Sorry to say this, but to me the exterior of the house is very unattractive. The huge stairwell window doesn't blend with the rest of the house at all. And then there is the roof....

Doesn't it snow in Wisconsin? That roof pitch is seriously low. I think it is way too low. It is very unattractive, in my opinion. Hip roofs tend to look a lot better if they are steeper.

I don't have time to look at the floor plan in detail at the moment, but I did notice you have a wall oven directly next to refrigerator, which doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

I'm not sure you'll fit all the furniture you show in the main floor, and the girls' room still looks a little tight (I'd check actual aisle measurements, especially where you go around corners, etc). Maybe a double desk instead of a window seat, so there's not a fight over the one, small desk? (Or maybe just drawers there, if they won't use the desks and only use them for piling stuff?) But, overall, it's looking pretty good.

I still worry that you don't have room to have guests for dinner, but I love your kitchen-pantry setup. And would love the banquette, too, if it wasn't the only dining space.

What is the sex of your children? Girls and boys or only girls or only boys? Something to think about with the sharing of rooms and bathrooms once they become teenagers. I don't like the idea of the jack/jill type bath with only access through bedrooms for getting to and cleaning especially in a room that is shared. Too much having to be on the exact same schedule and not disturbing others.

Are you going for a modern look house? It just seems a little off in the setting. We are in the country and lately a lot of people have been building homes on acerages that look like they belong in a regular mass-produced sub-division and just been plonked in the middle of a pasture. I think with a modern look there are plenty of things you could do to take advantage of your surroundings and also make it look like it belongs.

I think it has some modern detailing, but then the porch is a very traditional country house detail so I'm a little confused as to what look you're really wanting.

TG, I'm not the one who will have to keep the tiles clean in the 5'x7' shower, lol!

I know some folks may not approve of having 2 entries and thus the extra hallspace, but I think you had the kids' muddy feet in mind. I'd rather have had the everyday entrance directly into the mud room rather than walk down to put away muddy boots/coats. I suspect the kids will find using the hall and foyer to get to the steps to their rooms will be just as easy, or easier than heading for the mudroom. Don't expect kids to go in an opposite direction of "their" space just to put away outdoor gear -- to encourage neatness, make the dropoff point en route.

It looks like about 13' between the main sinks and the fridge. Not bad, not good. Better if there weren't two island corners between. This is the sort of layout that explains why one needs a "prep sink" in the island... that's the sink that'll be used most, just because it's in a more convenient location. Please be sure to round those corners on the island... as is they are bruise-makers. Have you planned the location of the microwave? the trash basket? the recycling bins? Have you figured out how to fix meals if you are on crutches [not wishing anyone bad luck; but broken legs happen]. Blind cabinet corners can waste a lot of storage space... be sure you've alloted enough door-width for pull-out racks or a lazy susan. It's interesting that you have a good hall width of 48", but only 42" width in the working portion of the kitchen. Personally, I spend lots more time walking twixt the stove/fridge/sink than I do walking the halls. And I'm usually carrying stuff in the kitchen more than I do in the hall.

One thought on the kitchen windows... corner windows are notorious for being drafty, not because of the window portion but because there is not enough space between units to properly insulate. I suspect that unless you are using a premade steel corner-unit, there is not enough room for proper installation separate window units.

I like the kitchen.

I think the second floor is a huge improvement over what you posted before. I have two children sharing a 20x13 room and I can say that your layout is very functional for that purpose. They will both be able to make their beds.

I think the away room is somewhat redundant if you will eventually have an office in the basement. Given your lifestyle, would it make sense to try and have that room closer to the powder room to function as a short-term guest room?

I don't understand why you have a roof projecting over your first floor. Wouldn't you want the southern exposure in WI?

I don't think the basement is great, but since you aren't doing it now anyway you have plenty of time to evaluate your needs and make you final choices. However, if you have to plan for the plumbing now I would strongly suggest a configuration that allows for some natural light in the hallway. I would incorporate the basement bath into the storage area and use the bathroom space to make the bedroom bigger and bring light into the hallway. Is it possible to have a door directly to the outside in the basement? Even if you don't finish it the kids can roller skate and play ping pong down there in the winter instead of sitting in front of a TV.

I don't think you need the second door on the front porch. A small high window would be prettier and save you $500.

I strongly dislike the elevation. It looks extremely 50's. Is it supposed to be contemporary? Contemporary scares me - I would not attempt it without an architect. In my area you would have a very, very hard time selling that house. Although in my area Tuscan villas with fake peeling away stucco seem to sell like hotcakes, so I guess there's no accounting for taste.

CHeck out the main floor of this house. The second floor isn't what you want, but it could be reconfigured to have larger kids' rooms.

