Second floor

If you've got 9 acres, do you have to put the house behind the garage like that?

I like the rest of the plan, but if it were my house, I would move the garage.

I would not like walking directly from the garage into the kitchen. Don't know your weather but I'm thinking snow, boots, etc.

Will you really use a tub that big in your master, really? I know many who have them torn out because it takes so much water, etc. If you will use it, keep it. If not make it a standard size whirlpool tub.

Hi, thanks for the comments.
I put the garage there to save on square footage and hopefully save some money.

My current house is similar as far as garage direct to kitchen. It hasn't been an issue so far. I usually remove my shoes in the garage anyway. The corner tub is actually 54" x 54" against the wall. I found these dimensions online and figured it was standard for a corner tub. Is this incorrect?
Thanks for the comments so far!

With 9 acres, I would not have a garage dominating the front of the house.
I do not like that you see right into the powder room while seated at the counter.
With the pantry and fridge like that, there is no landing pad for items.
I would like space in my dining room for more furniture - buffet/hutch, server, etc.
Closet for guests at front door?
Not a fan of the hall bath layout.

How deep are the interiors of the reach in closets? They seem shallow.

Also with the walk-in you are not going to have much room to maneuver.

The bathrooms all seem rather big for what they are, and you are going to spend a lot of money on the plumbing since it is all so separated from each other. It usually makes more sense to have toilets almost back-to-back.

I don't think that the way the ceiling bisects the first few steps on the first floor is going to look or feel too pleasant in real life, for some reason.

The fridge is almost not in the kitchen.

Your plan somewhat reminds me of a plan that my friend will be building soon, you might want to check out this plan.

http://www.designbasics.com/planview.aspx?plankey=ccaadf6f-614d-4ec7-9a2a-6335ebd1d588

Here is a link that might be useful: design basics sunflower

You will always have to walk completely around the cars to get in and out of the house. Leaving so many aisles free of clutter can be hard in the garage.

Can you tell a little about the climate there, and kids?

That may be the standard size for a corner tub. Have you ever had or seen a tub that big? Why does it have to be a corner tub? Are there regularly more than 1 person in the tub? You don't have to answer that last one but it makes a big difference in your decision.

Go to some showrooms and look and sit in some tubs.

Thanks for the comments. Looks like I need to go back and take another look at it.

The guest closet by the front door is positioned against the dining room wall. How would you make the hall bath more efficient?

The coat closet reach is generally 26". I tried keeping all the bathrooms to one side of the house to minimize pipe runs. From the kitchen island to the face of the pantry is 3'6".

That sunflower plan does look very similar. It's just missing that 2 story great room which is a must have. Otherwise, I would save money and just go with that plan.

I agree about the garage now that I look at it. I would have to walk around the cars to get in the house. I'll have to do some garage adjustments for sure. The house will be in Northeast WV. No kids yet but I planned for the future.

As for the corner tub, it just fits in the space better than a standard rectangle. However, in the drawing I can see how it looks big and out of place.

Here is how I intend to position it on the lot. You can see the cul-de-sac at the lower right. Just to have a better idea.

What a nice sized lot you have! So, all the parking will be in the back, and visitors will walk halfway around the house to come in the front door. You might want to swerve the driveway closer to the front entry.

And even still, with the garage at the side, you might want to change the service entry to NOT go directly into the laundry room. It will get used more than you think, and with kids there will be laundry in various stages.

Looks like you'll have a nice view, so I'm just wondering: a rear-facing dining room would be so nice to enjoy a meal and the view at the same time :) especially for your guests, which is the only time it would be used.

Thanks for your comments.
You make a good point as far as guests walking around the house to get to the front door. However, let's say you're having guests in the evening, the headlights from the vehicle would shine directly into the house if the driveway was swerved closer to the entry. I can possibly try to move the service entry to the garage perhaps?

"So, all the parking will be in the back, and visitors will walk halfway around the house to come in the front door. "

Awkward.

Or they all traipse in through an open garage door... or through the laundry room - then through the whole house to get to the great room.

