The Chatsworth is very similar. I don't know if I like the courtyard garage or the slanted garage. Slanted seems like it would be easier to pull in and out of. Also seems to offer a larger mudroom, but more awkward layout with the slanted walls. It's a huge footprint though. Both dimensions are in excess of 80'.

This home is beautiful. One of my best friends purchased it near our property from a couple recently. It was expensive to build. They paid over 800k. From the couple.

The great room is beautiful inside with those tall ceilings and they have woods in the back. But, when you ring the doorbell, you can see everything that is going on inside their great room. I think that would bother me.

It is technically a one bedroom home, but they have 3 bedrooms down with big windows in all of them. This home did not deviate from the plan.

The Master bath toilets are so far from the Master bedroom in these plans it's like going to another part of the house. That would bother me. It also has a large footprint for what is essentially one big room separated by some pillars. This seems like more of an empty-nester house on this level. Your kids are going to spend a lot of time holed up in their bedrooms when they get older because there is no place to close off and read a book if someone is watching TV, TV will be effected if there is loud cooking going on, etc.

I'm a very visual person, so I have trouble visualizing all the changes you would want to make to the floor plan.

That said, the first thing I noticed when I looked at the floor plan is that there is only the master bedroom on the first floor and the kids' bedrooms would be in the basement. I don't like that. At all. I'm glad you want to make some changes and put the bedrooms on the second floor.

Did I read correctly that you want to remove the fireplace from the great room? I wouldn't do that, I think a large room like this needs a big fireplace to make it cozy and inviting. I agree with making it single-story for this very reason. Personally, I would prefer that the fireplace line up with the kitchen island like in the second floor plan you posted.

Also, I see no need to have a second staircase, especially with the changes you proposed, which would reduce the width of the house. Removing that staircase would allow for more storage room in your laundry/mud/utility room.

I worked on all the revisions this weekend but, the bonehead that I am, I forgot to save them or email them to myself so I could post them here.

A lot of what you all are saying is true. The original plan as it is would completely turn me off, which sounds weird since I posted it. Essentially, the only area we like is the kitchen with slanted breakfast nook and family room adjacent. Everything else would be changed.

@red_lover: I agree about coming in the front door and seeing almost the entire living area of the house. I enjoy open concept houses but this one is a little too open for me.

@palimpsest: Luckily, the master would be scraped, moved upstairs and redesigned. The master suite in this design is not only convoluted but grossly over-sized. Even if we had the money, I'd rather put it towards bigger common areas the entire family can enjoy, including the nooks that you are talking about.

@sarah_ch: I would want to remove the great room fireplace because it wouldn't really be a great room anymore, at least in my opinion. Making it one-story turns it into a family room. Plus, this would be our main TV room and I do NOT like TVs over fireplaces. Also, there would be a fireplace in the formal living/library in the front of the house. Although, I have seen some houses where they incorporate a fireplace and built-in TV very nicely without stacking the TV on top of the fireplace, forcing everybody to practically stare at the ceiling. The second staircase would be removed. Like I mentioned, we don't really like formal dining rooms so we would turn that area into a small office and a "U-shaped" staircase.

Anywho...I ran into some troubles trying to rearrange everything and keep the diagonal breakfast nook. We like it because we sat in in a Parade of Homes house. I think we may need to realize those homes are (and always will be) out of our price range. Building with square rooms is not only easier to design but cheaper :).

We are also fans of the "T-shaped" living area. Family room to the left, dining in the middle, kitchen to the right and a sunroom above the dining. Similar to the floor plan below. Once again, besides the main living area, everything else would need to be tweaked.

I will post the images of the floor plans from the one I am working on now soon. Hopefully you all will stick with my and offer your excellent suggestions.

Likes:
- The rooms dimensions seem to be nice. I think everything is big enough but not so big that the room doesn't feel cozy.
- Lots of windows in the main living area in the back half of the house.
- Lots of space in the kitchen, island with 4+ feet between it and any particular counter.
- HUGE pantry
- Powder room close to kitchen/main entry but not too close to main living area.
- One dining space, BIG, connected to kitchen and main living area.

Dislikes
- Entry looks right onto Dinette. The front door will not be used much so it's not a huge concern and I don't really see how I could change things so this isn't the case.
- Rather lengthy hallway from garage entry to main living area.
- Still not super happy with mud room. There is a large coat closet (which doubles as the entrance from the backyard) and four big lockers with a bench in between under a window but everything still seems a little tight to me.

Likes:
- Master bed faces backyard.
- Master suite isn't too big. Bedroom itself may be pushing it but I've seen some enormous master suites that are laughably large.
- 3 bedrooms, all good sizes with reach-in closets, NOT walk-in. I think it's silly that a child should have a walk-in closet.
- Jack-and-Jill bath.
- Large laundry room with sink, small area for folding, area for dirty clothes and plenty of space to hang drying clothes.
- Bonus space.

Dislikes:
- Water closet seems a little small to me, but I'm not sure.
- Have to walk through laundry to get to bonus room. Not a huge deal I suppose. I would rather have to walk though it then not have one up there at all or walk through another room like a bath or bedroom.
- There are supposed to be window in the 2-story area by the stairs, I forgot them.

The plan as it stands is totally stunning. Gonna cost north of $800k to build though with a fully finished basement. But boy is it awesome.

Would that 800k be today or in 2012 when this post started?????????

Great question, that would be today in North Georgia excluding the cost of the land itself. That's a conservative number, you might get it down to $700k. That's with the basement fully finished and the bonus room with its own bathroom.