I like it!

I question spending so much on the facade -- that unused attic, those decorative dormers, and the archtop window into...a closet? That's a lot of money that brings you nothing useful. I'd make the MBR shorter, too.

With the exception of your wanting a double door instead of one, oversized single door, I like your changes.

I like your plan a lot. We are in the process of building right now, and I have looked at house plans until I'm nearly cross eyed. One thing I noticed in your plan is the lack of entry closets - both in front and back. Could you turn the unused stairway into a coat closet instead of glassware storage? Closets were a big issue for me.

First, you realize you are asking a dangerous question as everyones taste/budget/priorities are different. With that said -- garage is too small, master closet seems small -- actually i would not share a closet with my wife, nor would i share a vanity. bdrms all look decent size, what size are the doors? i would have 3-0/8-0 for each bdrm, i would rather not have the powder room right near the master. how big is your formal dining table? might want to check against your room size. as to the front door as long as you are 8' wide you could go with 2 doors, less than that i might go w/ a single 42" door. good luck!

I really like the floor plan! I remember seeing this plan when we were looking at plans. I love the front appearance of the house. I like the changes you are going to make. I can see why you are not going to have the side entrance. We eliminated a side entrance also. What type of stone are you going with?

We are in Texas also. A friend of mine in Virgina could not understand why we were not having a basement :-) We are building in central Texas and the rain slowed us up 3 months. Hope you are in a dryer area of Texas...if there is one!

Good luck with your home and I really do like your plans!

Kelly

Any kids? Young? Older?

Like the pantry change and that you'll eliminate traffic through the laundry room. How about a pocket door for the pantry? If you didn't frame out the closet in the laundry, or put it on the other end of your cabinet run, you could do a pocket for that room, too.

I highly recommend posting a kitchen plan on the kitchen forum for specific and knowledgeable advice. At the least, I think a kitchen that size could benefit from a prep sink.

Msm859 is sure right that everyone does have different tastes, priorities, and budgets...That master closet looks pretty huge compared to my 7'6 x 4' one...which will seem huge after dh and I shared a 6' x 2' closet in our last home! ;-)

Thanks so much for all of the great suggestions. Keep 'em coming!

I actually forgot to mention in my initial post the garage was being increased from a 2 to 3 car garage. My DH will certainly not let that slip by, LOL!

To give y'all a little more background, we are in our early 30's with one child, and would like to have another a few years down the road. This is not our "forever" home, but will be the place we raise our child(ren).

The attic and subsequent wasted space has been a slight concern, but we thought that with two cathedral ceilings in the home, the bonus room would encompass the majority of the space. However, we are requesting that the bonus space be increased as much as possible for future build out.

Honestly, I had thought about converting the area under the stairs to a closet, but the lack of coat closets is not a big deal for us due to the heat in Texas. We have a small coat closet now in our current home that only sees three coats a year, at best.

I'm with you, rhome410, the master closet is like the Taj Mahal to us! I am not into clothes or shoes (odd, I know), so we'll probably end up with unused space in the closet for now, or at least I hope so. :)

We prefer double doors as that is what is on our current home, but I appreciate the idea of an oversized front door. That is something I honestly never considered, and will definitely be plan B should the double door entrance not come to fruition.

I have just started looking at brick/stone and would like to use a native stone, if possible. I am also trying to educate myself on real stone, vs. veneer vs. cultured and am so confused! LOL... The majority of the homes in the acreage community we are building in are brick or limestone, and I would like to do something a little different than the rest.

Thanks so much for the ideas of the pocket doors and posting the kitchen layout in the kitchen forum. I also agree that there needs to be a prep sink, and have also wondered about the flow of the kitchen as well.

Again, I really do appreciate your feedback, and look forward to more suggestions. Have a GREAT day!

I know people have different ways of doing things, and this is not exactly a sunny thing to bring up, but as a mom, I would be very uncomfortable and think it would be inconvenient to have the children's bedrooms so far away from the master. Housefire, break-ins, or other emergency could be terrifying to catastrophic for young children at such a distance, and there will be sickness with lots of running back and forth to the other side of the house to tend to the little ones. Nightmares are harder with mom and dad seemingly miles away... I have been a nursing mom, and still had some night feedings after the baby was old enough to leave our room, so having the baby close would be a consideration for me. At least it's a 'straight shot' down the hall, and on the same level, so I have definitely seen worse. Again, sorry to bring up the worst-case type scenarios, but I like to consider all possibilities to avoid later regrets.

RE: Kitchen. I'd get tired of making that "end run" around the peninsula to the breakfast room. Maybe an island instead?

rhome410 -- funny thing about priorities, actually i liked the mstr being separate. as to closet size it is all relative. my closet is 8' x7' and is just right -- my wife's is 3 times the size -- and she still has clothes in other closets. actually looking closer at the kids bathroom, if you plan on raising them there you should really try to make it bigger. that 1 door is asking for problems and it is going to seem reallly small when you have teenagers. as to the garage, don't know if you have a full size truck (you are in Texas) but you would need 1 bay at least 25' deep to fit and a door 8' high 10' wide. i also agree with chisue if you can do the island.

Y'all are completely right - the jack-and-jill bath needs tweaking, and the kitchen bar could pose an inconvenience. Yes, we do have a full sized truck and SUV, so the depth of the garage might be an issue.

Question: What do y'all think about swapping the master bath toilet and shower?? I am concerned that the shower will become a "cave" so to speak without a proper lighting source in conjunction with being walled in three of the four sides. If we swap the two, this will enable us to have a nice sized bench in the shower and also allow for more glass, thus more light.

Thanks again for everyone's help and have a GREAT day!

One thing I noticed is that the the family room is closed off from the kitchen. Some people really like that but as a mom with three kids (the youngest is 3 and into everything) I like to be able to see what they are up to in the kitchen when I am sitting in the family room. However you have the keeping room beside the kitchen so I don't know how you plan to use those spaces and which one will be your "hanging out" spot and if one will be more formal. Like I said, some people like that separation mainly because of noise control or so they don't have to look at their overflowing heap of dishes. I guess it comes down to personal preference...just something I always think about with a monkey for a child.

I think it looks great, there are many things I like about it.

The one thing I don't care for is the pantry is a long way from the kitchen.

I have been searching for a house plan for a year now (we bought a lot and will build in 2008) and I had decided on the Allenbrook but I just changed it to a William Poole plan.

So I thought about the Allenbrook A LOT and tweaked this and that. The only thing I did not like was the kitchen flow. I even wrote Frank Betz support about it. He wrote back to say a new plan would be released in July, It is posted on the Frank Betz Site and it is called the Meyerswood. Check it out. It is practically the same plan- the kitchen now has an island, they added a third bay garage and screen porch off of the keeping room and changed around the pantry area. So you may really like it. They redesigned the outside to a more Crafteman style, I definitely like the Allenbrook facade better.

I would definitely add a closet under the stairwell, even though you don't think you would need it, you will! We are also in our thirties, with two kids, and our stuff keeps multiplying, If anything you can keep your vacumn in it.

And lastly, If you look at the spec page on the Frank Betz site, it says the master closet dimensions are something crazy like 10 x 10. So I think there will be plenty of space but I am not crazy about a window in a closet.

Good Luck!