Also, the summer 2008 magazine 'Houses' by Fine Homebuilding features a red 3 bedroom that I think would appeal to your sensibilities. It doesn't have everything your plan does, but it might give you some ideas.

Here is a link that might be useful: house plan

I like how the kitchen and pantry function together BUT my kids would be running through the pantry 100 times a day to get to the fridge and I wouldn't like that. I'd ratehr then run through the mudroom and have the pantry only used for it's intended purpose. I had to move my pantry a bit further from the kitchen to do that though so it's a compromise.

Good catch about the roof pitch, frog_hopper!

The plan is *better*, but I don't think you're there yet.

I like solie's idea house -- especially the hall bath for the kids use.

I, too, dislike these elevations -- enough that I would complain to the building review board if you wanted to build it on my street. It isn't really *any* style. (Be aware that 'contemporary' appeals to only about 5% of buyers.)

Note: No garage needs all those windows.

The stairs to the basement (in the garage) dont have length to have the proper height clearance. From the looks of it, you would only be down 4' at the area where you would pass under the hall from the garage.

Yes, the stairs to the basement from the garage won't pass code due to insuffcient vertical clearance.

Two entrances and a window waste a lot of space in the pantry.

I love away rooms, but they need to be really away from the main living area in order to provide quiet and privacy. An away room next to a living room doesn't make sense to me.

The basement bar in the hall is going to look odd to a future buyer who might have a child sleeping down there.

The basement bath is huge for a 1 3/4 bath. It wastes space.

No door going into the house or garage should swing out for security reasons. Some jurisdiction even ban them. You can buy outswing security doors, but they are very expensive.

Thanks for the constructive and honest feedback. It sounds like we could make some specific changes to the interior to improve it.

Making the exterior more appealing is a bigger hurdle. Obviously, we have no training in home design and our home design team is not giving us any guidance about this.

We are not set on a specific style of architecture, although we both really like contemporary. We wanted to keep the outside simple (and reasonably appealing for harmony with our neighbors and resale) so we could invest on the inside. Would it be possible to adapt the outside to a more popular home style?

After the comments about our "ugly baby"--well justified, funny, and sad--we allowed ourselves to tour a site like architecturalhouseplans again. We are not sure where to go from here. A couple of those plans fit our neighborhood and would surely end up more aesthetically pleasing than our very own design, but we wonder if they are designed where cost is no object. I will post that question separately. Please let us know any more specific ideas you have about our design. It would be wonderful if we could make it work. Thank you so much!

Regarding the roof and exterior....I think it looks fine. You might try to figure out some belly bands to dress it up, maybe a two color scheme? Prairie style is HUGE in Wisconsin. I think our roof pitch is 4/12; the builder said that was the best ptich for protection against wind damage.

I think the exterior may be improved by getting rid of the "stub" roof between the floors and dropping the windows by a foot or so. The roof pitch could be raised to maybe an 8/12....I think it would look much better. I think a 3 foot high stone skirt may help to break up the monotony and blockiness of the front facade. The stairwell bumpout is distracting also...or maybe just the huge windows dedicated to it....it tends to unbalance things.

I don't think the interior is too bad but some of the previous comments are quite useful.

One thing, if the theater is intended to house the family, it is too small...you could steal some room from the office and definitely consider reorienting so that the screen is on the shorter wall (think throw distance from projector).

I like the house. Is it prairie style? But I'm not sure if the garage matches up to it all that well. Does it have to be projected in front of the house? Is the lot big enough to move it leftwards (North?) I'm sure you don't want to lose your kitchen corner windows, so it can't be moved back.

Is there a snow trap where the garage and home roofs meet? Low pitch can lead to problems and the garage roof (to my eye) seems different than the house roof.

I share Rhome's concerns about the small dining room.

In the basement, I think I'd swap the bigger storage area to be the theatre room. You'll find it needs to be bigger.

If you have a big lot and were able to stretch the plan leftward, then after moving the garage that direction, maybe you could have a small second floor room above the garage, distinct from the home, but echoing the prairie roof style? So that the garage looked like a smaller version of the house. A small room with windows looking all four directions might fit the scenery the way Lyfia was suggesting. It would make a good office or a real "away room"...really away. This would add the flair that a contemporary home needs and Frank Lloyd Wright often used this repeating roof motif.

You could then delete the current away room, do a little reshuffling and design a bigger dinning room.

Let me gently add my voice to the chorus of warnings about resale of modern style homes.

Terry

Looking at it again, I see that the roof over the garage comes to a single center point, while over the house, the pitches come to a North/South ridge. The garage roof needs to echo that ridge.

And/or build that extra second floor room. ;-)

What is the roof pitch in your current drawing? 4:12 is minimum for asphalt shingles with regular installation.

