This is a very unusual plan...

Some comments (but as you say, it is rather busy, so I am sure there will be other comments)--

You have an "ADA bath", but none of the rooms around it are ADA friendly (it is hard to turn into a door at 90* to a hallway. And, both potential bedrooms have that configuration. PLUS, a 90* turn from bedroom to bathroom...)

The kitchen is very oddly arranged. Can you state your thoughts there?

The butler's pantry is in a useless location. And, you have a large house with, what I feel, has many too many hallway square footage. For a house on a budget, (of some kind) this floor is not feeling budget friendly, even with minimum sq ft requirements.

Side entry garage? And, how will people approach your home in their car or deliver truck? Will it be difficult to "find" your front door or much, much easier for everyone to use your side entrance?

Thanks for the comments.

1. I prefer 'custom' not 'unusual' :) I didn't want a cookie cutter floorplan, and this is the original an architect came up with combined with home HOUZZ features...

2. I agree with Bathroom and ADA. Rooms are for 6 and 80 year old, hence ADA. No wheelchair, but cane, so planned ahead. Any thoughts on a good Jack/Jill Bath / Bedroom Layout for that corner? I just couldn't find something that seemed to work.

3. Kitchen layout was from Kitchen/Cabinet store. Cooking surfaces on one wall, everything else on the other. Do you have a preferred layout that would work in this 'L' situation?

4. Butler Pantry is really just some cabinets there to frame a 'wall' for a hall so that the Great Room is not even that much wider.

5. Lot requires the side entry garage, and that stoop entry is for visitors. I have a front door today most (except sales calls) never use - everyone comes thru the garage and the laundry into the home. Was hoping for something nicer.

Thanks for the comments !

Nothing I can really add to that except agree 100%, very unusual flow pattern (in my opinion almost non-existent with all the hallways). Are you sure he is an Architect? That is going to an expensive house without even see an elevation and where do the stairs with the "library landing" go?

So glad you explained the side entrance. My friend remodeled her side entrance to look as nice as the front entrance since that's what everyone uses, though it still comes into the mudroom. Anyway, so why not have the side entrance nicer on the inside? More like the foyer? You could shrink the foyer down (I imagine the community requires a front door in the front lol)

I wonder about a 6yr old and 80yr old sharing a bath. I can't imagine my kids, and they are teens, sharing with their late-80s and 90 grands. The kids dash in and out but need it quickly in the morning to get ready for school, and the grands just move that much slower in the bath, not to mention their personal needs products and meds that are in there. I think I, and the grands, would rather my kids have their own bath, no matter how small. Steal space from the foyer to accommodate them both.

Why is the cooktop outside of the kitchen, it's in the dining area? And the oven is practically in the LR? Maybe if you rotate the island?

Inspiration Floorplan attached. This had many features I wanted - Stoop Entry / Grand Hallway / Kitchen/ Eating Space. Didn't want a formal dining room, so made it an office. And went with a ranch, so 2 more bedrooms on the first floor. Hearth Room was an addition for a possible 'quiet' zone.

Inspiration for Command Center Desk going into the Kitchen & Mudd/Laundry Room

The comments have mentioned the 'flow' of the house, so here was my thinking:

1. Porch/Stoop - Entry from outside for a 'Friend's Entrance'. And I don't know how many times my sister shows up and we congregate to the kitchen. Thought was quick line to the kitchen past work desk and Pantry. Inspiration pic.

2. Garage Entry - Pass thru from Garage thru large Mud Room. Really a crafts/anything room. Quick access to the Pantry for after a shopping trip. Inspiration pic.

3. Hallway between Kitchen / Mudd is just idea from the floorplan inspiration.

4. Stairs at end of that hall lead up to bonus room over garage. and provide a nice 'open' staircase in front of the Office, which itself has French Doors off the Foyer.

5. Centered the Foyer with the Great Room for a nicer look out the back of the home.

6. Right front of the home is a mess. Wanted 2 rooms (for young child, older parent) and just didn't want to put 2 bathrooms up there.

