Why not a bathroom in the master?

Very nice. If it were me, I'd definitely want a bathroom in the master. I wouldn't want to share with any guests and/or I wouldn't want them using my bathroom. That's just my opinion though. And since I'm sure you're looking for ideas (even if you already know you don't care) I'd worry about having laundry visible if the W/D is open like that. But it's a very nice plan, seems to meet your needs well! Good luck :)

Paint Chips, hubby is adamant there be no ensuite. He had one years ago, and thought it was a waste of space, when there was a perfectly good, 4 pce bath across the hall - I know, I know, he's a strange man, LOL.

Myself, I'd rather have the extra bathroom/powder room adjacent to the mud room/back door. Thought it might help to keep the farm yard dirt and grime away from the main bath (hoping to fancy it up, spa-style, with a tiled-in jetted tub etc). At this point it looks like I can't fit both the stairs and the 2nd bathroom around the mudroom, so it appears like it's going in the basement.

Liptonjl, you're right - definitely still looking for ideas :)
I agree re: the laundry, I'm hoping to enclose the washer & dryer behind bifold doors and have lots of shelving above the machines.

This is the only home we will ever build, and even though I feel this plan is "the one", I'm terrified DH or I will end up being disappointed with the house; is this second guessing oneself, a common thing? :)

Thanks for the responses!!!

Dawn

Hahaha...Dawn, nice plan...
I'm so terrified and 'second guessing' myself that we haven't even started plans yet, even though we closed on the land 3 months ago. Finally taking the plunge though, so we'll see where we end up.

Couple quick thoughts:

If the second bedroom is going to have a permanent resident, I might make it a bit larger realitive to the craft room.

You've made some big improvements to the kitchen, but now the entrance to the garage means you'll have to walk around [rather than past] one car to get to the other. If you moved the garage 'up' relative to the house, the entrance could still come in closer to the corner.

You haven't allowed enough room for the stairs to the basement. Like this location for it better if its going to be mechanical/storage space, but if there are going to be any bedrooms or a game or media room, I'd leave them near the front entranced so people wouldn't be walking by me laundry to get there.

You might want to point out to your husband that leaving out the master bath will actually cost money, long term. A three bedroom with only one bath isn't going to attract many buyers, the appraisal will be low, and the loan value comensurately less.

Plenty of houses sell with 3 BR, one bath, no ensuite. If you need a mortgage, make sure the bank will go for that before you get too far down the road.

As for future resale, if it's a full basement, I'd go ahead and stub out for a tub/shower in that powder room and place it so it would be easy to add 2 bedrooms down there. Would be a great place for older kids.

I like your changes, but if you truly plan it to be a retirement home, I'd make it wheelchair accessible and put plywood behind the walls by the toilet and tub so you could add grab bars later.

Also, the hallway is too narrow for wheelchair access. You could move that master BR down a bit (picking up some needed hallway there too) and put the 2 secondary BRs' closets on the wall between them (gives better sound deadening too). Once you remove those closets from where they are, you can widen your hallway. Minimum of 5' finished space is needed in that hallway to make the wheelchair turn needed to access the bath and BRs. It'll make your small house feel larger as well, at no cost.

Darling plan!

I'm no expert on house layouts- I'm agonizing over my own right now! What I miss in that plan is enough outdoor space. Our current plan is even smaller than yours, but features a 20 X 20 screened porch to create fair- weather living and entertaining space, and take advantage of the views that rural property offers. With that much land, you could always build a free-standing gazebo, if a porch doesn't fit the plan. We have 7 acres with a distant mountain panorama, so nearly every room offers some kind of view. Make sure that when you place the house on your lot, that the windows you tend to look out of take advantage of the best views. I'll echo the advice to think about handicapped accessibility. You can find yourself confined to a wheelchair at any time in your life, such as my SIL who had a knee replacement. I, too, prefer a master bath, and we will have a large one. When I think about it, our current master bedroom is bigger than we need, but bathrooms (and closets!) never seem big enough. Everyone has different wants and needs, so you need to think about that above all else. We want: a big kitchen, great room, and master suite, and little else. You mileage may vary!

Thanks Everyone, for taking the time to review this plan and offer advice - we really appreciate it!

