You've picked some nice plans and there are elements of each that I especially like. I'll leave it to some of the experts here to help with the layouts, but will make suggestions regarding light. When we lived in FL, we found that a 10 ft. deep porch did not provide adequate rain protection if we wanted to sit out during a storm (which we enjoyed doing.) A 14 ft. deep porch worked much better on a later house. On one house, we had two skylights installed in the roof of our back porch, near the family room rear wall, which helped to brighten the interior of the house a great deal without unwelcome heat gain. We also used solar tubes inside to add light in an interior bathroom. In our retirement home, dh wants to use a "Spyder" light tube that has one roof penetration and (I think) up to five light tubes to bring extra light to halls and closets. Maybe that would work for you, too.

Thanks for all the info rockmanor. What are some of the elements you especially like.. any that you see that you would hate?

I should post a picture of the exterior that we are trying to work with.
{{gwi:1476006}}From house exterior

For plan #1, I like that the laundry room is a real room that can be closed off.

You can solve the possible light issue in the two secondary bedroom by adding windows on the side of the house since you don't have close neightbors. (For the bedroom on the back of the house, I would eliminate the window overlooking the porch for privace issues. You need to keep the ones in the front bedroom to maintain symmetry on the front facade.)

I like the half bath near the garage entrance.

I like that the full bath by the bedrooms separates the sink from the tub and toilet.

I like that there is a coat closet somewhere near the front entry.

I think that the location of the pantry is clever.

Also like that the garage is not so prominant in the first plan. I don't like it when the biggest thing that you see when you drive up to a house is the garage!

Porches are pretty, but...how much will you actually USE them? (Too hot, too buggy, etc.) I don't like any plan where a BR window opens on a porch.

Is Plan # 1 meant to have a basement? (Stairs leading down next to MBR.)

Plan # 3 is out of the running for me because it lacks the powder room near the family entry.

You know, on further thought, why are you looking at these 'small lot' plans when you have five acres? These plans need to squeeze a garage onto a small footprint -- blocking light from the living areas. In a mild climate, you could have the garage separate from the house, or connected via a covered walkway.

We have one acre and a 2900 sq ft single level home. The garage is at a 120-degree angle to the house with the 'back hall' between it and the kitchen. Our house flows west from there, with Kitchen, Foyer, Library, and Master Bath all facing north. The Bkfast Rm., Screened Porch, DR, LR, Guest Rm., and MBR all face south. There's room for 3.5 baths. Lots of light.

Can you look at 'ranch' plans that have more 'sprawl'? LOL The exterior you show is a 2-story -- thought you wanted single level.

I like the individual closets in the master suite in plan 1. Dh & I will never share closets again. ; ) I also like the compartmented hall bathroom in plan 1. Plans 1 & 3 have larger pantries than plan 2; with a growing boy in the home, I'd want the extra food storage. The large bar in plan 2 is appealing for quick meals, because we'd probably use the breakfast nook as our shared computer space, especially with a child in the home. When we had kids at home, the computer w/ online access was in a place where dh or I could easily supervise them. Plan 3 has the largest dining room, and I'd like that best because it allows room for a china cabinet or sideboard.

I don't think that the garages are a problem, since they're all side entry and have windows facing the front. I miss the house I helped design for us, in part because the garage entry door was only a few feet from our pantry and the nearest kitchen counter. Now I lug grocery bags through a 24+ ft. long sunroom and a 10 ft. mudroom before getting to our kitchen. A long breezeway has no appeal.

Plans 2 & 3 don't provide any visual divide between the front entry and the great room. I'd want to tweak them so that anyone coming to the door could not see us in our pajamas watching TV. That may not be a concern for you.

Have you considered the orientation of the house on your property? Being in FL, you'll want to pay close attention to the sun and think about solar heat gain.

Love the front porch on the exterior picture you posted!

Thanks again for looking and commenting.. all the points are things to ponder about!

I should clear up a couple things, we are looking at smaller homes as this is our retirement home, we have had homes from 3200 (current) to 5000 - just too much! We really ideally would like to get down to 1800-2000 sq feet.

The stairs are leading up to a bonus room, which will give us all the extra space we currently need, but will allow us to close it off completely when it's too much.