7. Stairs / Library Landing go to the finished basement. Library Landing is simply oversized landing with windows and bookshelves where you could put a chair.

I appreciate any suggestions on fixing what we currently have. I agree it became an 'we want this and that' and it just gets added.

One difference between your inspiration plan and your plan is the ability to close off (shorten) the hallway (there is a pocket door midpoint). I think that little feature makes that house feel more homey and less bowling alley. If you added something like that at the kitchen entry to the hallway, and other to break up the hallway, it would be good additions, imo.

Not a budget plan at all. Needs to have about 25% of the space whacked off, which wouldn't impact it's utility at all since there is a LOT of wasted space. Even then, it still won't be a budget build because it simply has too many luxury details and engineering requirements.

Your hearth room is not going to be a quiet space. It is completely open to your kitchen and has a cathedral ceiling. This is going to be a noisy space.

I'm confused about your stairs. If these library stairs are going to the basement, you won't have open windows for light. Your plan appears to be on grade. So this library landing will be below grade. You cannot take advantage of any space above these stairs. So nice you need the head room. It could be a gorgeous staircase, but it is being wasted since it is being built underground.

Also this staircase that goes to the bonus room above the garage. You only show 7 stairs. Impossible.

I really like your inspiration floor plan and photos! If the inspiration floor plan is available online, can you tell me how to find it?

About your plan, things I saw that you might want to look at are:

- Others have made comments about the shared bathroom for the older parent and child. What about making the office a bedroom and change the powder room into a bathroom for that room? Then designate the 11x11 room as the office?

-- If you keep the 11x11 bedroom as the child's bedroom, you might want to consider making it a little larger. I'm a fan of small bedrooms, but my kids' rooms are about that size and I wish they were just a bit bigger. Looks like you could easily just move the exterior wall down a bit. You could give up space in the office if you need to keep sq footage the same.

- there's a really tight corner between the table in the dining area and the corner to the hearth room (looks like 3'; if so, not enough room to comfortably pass). An idea would be to move the hearth room closer to the master bedroom by a few feet and to add a partial wall between the island and the hearth room--I think that might make the hearth room more private and help circulation.

- I think your laundry and hallway areas are going to be dark. If you look at your inspiration photos for the laundry room, there are windows on two sides but you'll only have one small one, and I don't think much light will come in from surrounding rooms. Same with hallways. Maybe consider skylights or solatubes.

One level living is nice. If the 80-yr old will be living there full time or having extended visits with you, I would seriously consider giving that person his/her own bathroom.

Good luck!

Custom -- unique -- those can be euphemisms for weird and bad. While this house contains some nice features, it also contains some bad ideas that will not live comfortably -- things no one's going to like in real life. And it is expensive in ways that don't help the looks or efficiency of the house.

- The entryway has a barrel vault that leads into an arch . . . and beyond that is a coffered ceiling . . . and then you have another arch off to the left. These are all expensive, showy ceiling features -- but having all of them within arms' length means they will "compete" with one another. One feature of good design is that it contains "enough" . . . without going overboard. Note that your inspiration plan contains multiple coffered ceilings, but it doesn't mix and match ceiling features. Repetition in design creates a sense of harmony.

- On the subject of arches -- I love them and wonder why people aren't building them anymore. But they're an expensive feature, and I would never spend the money to build one between the kitchen and the mudroom, especially since it's tucked behind the kitchen cabinets and would literally only be seen as people come /go from the house. Unless your budget is genuinely unlimited, put your resources in spots where they're going to show.

- I agree with the poster who mentioned the difficult turns necessary to enter either of the secondary bedrooms. If the aforementioned elderly relative needs a walker or a wheelchair, this will be difficult. It would be easy to move the door to the smaller bedroom to an easier-to-access spot. Will this relative live with you all the time? If so, he or she will probably need more than an 11x11 room with a small closet -- could you happily move all your personal effects into this room permanently? I ask because this was a MAJOR FIGHT with my easy-going grandmother only a few years ago, and she NEVER got over having to get rid of so much stuff. I agree with the poster who suggested making the larger office room a bedroom for the elderly relative.