With your comments regarding the garage in mind, I made a quick modification changing the garage to front entry. However, I now have another issue. The dotted line in the garage represents the second floor. I might have an issue with support here. Thoughts?

If the garage/parking area is going to be a primary entrance for most people coming to the house in addition to family, why not just make it a nice entrance?

You really have the square footage to make a (semi) formal entry at the side of the house, but it is wasted in a huge powder room. I would suggest making a real entry back there with a powder room on one side and an entry to the laundry/mudroom on the other.

So often there is this formal entry placed on houses such that no one except a complete stranger who has no idea where they are going, goes to. Everyone gets relegated to the butt end of the house and funneled through the garage or an unremarkable, crowded back-door area.

The house is on paper at this point. There is no reason that a nice back entry can't be planned.

What is going in the third garage bay? Is it a boat?

It's just that, now you have a garage with a house behind it. All you'll see is garage doors as you approach. I was kind of thinking that with the original side-load garage, you could move the door into the house and reconfigure the service/laundry/back entry area.

Re lights at night, the only window facing the front is the dining room. Hopefully a guest isn't so late that everyone is already sitting down to dinner! And, maybe this is just me, but I kind of like being able to see if a car is pulling into my driveway, whether I'm expecting it or not.

Palimpsest, I know several homes with exactly the design you are describing, and it is so nice. The entry by the side-load garage is almost identical to the front entry, and of course used more.

Flipping the plan places the garage as the buffer for the hot western sun. And it would let someone approaching the house see the house, rather than nothing but garage. Of course, then, I'd also flip the interior plan to have a welcoming public room near the drive.....and several other changes as well. But, I think my quik illustration here shows you that you can take advantage of the terrain and orient the house where you still have good side load garage acces and see the house!

I agree with . . . well, everyone about the garage. This GARAGEhouse thing is just awful. Some people are forced into it by small lots, but you can avoid this most offensive of all house mistakes.

I like Live Wire Oak's flip on the house. Not only does it hide the garage, it acclimates the house better to the compass: The living room will now get the gentle morning eastern light, and the kitchen window is oriented to the most-preferred southern light. Meanwhile, the garage is sheltering the house from the hot and harsh, afternoon western sun.

Also, if you put the garage in the back of the house, you don't need to put all those windows into a garage -- money saver.

Having discussed the garage, I can move on. With a few tweaks, I like the plan:

An L-with island kitchen is very practical. You only have one corner, the flow is good, and everything's close together but not crowded. The refrigerator has no "landing spot", but if you flip the pantry and the 'fridge, the island is a not-quite-ideal-but-acceptable landing spot. I'd consider turning the island the other direction; it should parallel the longest arm of the L.

Three eating areas? And probably another outdoors. Does this fit into your lifestyle?

You have plenty of space in this casual entry area, and the whole laundry-powder-room thing could be better configured: Tuck the half bath "behind " the kitchen so that it isn't visible from, well, everywhere. This'll make the laundry a bit longer and more narrow, but it'll still fit. And re-do the doors so that the garage door entrance and the coat closet doors don't knock against each other.

Lots of storage space is available under that monster-sized staircase. It'll be half-height storage, but it'd be great for holiday decorations. The only place to put a door is in the living room, which is less than ideal, but I just couldn't let that space go to waste.

Bedrooms are compactly placed -- good -- but the closets look undersized. Consider the master closet: You'll need 24 inches on each side for hanging clothes, so that leaves you only 28" of walking space in the middle.

Upper hallway will be well-lit. That's a rarity.

I'd like to see the closets in the bedrooms reconfigured so that:
BR1 - closet between the BR and the toilet wall to buffer noise
BR2 - closet on the other side of the room to buffer noise from the great room below
Master - closet on interior wall between master and BR2. Exterior corners are nice places for windows that allow cross breezes, and your corner is what some would consider wasted on a closet.

Something is off with the scale of the rooms and the measurements. Can't quite put my finger on it.

Example. The dining area and the kitchen are each 10'9" wide, yet the kitchen appears to be much wider.

