I uploaded a couple of more elevations to the link (front and left).

I had made comments at the end of your February thread. I still think the secondary bedrooms are too small and wonder if you've done a scaled layout of the furniture you plan to use in each room. Also, I must have missed the initial explanation. I don't understand the structural relationship of the third floor playroom to the BRs below. In that right front BR I see a closet over 3 feet deep. I would remove 1 foot from it to give a wider BR, but not knowing the upper playroom situation, I have a feeling that there is some reason for not doing that.

I still think you would avoid a warren of small rooms up there by reducing the number of secondary BRs by one and better allocating the space. If the kids are all going to have free access to each other's rooms through secret passages and overhead lofts, why not just have 2 BRs and let them bunk together as well?

You may have your reasons; I just don't know them.

What might be more helpful at this point in your design development, would be for you to point out any areas you are still unhappy with and ask for specific help with those.

Thanks, pinktoes, for the commments.

Really? You still think the bedrooms are still too small for kid's rooms? At approximately 14' x 10' and 8'x 16'?

I agreed with everyone that they were too small before, but I really thought they were quite adequate now (I know they're not spacious of course).

The smallest bedroom is intended to be a nursery / toddler room (next to the master bedroom) and the closet is 3' deep to create an alcove the size of a twin bed on that side of the room. So that's also where we are planning to put one bed :-). That leaves 14' x 7' for a crib or dresser or combination on the other side.

Both of the kid's rooms have vaulted ceilings with ladders that lead to an 8' deep (5'-6' high) loft play space that runs the length of their rooms above their closets and the hallway. So that should make the rooms feel bigger as well. (The lofts are separated by a partition so they each have their own loft and their privacy.)

The secret opening will actually be in the back of two wardrobes that will be back to back and will be able to be locked so that they will have their privacy there as well.

In the larger room, the other alcove is sized so that we could put bunk beds or a single bed there. Or we could put a single or bunk beds in the middle of the room (or against the north wall) and a desk in the alcove.

On specific areas, I guess I was just looking for any design flaws that we missed/didn't think of (I've already changed a TON and I'm SO grateful for all the things people did point out already, like the small bedrooms).

Also now that we've changed the elevation, I'm most curious about what people think about attaching a stone barn to a house via a carriage driveway. . . . will that just look too weird?

I still think those bedrooms are dimensioned in an awkward way. The one that is just over 8'wide and 16 or so long in particular. That's just too narrow. Also, I'm accustomed to seeing dimensions expressed without including the closets and yours include them. So, if you expressed the bedroom size without the closet, you'd get a closer estimation of their actual sizes. And, when you notice it's difficult to express their sizes that way, that is a sign that the design is awkward. Better for closets not to jut into rooms.

But, here's the thing. I don't know what your plans are for staying in the house. To some extent, one never knows because life is unpredictable. That's why most people play it safe to a greater extent than you are and build a more traditional--or at least conventionally proportioned house. I guarantee you that most buyers will react negatively to a long narrow bedroom. That is not to say that you should not build it. You know what your intentions are and what your finances would be if you were forced to/or decided to sell.

Our own house has some unconventional features, but what we have done is design those so that with some minor remodelling we could regain a more conventional arrangement that would appeal to the largest number of buyers. Because you never know. Since we are old, it will hopefully be our heirs' problem. So we will give them a set of the plans along with our intended remodelling for resale. One never knows, however; we could be forced to sell in our lifetime to fund medical expenses or nursing home care, etc. Thus, we have drawn a remodelling plan showing the changes to make before attempting resale.

I find the lines of the barn's roof jarring against the house elevation I saw. I don't know how to fix it. If it were at some distance from the house, it would simply be an expected feature of life on a farm with outbuildings. We'd be talking several hundred feet. Do you have any way to mock up a likeness of your elevation-with-barn?

We moved the closet to the middle of the room like that because we thought that kids would rather have an alcove for a bed or a desk than a more conventionally-shaped room.

And yes, although no one can predict the future, we are significantly invested in staying in this house for the duration. We hope to leave it to our children. So I'm not overly concerned about what potential buyers would think, but I am very concerned that we don't build something that we will regret.

That's a smart idea about keeping the plans and remodelling ideas though.

As for the barn, the "front elevation" file is the best mock up of the elevation with the barn. I asked the designer to bring the roof down a little (same height barn, but less wall and more roof) and we will also add a cupola, but otherwise, that's the general idea.

The idea behind attaching the barn to the house is that:
a) we really want a carriage driveway or a covered area to unload/load the car (and my husband thinks that a carport would just look stupid - no offense to those with carports - I think it could look nice)
b) we want the kids to play in the barn (my husband thinks if we make it separate kids/people will be less inclined to make the trek out there)
c) it makes all the area above the carriage driveway usable as storage space (accessed from the barn in a loft-type fashion).

BUT I'm concerned that it just might look too strange . . . The barn will be composite stone on the bottom. The house is brick on the bottom floor, half-timbering on the top. They will have the same shingles on both roofs.

We're obviously not opposed to the unconventional, but I don't want to go too far over the line . . . I was hoping this forum could possibly give me a reality check.

Thanks again, pinktoes, for your input.

I had been looking at one of the side elevations and from there the barn looked jarring to me against the house. From the front, it's fine. I think it would look better, since it is semi-attached to the house, to add one more common element to both front elevations. If the bottom of the barn will be stone, you could half timber the top of both the barn and the house. It needs more than the roof in common.

Now that you've explained it, I think the use of space with the storage over the "porte cochere" connecting barn and house is a great idea!

Also, you may lose your shirt if you have to sell it, you know. But if you can make a contingency plan for that then I say do exactly what you had planned. At least one of your kids might want the family home to keep because of all the memories. You are planning all the quirky features that are so endearing to children. Most kids don't get that in a home anymore, so this is wonderful!