- An ADA bath in a 9x9 space. Is that possible? Okay, it's possible, but I mean, is it possible to do it well?

- The master bath is large but contains SIX DOORS. Stop and visualize six doors in this space. The master bath is also laid out poorly: When you walk in, your sightline is the corner of the shower. And the toilet closet is tiny and cramped -- backing into a 6' deep closet and scootching over to the side so you can close the door (plunging yourself into darkness) won't be comfortable. Why plan two sinks in such a small vanity? It means you'll have no drawer space. What is the dry area in the shower? What is keeping it dry? Note that when you walk into the bathroom, you'll have to close those double doors and reach behind them to turn on the light switch. With all this space allotted to the master bath, you can absolutely have something better than this.

- The great room is a positive ray of sunshine in an otherwise chaotic plan. Ditto for the foyer.

- The odd extra hallway (containing a butler's pantry?) near the dining area is wasted space. Why would anyone walk through this hallway when the foyer is literally two steps farther away?

- The kitchen doesn't work on any level. It's huge, but everything is so far apart! Your "major players" -- the sink and the stove and your prep space -- are all disconnected from one another. Why would you want your ovens in the dining room? Look at the floor plan and imagine yourself going through the motions of preparing one of your favorite meals. Likely it's going to include too many "walk across the kitchen" trips. I think you're falling for the oh-so-common idea that a BIG kitchen = a GOOD kitchen, and that is axiomatically false. An EFFICIENT kitchen = a GOOD kitchen.

- What you're calling the Hearth Room could be an incredible dining room, and it's completely wasted as a sitting area. Because it is connected to the great room, it has no privacy and serves no purpose as a separate room.

- The table, in its current position, is blocking access to the kitchen and the Hearth Room. Imagine squeezing by either end once chairs are in place.

- If you move the sink in the mudroom to the same wall as the washer/dryer, you will save significant money. Why? Because you'll limit your water needs to one wall. That means only one wall needs to be thick enough to run water, and the plumber only has to work on one wall. I don't love the island in the middle of this room. This is a storage room / a pass-through room. The island actually creates a barrier.

- I personally dislike the "friends' entrance" concept. I'm making the front door nice. I'm arranging guest parking to encourage people to see /enter through the front door. I'm setting up a table for purses/keys, etc. I don't want people traipsing in through the back door where I'm storing plastic bags, recycling, and dog food. And if this is a "friends' entrance", for whom is the front door? Enemies? I don't invite them over.

- I agree with the posters who say most rooms are over-sized. You could easily reduce most rooms by 25% and still have comfortable spaces. The exceptions are the two secondary bedrooms, which don't seem to fit in with the rest of the sizing.

- The hallways could be vastly reduced, and that could make up the price difference you mentioned -- you need the foyer hall and the two small halls to reach the bedrooms, but the giant freeway running through the middle is just expensive wasted space. I do like the inspiration plan's connection between the mud room and the hallway -- it promotes good flow in two directions, without being over-sized. Were you the poster from a couple months ago who loved hallways because of a wall treatment you saw in a model home's hallways?

- A garage sticking out on the front doesn't make for a very attractive exterior.

- You're going with a basement AND a bonus room over the garage? I'd pick one or the other, which would eliminate one staircase -- do not underestimate the cost of a staircase. Actually, staircases cost in both money and square footage. Either a basement OR a bonus room will give you a secondary living space.

Again, this house has some redeeming features, but they are so buried under the oddities and mistakes that it's hard to find them. I vote for a fresh start.

This post was edited by MrsPete on Thu, Sep 11, 14 at 18:21

Looking at the above responses, it seems like you have plenty of opinions on the floor plan to dig through. Floor plan aside, what stands out to me is the cost-to-build difference the contractor is quoting you. I'm not sure where you're located, but a $30/SF price difference seems pretty significant. Make sure that you are getting the quality that you want, rather than the square footage needed to be able to build on his lot.