Oruboris, no permanent resident planned for the 2nd bedroom, but yes, those BR walls need to be adjusted to even out the sq footage.
Excellent point re: the garage - will definitely change that.
Basement is strictly for mechanical/storage. Yes, that required stairwell space is giving me much grief, trying to fit it into the mudroom.... I figure there has to be a way to do it though and keep the engineer/inspector happy?
I've made the husband aware of the ensuite issue ;)

Pinktoes, we were actually not going to have a basement in the beginning (possible flood concerns), but decided to do a half one under the kitchen/dining end of the house, for storage reasons. The actual yardsite clearing has never been under water in the past 60 yrs, however anything is possible...
Excellent points re: W/C accessibility and will definitely consider them for the final plan.
We are fortunate to not require a mortgage/loan, unless I go overboard in the kitchen dep't (and you know I will, lol). We're doing this as owner/builder. Have a framer to help dry it in and then plan to finish most of it ourselves.

Flgargoyle: Yes, our proposed covered porch/veranda area is quite small. Had planned to screen it in - we only get about 4 months of warm weather here on the Canadian prairies and 3.5 of them are mosquito season :(
I was thinking of addind a detached gazebo, later down the road.
Your mountain view sounds gorgeous, BTW!

Thanks again everyone!
Dawn

I think you need more work on what I'd term the "back hall". Could you put the basement stairs in the garage? Could you go with crawl space w/access from the garage? (Here we can't build on 100-year flood plain; worried about your HVAC, etc.)

To me, you need four things in a back hall: powder room, laundry w/laundry sink, access to garage/back yard/kitchen, big old closet for "stuff". The closet in my back hall is also my pantry. Room enough to swing a cat is good too. LOL

Could you bring the front gable all the way across to the side of the house? That would give you more porch. If you're concerned about making the LR dark, add a single skylight in the north gable. Gazebos don't usually get much use; people hate running the mosquito gantlet. Porches are best near kitchens. You could have a french door from dining area to porch.

If you bring the garage forward you could add a window in the side wall of the back BR/craft room.

If you want an airjet tub, the best place for it is the master bath, not off the kitchen. The very best place is ensuite; talk to a realtor about the resale value of a new house with no ensuite MBR. Few 3 BR homes built today have less than two full baths; most also have a powder room. A single sink and a toilet are not costly.

I'd keep the ensuite, adding a tub to it and putting a shower into the hall bath. If you can't, at least move the MBR closet to the wall between the BRs and add some windows on the nice south side of the MBR.

I love having my front-facing kitchen w/window over the sink. Be sure you like a corner sink; you'll lean over farther to reach the sink. Be sure you want those bar stools before you eat into the dining space.

The replies about wide hallways and doors is very good. We have 36" doorways and wood floors w/out thresholds. One bathroom is big enough to maneuver a wheelchair. Nothing looks "institutional"; it just makes everyday living easier. Before you are over 50 it's hard to understand how much these small details can mean. Life is also full of surprises like broken legs or a friend or family member who needs to use a wheelchair.

I'm back :)
Took a road trip to the "big city" to spec out appliances and plumbing fixtures. Hubby is still in sticker shock over the kitchen faucet that I've been coveting for so long...

Chisue, I appreciate your reviewing the plan and offering advice. We're going to sit down tomorrow and see if we can rework the mudroom and hallway layout. I also like the idea of the extended front gable with french door from the dining area.

I've shown hubby all the responses re: the pros of having an ensuite - hopefully he'll change his mind.

Good points on the corner sink - I've never actually worked at one and not sure if it's right for me or not, now. Would it still require a longer reach if I used a diagonal front style of sink cabinet?
Thanks,
Dawn

Dawn-
It's a cute plan. I have one big question. You will NOT need to use the back yard for any cookouts, or anything?
Is most of your outdoor living going to be in front of the house?

Part of me loves your plan & part of me thinks that it wouldn't be as functional as "I" would need it. I love the kitchen/eating area & the face of your home. However, I like to grill some food outside & I don't see a good exit to the back yard. Walking from the kitchen through the garage would be too far for me. Also, I have pets. I like a mudroom or an exit to be close to the back yard where I can let them out, containing the dirt to that part of the house.

If your lifestyle is different than mine, you're plan is wonderful.

You're making good use of the space you have with this floor plan. You have a nice great room and wonderful dining area. Also, you will appreciate the pantry in the kitchen.

While most people prefer a master bath, maybe that's not something you and your husband want, and that's okay. This is your house. When we chose our floor plan, there was an office in the front of the house and a great room directly behind it facing the back of the house. We got rid of the office and made the great room bigger so we could see out our front window from our great room. Our builder questioned if we should really do that, but we know that as a family, we spend most of our time in the great room and wanted that to be plenty big. Our office area will be upstairs in a loft area instead. You have to do what works for you and your hubby. Good luck, and keep us posted.