The detached garage is an idea... need to think on that. (hubby loves this exterior, I could swap it in a hear beat - he is pretty much not moving on it) I don't think anyone in our area has detached garages. Even though we say it's our last home, you just never know what tomorrow holds and to build smart, we have to think about resale... just in case.

Porches.. I do think they are more "eye candy".. but something we both love, even it it is only to look at!

Question - in regards to plan #1 with the breakfast room tucked in, vs plan 2&3 which has the breakfast room bumped out with windows on all sides.. do you think that is a major different in natural light? Does the kitchen on plan 1, which has a window.. make a big difference than the other 2 plans?

You could build with more 'sprawl' and not exceed 2000 sq ft. (We're at 2900, but have BIG rooms.)

If you put a garage even a few feet away, you'd get light all around your house. I wouldn't do it in Chicagoland, but I would actually prefer it where the climate is mild. Would help a bit on insurance, and it would be a benefit should you have a Garage Band in your future. LOL)

Porches are important here in Florida. I really think that you will want them. They protect the house and I find that they are nice to sit on almost all year down here. You can always screen one of them off to help with the buggy season (now). There is ALWAYS a time of day, morning or evening where you can use the porch. Nothing is nicer than sitting out with your coffee in the morning or with a glass of wine in the evening. It also helps protect the house from the elements.

The original Floridians had lots of porches and in many cases full wrap around porches. If you are not going to do a full wrap around then be sure to orient the non protected side towards a kinder orientation.

Ronald Haase wrote an excellent book titled "Classic Cracker, Florida's Wood Frame Vernacular Architecture". My husband and I are going to start building a house very shortly based on the original cracker way of thinking, (they knew what they were doing...they didn't have air conditioning then. We will most likely be purchasing our materials from Cracker Style Log Homes in Williston, FL. though we will be building a cypress framed house rather than logs, so we can insulate the house better.

I will have a nice loft for a sewing area, and full wrap around porches. The house will not be dark if you put enough windows in the rooms. I've been in the model log house with the full wrap porch. The windows in the loft will also throw light down into your rooms. We are near retirement age, so our master will be on the main floor, but the loft can double as a guest sleeping area. I may just put a couch that pulls into a bed, as I don't want to waste square footage on a guest room that sits a lot of the time.

When you build your staircase be sure to have at least one turn in it with a landing. They are much safer than a staircase with a straight run, and are friendlier to aging bodies. Quite frankly, I feel the forced exercise helps keep one young. A personal trainer friend has stated that most mobility problems are from aging people not forcing their bodies to move, so they lose what they aren't using. They end up stooped over and stiff. People that farm in my area do not get that way. Naturally, some people have issues aside from this.

A smaller footprint equals smaller taxes, particularly if you build the loft as storage. Your blueprints can say this. What you do later is up to you. The more sprawl the higher the property taxes.

My thought on attatched garages is that they wreck the look of a house. Haven't seen one yet that I like.

You will want a window in your kitchen. I like the plan that has the windows in it from front to back. You will need to think about how you like to cook. I would hate a room without windows. Also the more bumpouts you have the more complex the house is to build, and that means high enough costs worth considering.

I would start with some graph paper and use the pieces from your plans that you like, and see if you can come up with an "ideal" plan for you. Stock plans built as given are seldom going to be a great fit. There are people that can put them into blueprints for a very reasonable cost. You don't need an architect....been there, done that, wasted a lot of money.

You've got a really pretty basic house idea. You'll be able to make it even better!

Sandy

Why not "detach" the garage from the home, and connect it with an enclosed, heated/AC'ed breezeway that acts as a mudroom? That way 1. You have light on all 4 sides of the house 2. the garage is not so front-and-center and 3. the garage is still connected to the house for resale value (people will not have to walk outside or in an unconditioned room) and 4. The mudroom/entryway will not take up valuable space in the home itself. Anyone else have thoughts on that?

Sandy, thanks for a great reply.. I've read through it a couple of times!

As for the detached garage plan.. I've thrown the idea out to hubby and he wasn't totally against it.. so I'm looking and possibly will find something that we'd consider!