I haven't looked at your new plans, sorry, but I remember your posts from months ago and I just want to say that I think it's cool that you're doing things unconventionally. A lot of people can't wrap their heads around doing something different than everyone else. I would imagine your kids are going to love this place, when they're young. My question is, have you planned for when they are older and no longer find the lofts and hidden doorways and alcoves fun anymore?

As long as you're expecting to stay in the house for a while I say build it however you want it. That is, after all, the reason for BUILDING a house in the first place.

You have an interesting and creative design with a lot of nice custom features.

Your family room is 13 feet wide? Between the opening of the French doors and all the other doorways -- where do you plan to put your furniture? You might want to try to measure and draw furniture in that space.

I see your TV goes under the stairs, so your furniture will be facing the TV? Then, are you going to walk in front of your sofa or behind it -- to get to the kitchen? This would probably put your sofa (or chairs) partially blocking the front entrance doors. How many people need to sit in your family room at once? Is there room for everyone in your family to be able to see the TV?

I don't see space for furniture from your front doors to your back alcove entrance...it will be a traffic zone?

So, if you allow traffic through to the back and through to the dining room (which is a bit of a distance from the kitchen), where will your family room furniture fit?

Here is our garden room, which is 12x12, to give you an idea of what 13 feet might look like with furniture. Your space would be 1 foot wider than this. Our sofa is facing a fireplace, and we had to leave traffic flow space to go out to the patio on the far wall. We had to use a narrow coffee table (a bench, in fact) to fit the space. This is a nine foot ceiling and yours is 10 ft, but with coffers.

{{gwi:11385}}

I think the bedroom sizes are fine. I have always had trouble placing furniture in square (or close to square) bedrooms. They are kids rooms and kids will be just fine. My wife ws raised in an 8.5' x 8.5' room and she turned out just fine.

I also enjoy the uniquiness of your home. Some features I could do without, but it is your house not mine. If you are in a place like CA, you should not have problems with resale.

I think 13' is somewhat small for a family room, but not too bad at all. Our rental house has a 12'x12' family room and we manage just fine. I think folks get used to having huge homes, which for me is anything over 1700sqft. I look at 3000-4000 sqft homes and think it is a manision that I would get lost in.

All in all, I like your house and I think you will too.

I would comment on your plan too but I'm having trouble downloading it from your link. Is there any way to actually post the photo of the floorplan without having to download? I also agree small is fine as long as you can fit furniture in it though. I've had some homes where the rooms were oddly shaped and it was difficult to place things in the room. I'd love to see your new plan.

Thanks, everyone, for your comments. I really appreciate the feedback (and the nice comments).

First, let me correct one little thing. The family is actually more like 17' wide even though the label says 13' (that's one of the drawbacks of posting plans before they are final -- we are still tweaking). The 13' label is left over from when our basement stairs were directly beneath the other stairs and kind of jutted out into the room, and the room is measured from the narrowest width. Now the space under the stairs is open except where the TV and storage area are back level with the rest of the walls, so the entire room is at least over 17' wide and about 22' long. (You can use the coffered ceiling grid as a measurement, they are a little over 5' each.)

As far as furniture placement, that is a bit tricky. We plan to put two sofas facing one another perpendicular to both the TV and the view with maybe a coffee table between and a chair or two on the sides. Of course, there is always the window seat for extra seating as well and bar stools at the island.

But mostly we do plan to leave it open for traffic as wonbyherwits mentioned between the front door and back door and to the dining room and to the inglenook. My husband doesn't like a lot of furniture or clutter.

My hope is that it will have enough seating and also open space for entertaining and also be cozy and comfortable for just the family.

Pinktoes, when you suggest half-timbering the top of the barn, do you mean the one exposed end of the gable where the hay loft door is? We could do that. It would be about the same cost. Although folks would rarely see that side. The front and back elevation's are the most visible.

Thanks, Cork2win, mikeyvon and wonbyherwits, for the nice comments. As for when kids are older, they may not get a kick out of the secret passageway or the playhouse under the stairs (both of which cost almost nothing). But I think they'll still enjoy some of the other features like the inglenook (my husband said when he was in college at Berkeley and would go home with a group of fratnerity brothers, they would always fight about who got to sleep in a similar little nook in the family room). And personally, I still adore a loft.

Lindybarts, I'm sorry you're having trouble downloading the files. I'm open to other ideas. Is there a way to post pdfs as photos?

I hadn't looked that closely to see where the half-timbering might go. I was just trying to think of some common element to tie the two structures together. If the timbering won't do it, and I know brick on the barn isn't a real appealing idea, the only thing left would be to bring the stone on the barn over to the house and get your tie-in that way. Doesn't have to be a lot of stone; just enough to establish the commonality.

Ah! A measurement not updated -- I think 17ft is generous! 13 ft is fine if there are no traffic patterns cutting through.

I love the inglenook that you're creating. Very cozy. What kind of lighting will you use besides the fireplace? I can no longer see your plans, but there are some very beautiful Arts & Crafts wall sconces available.

Best wishes,
Cameron

Thanks, Cameron! I'm glad you think 17 ft is enough. Again, it's not really spacious, but we're going more for the cozy, quaint feel. Although we definitely don't want to be crowded.

Ooh, I would love ideas / advice / suggestions on lighting. I admit we're heavy on recessed can lights and ceiling fans (not very period, but safe).

Right now the inglenook has three recessed "eyeball" lights (one in front of each bookcase and one above the fireplace) and two other can lights above each bench. So five lights total. All on dimmers.

I'm very open to a better idea if you've got one though . . .