Jan

Re: Corner sink. Talk to the cabinet makers and sink makers. I think that you have a choice of either setting the sink back farther or taking up a lot of the corner area with a wider front to fit the sink closer to you.

My sink is 36" wide. Draw to see how much space a 36" or 30" or whatever cabinet takes out of your corner. Maybe it will be fine.

You could just get a really large single window facing east. I'd make it as big as possible to draw in max light.

Dabunch, I do BBQ alot and this is something that I've been considering about this plan - where to put the grill?.

We're in the country, and there is basically only one view, (where the house will face), with trees, bushes and several outbuildings on the other three sides. This view is several hundred feet deep - so lots of room to landscape. I have a koi pond at our current house that needs moved here and want to place it in the front as well.

Another reason for us to have the outdoor living space in the front, is that it will face east which is what we prefer in the evenings for shade.

Thanks for the ideas!

Dawn

Did you consider placing the house (different plan of course) facing west? Then you could have the more private rear portion facing your view.

Thanks Jan :)
Something that I neglected to mention, is one reason we nixed the idea of a master bath in favour of a main bath is that I'm up at 5am for work. Hubby retires this fall, so I'll be less likely to disturb his beauty sleep if I get ready in the main bath. Also, we don't entertain alot (it's a long drive out to the property), so the lack of a powder room for guests should not be too much of a problem.
I would still really like a 1/2 bathroom just off the mudroom/garage for barn grime though...

Your house with a large great room and loft sounds lovely!

Dawn

Thanks Chisue, for the sink info. I need to visit a few kitchen cabinet makers and get a feel for different sink layouts.
I've lived with two upper cabinets and even less counter space for the past 30 years, so this kitchen is going to seem like a mansion to me!

Re: changing the orientation of the house for a back view, mmmmmm.... not sure... The east view just seems natural in this case, but I do appreciate the alternate idea :)

Dawn

Dawn -- Yes, I understand that your best view is to the east. Our best view is to the south, and we oriented our house to face north so that the breakfast room, porch, LR, DR and MBR could face south. My kitchen faces north, but we are set back from the street enought that it is still private.

You will regret it if you don't have a mudroom WITH a powder room, both big enough for your DH to use.

I understand better about the utility of having a hall bath and no ensuite bath. Make it nice; maybe have some solar lighting. If you use this plan, relocate the master closet to an interior wall.

I would put a 1/2 bath somewhere in the house. DH, DS and myself have lived in our current 1 bath house for over ten years and I can't count how many times we needed to use the potty at the same time.

That kind of inconvenience is so unnecessary in a newly constructed house.

Chisue,
I see your point re: a different approach to the main view, and I'm still pouring over plans to see if we could do this differently.
I played around w/ my current plan last night, adding in an extra foot of depth (along the LR/hallway/mudroom line) and it seems like a 1/2 bath may fit in the mudroom now? Just not sure if this will do some weird funky thing for drafting the rafters trusses/joists etc?
I attached a pic to explain better

Kellyng, yes you're right and I'm definitely going to have it added...

Thanks,
Dawn

Overall I do like it, but would change a few things if it was for me.
If the basement is just for mechanical and storage, why not just build a same floor mechanical room into the current gargage space, and adjust the garage over a bit. It avoids the "wasted" space and hazards of stairs, eliminates water /flood issues,and makes it easier to get things in/out of storage. Where the current stairs are could be a big walk in storage closet.(I grew up in one story homes, and have never gotten used to basements myself.)

Is there a way to make a mudroom entrance from out back by scooting the den office over? Or would you always want to enter the garage then the mudroom, which could keep the biggest mess out of the house altogether. A bench in the garage could be great. I have never had a house with an actual mudroom, so I don't speak from experience. But I think I would like to be able to also enter a mudroom without going through the garage. And it could give a way out the back of the house which I would also want. On the other hand, it makes for a lot of doors in a small room.............

Ultimately this house is for you and your husband to live in and enjoy, so it should be the way that makes the most sense for how you live. (I do agree that at least a half bath would add a lot to resale value, more than the initial cost, but the cost/benefit is for the 2 of you to decide)
I do like that it is a practical design with added details that fit your needs and make it more interesting than a plain box shape. And if you build exactly as it it will be beautiful! I like the way everyone lives a little differently and comes up with such varied ideas for home design, and you get to pick what is best for you.

Good luck! And post more pictures as you progress. I like watching folks progress from design to actual build, since it is so hard to really know what a plan actually is to live in. And maybe some day I will be able to go through the process myself.