The kitchen length is 13'. If you add 2' of cabinet depth on each side of the kitchen, 3' of aisle width on each side of the island (which is too small)....that leaves room for a 3' wide island. That island with 3 seats looks wider than 3 ft.

Thanks for all the great points you all have shown me. I will take them into consideration and do some modifications. I will post up the revised version.

"Something is off with the scale of the rooms and the measurements."

Yup, my mistake. I extended the kitchen and didn't change the dimension. Thanks for pointing that out. The breakfast eating area should read 8'8 x 13 and the kitchen should read 12'10 x 13.

First, I like the tub! :)

As for the rest of the plan...what about moving the laundry and powder room forward and incorporating a bigger mud room or mud room area, in the laundry? Then, I would add a detached garage! Maybe a covered (or even enclosed) walkway, that has doors on front and back? This could be the mud room.

Then, I would seriously think about a front porch. You'll be living in the country! I do...and you'll need some protection from the weather (even if only for guests) and a place to sit out and enjoy your view! Not all the view is out the back (are you going to garden?) and the back will be a deck, not a porch. There's a big difference...

I appreciate all your comments. It's amazing what a different set of eyes can do. I have made a few mofications using notes you all have provided. See if you can spot them!! Next step is trying to figure out the roof lines over the garage although I should have designed from the roof down. There will be a lift in the single door garage as shown with a 12' high ceiling.

"As for the rest of the plan...what about moving the laundry and powder room forward and incorporating a bigger mud room or mud room area, in the laundry? Then, I would add a detached garage! Maybe a covered (or even enclosed) walkway, that has doors on front and back? This could be the mud room."

This would be a good idea. I expect a detached garage would cost a lot more than what I had in mind though.
I do have a front porch. It's at the front entry.

This post was edited by Quik434 on Thu, Sep 12, 13 at 15:58

2nd Level

This post was edited by Quik434 on Thu, Sep 12, 13 at 16:00

"Lots of storage space is available under that monster-sized staircase."

Not when the stairs to the walk out basement are under there!

Orientation

I think you'll need a doorway from the laundry room to the outside. Since the garage is on that side, I'm hoping you can have very little or no slope off that side...and a door would not be a problem.

Only having sliding doors (onto carpet?) and garage access would not be my first choice, for living in the country. We have a six week 'mud season' as most places do. Trust me, you'll want access from the play area, garden, etc. into the house, without going through the garage :)

i agree with everyone else and I still think your revision is wrong. The garage should be on the side or back of the house, not the FRONT. It's the only thing you see now.

I personally would not want a two story great room, but that's personal taste. I would definitely add a mudroom!

One other idea... could you put the garage in the basement? Then you can have a cute elevation. Right now it looks like you've taken little thought to how the house will look from the outside.

Go back to the drawing board with your lot plan first. You're tweaking and twiddling a floor plan that doesn't suit the lot. Start with the home site. What do you want to see when you come up the drive? Which room do you want guests to enter into? How will they know that? Where will you park? Where will they park? When guests enter the home, which room do you want to entertain them in? When family enters the home, where do you want them to drop the caravans of stuff they have to carry with them? When you are bringing in groceries, where are you going to drop them? Once you've dropped the backpacks and groceried, how convenient is the fridge to grab a bottle of water and then go to sit on the sofa? Will the TV compete with the views of the property? Is TV enough of a family activity that it takes precedence over adult conversation? What about the sounds that the TV produces and how do you want to deal with them?

Your floor plan is exactly that: a floor plan that's in the beginning stages. IT'S NOT A HOME PLAN! And you are too invested into something that doesn't' work for you and for your property to drop back and get some help to create something that can be both low cost and work correctly for how you need to use the home. You've stifled your thinking by trying to hold on to this poor sketch.

Start over and don't even worry about anything other than a use diagram on the lot. Once you get the traffic flow and uses worked out in general, then you work out how the building can encapsulate those needs. And, you start with something simple, and look at how that looks from the exterior, and then add something, and look at the exterior, and add something else, and look at the exterior, and them maybe take away something or shift it, and look at the exterior. Your plan was developed by someone who never considered the exterior or the home's relationship to the property: a floorplan. Not a home plan.