I think you can work with your style house with some tweaking. I would avoid the glass blocks next to the front door. Use something in harmony with the other windows. Scale the window on the stairway to be more proportionate and avoid having it look like a divided light window unless the others would be divided light style.

Fix the roof to fit between garage and house and be same style. Remove roof overhang where it is not needed. Money saving and less places for potential ice-damm's and water intrusions.

Maybe do a search for praire style and find the elements that looks good on a similar house if that is what you're going with.

What siding are you considering? I think that would make a difference too.

Bruuunooo, How's your design coming?

Passageways are 4 and 5 ft wide but at the stair, a 3 ft width with a double back is going to be too tight even for moving furniture.

The number of stair risers suggests that the first floor ceiling height is 10 ft or more which I hope is not true. The riser going down should start farther into the stairway so the center handrail can make the turn without a sudden drop or extension into the passageway.

Small level changes are not a good idea unless you have no older relatives or don't expect to live in the house long enough to be infirm yourself. At least raise the hearth so the floor level can be raised later.

Hi--Thanks for the ongoing comments about our design. We are still here and very appreciative...

Thank you vancleaveterry and mightyanvil for the most recent ideas. We do need a stairwell that will allow us to move furniture--I think we assumed that standard door sizes would be the bottleneck...but now we see that the stairwell switchback is a limiting factor.

The exterior design (especially the roof) continues to perplex us. We have taken a step back and spent a lot of time looking at exterior styles. I think we will move away from the contemporary/prairie style to something with broader appeal, like craftsman/farmhouse. We like that style, too, which seems very "homey". Plus we want to make sure we could sell this house if something unexpected happened.

Along those lines, we are thinking about master bath downstairs, 3 bedrooms upstairs, and possibly using the space above the garage (away room, as suggested by vancleaveterry). This would avoid the super large girls' bedroom in our current design. Sure, our 4 and 6 year old insist on sharing a bedroom now but gardenweb wisdom has convinced us that will change.

Also relevant, I've had a foot problem in the last month that made me question the accessibility of our design. We prefer two story designs for cost and energy effectiveness, but the living room drop in floor level may be too much. You are right--this could be a hassle for visitors or for us.

So we are here, soaking up more wisdom. Thank you for all your help!

Several suggestions (some in support of what others have already said) and comments--

Lower level:
--I'd take space from the too large bath and storage rooms and enlarge the bedroom.
--10' is too short a distance for large screen TVs; there are suggested distances for most screen sizes.
--The office seems rather large, unless someone works from home, or you plan to have a computer activity area there for the kids.

2nd floor:
--The bathroom is larger than it needs to be considering the relatively small size of the master bedroom; they're almost equal!
--Having lived with bedrooms that had 9', 10', 11', 12', and 13' as their shortest measurements, IMO I wouldn't go smaller than 11' for a kid's room, or smaller than 12-13' for the master width if at all possible.
--I remember a thread discussing jack & jill baths where opinions were about split on their desirability. I'm one of those who doesn't like them.
--Our design had a tub/toilet room like yours for the girls' room. It was supposed to be 5' x 7', but ended up 5' x 8' (more space between the toilet and tub). FWIW, it is so much nicer with the 8' length.

1st floor--
--You have too much square footage in the halls for 1400 s.f. Like you, I designed a lot of halls into our house when including the pantry, laundry, powder room, stairs, and entrances. But I kept hacking away and rearranging the plan until I got the square footage better distributed so that my other rooms were the right sizes, and there was no wasted space in the final hall designs.
--When your kids are just a little older, I think you're going to wish you had a lot bigger dining area! And when they're teenagers . . .
--Our appliances, island, and wall cabinets are similar to how yours are set up, and 42" (cabinet face to cabinet face) is plenty of space between them. (39" countertop edge to countertop edge)
--2 different neighbors used one column of 8"x8" glass block as their front sidelites. We used three 12"x12" glass blocks for a couple of lower level windows. IMO the larger size glass block looks better than the smaller sizes that used to be used.
--It's more energy efficient to have the fireplace between two INTERIOR walls. Our living room is the exact same size as yours. We put a 2-way FP in the wall between it and the dining area (which has a regular informal dining table) that is part of our kitchen. We also got the FP for backup heat during power outages and have it hooked up to the generator, so with its 2 sides and central location it can heat up the 1st floor general living area.

Since our house is also very energy efficient (ICF walls to the top of the 1st floor & geothermal heat), the FP is normally only on for a brief time on cold winter mornings when we first get out of bed and DH has just walked the 200' to get the newspaper. We just moved in in December, and are still finishing up some things on the house. It will be interesting to see how low we have to set the heating thermostat to have the ambiance of the FP when we have company over this winter here in Michigan!

So, just some food for thought in case any of it might help. We benefited greatly from various GWeb posts when we were still in the design stage, and I know how hard it is to get everything right.

Anne