? Then we were also thinking of if LVL beams could be used for savings? We are obviously at a disadvantage here because it will take some knowledge of spans and weight calculation and I am sure we will have to get an engineer to approve as well. This is just a shocker in terms of cost because we plan on having a lot more metal and concrete elevated work in the rear of the house too and with this price for our front porch we are in shock. Anyone that can give some suggestions on the best way to resolve this be so appreciated!

We did not build Lansdowne Place, but seriously considered it.. We LOVED it when we first saw it in a magainze in 06 or 07.. I sent away and paid for tons of info from Garrell.. but after talking to a local builder and giving him that floor plan and our 'must have' list to incorporate into that plan.. long story short.. he first came back with a way too big house plan.. we tried cutting it down.. never really works.. after a year & 3 architechs we fired the builder kept the 3rd architect, started from scratch with the floor plan and we were owner/builders. And this is what we ended up with.

I would also recommend Cornerstone Construction in Asheville. They are easy to work with and can do a custom plan for you. Most builders don't like to quote you a price per square foot price (in our experience).