Hello all. We closed on our land this week (2 wooded acres, backs up to state land so no neighbors to the back - 335ish ft wide and 250ish ft deep) and did some measuring of the clearing, trying to picture where to put the house - garage, etc. From the very beginning we really only considered one floor living - neither of us have grown up or lived in 2 story homes.

In the interest of trying to preserve as many trees as possible (will need to clear some to the front due to setbacks) we just started looking at a couple 1.5 story homes to shrink the footprint. We'd have the master on the mainfloor and the kids rooms and a bathroom up. They are old enough I'd not worry about them being up there without us. I am intrigued at the thought but not certain since it's unchartered territory.

So I guess my questions are - 1st off - do you have to have a 2 story foyer and cathedral great room if you have a 1.5 story home? We have a cathedral ceiling now and for the new build I was leaning heavily toward 9 ft. ceilings throughout with a 10 ft. tray in the great room and mbr. I feel like we waste a lot of heat with the cathedral. I prefer more cozy spaces to open and loud.

Anyone have main floor master and kids up? Is it working out for you? We were drawn toward split bedroom ranch due to work schedules and keeping the house quiet on the kids side but I am missing having some of the views taken up by the bedrooms. I thought maybe a 1.5 story might be the answer but I'm feeling uneasy since I have no experience with 2 story homes at all.

Pros and Cons that I can see:

Pros

Kids upstairs with bonus area for all of their stuff - uncluttered main floor

Noise reduction for sleeping

Mainfloor rooms - kitchen, dr, great room, master would be at the back for better views

More flexibility with our changing needs as kids grow?

Cons

Stairs

Laundry - guess we'd need a chute for sure!

Fire - worries about kiddos up there and us down

Thoughts? Anything I'm missing?

This is the floor plan that I thought had a nice flow (would change a couple things but overall it seems good):

Don Gardner "The Fernwood"

Here is a link that might be useful: Don Gardner - The Fernwood