You can reduce the price quickly by installing laminate floors instead of tile, chrome plumbing fixtures instead of stainless or oil rubbed bronze, etc. I'm sure you and your potential builder have discussed most of that, but it seems a little off to me. Also, remember that since you are building a larger home (because of the new contractor's cheaper price) that you will have a higher tax obligation, gas/electric bill, etc. The cost to build may be offset to a certain degree by these future (higher) payments you will incur.

Burb, I don't know the square footage you're looking for. I'll attach our plan, which is 3/3.5 in abt 3600SF. I think we had lots of the same things on our wish list. The front bedroom suite is certainly large enough to accommodate an ADA bath. The master is off the the right, not really shown on this pic of the plan. The garage is beyond the rear porch and is a side entry; the rear porch is our friends entry.

There are some things people like as personal preferences that others don't. I like MrsPete's thoughtful responses, but disagree with several points she makes. We do have a central hallway (freeway!), which runs the length of the public rooms. I love the separation of spaces, while being able to keep an open concept. Our hall. Foyer and dining off to the left, living and kitchen to the right. Secondary bedrooms straight ahead.

We also have 2 90 degree turns into the master bedroom. No problem at all getting our king bed and other furniture into our room. If you take a straightedge, and draw to scale your furniture, you'll see if it works in your case.

I love a friends entry. I did not want a parking pad in front of our home. There's certainly no confusion as to where our front door is.

I agree with the need for a private more cozy away space. We closed the master sitting from the foyer, and used only the door off the hall. That's where we find ourselves piling up on the sofa together to watch movies at night. It's also an excellent place for my almost 17 year old daughter to have her boyfriend over. I think it provides an age appropriate amount of privacy for them WITH THE DOOR OPEN!

The $30 PSF number could be spent rather easily. We got pricing then added antique ceiling beams, brick floor, an antique cypress mantel, and a few other things that pushed us up about $25k. Our floors are Antique pine; we wanted walnut but not for $12.5K more.

Our house was not a "budget build" but of course we built under financial constraints. We found the floor plan an excellent place to economize. We have very few corners-basically we have 2 rectangles. This reduced the costs for foundation, framing, roofing, as well as reducing waste. We put a lot of thought into what was important to us. I think that is going to differ for each family.

Here is info on the floor plan I noted as inspiration. Farinelli Construction in PA.

http://pahomearama.com/lib/pdf/farinelli.pdf

http://www.houzz.com/projects/36152/home-a-rama-2011

http://farinelliconstruction.com/residential-projects/home-a-rama-2011/

As an update, the latest plan provided by builder.

This post was edited by burbmomoftwo on Sun, Dec 7, 14 at 18:20

Overall, this is looking better.

Comments:

- The elderly relative who's living with you may want more than a child-sized closet. I know that when my grandmother could no longer live alone (at age 98!), she knew she needed to make a move, but she was reluctant to give up things that she could no longer use (i.e., evening gowns with sentimental value, books, just LOTS of things), and her massive walk-in closet overflowed. My neighbor's mother-in-law just moved into her house, and they're having the same issue: They're building a large outdoor shed to store things that the mother-in-law can't let go. Imagine yourself 80,90 years old and moving in with your children -- would you really be okay with giving up everything that wouldn't fit into that closet?

- The shared bath is minimal in size. No storage, no space for drawers in the vanity, no space for a hamper or trash can. And it may become an issue for the elderly relative in the future. I think you have to increase this bathroom.

- The front room is labeled bedroom /office, and it's set up to become a bedroom because it has a closet . . . but its bathroom is only a powder room. If you intend this to be a bedroom at any point, you need to add in a tub or shower. Note that while the current powder room is FINE as a powder room, even if it had a tub or shower, it would still lack storage just like the other bathroom.

- This front bedroom /office is also full of doors, which will make furniture placement difficult. I think you could bump the closet door to the side (meaning the little "hallway" that leads to the hall /bath).

- I'd consider losing the second set of stairs (stairs are expensive, and two sets aren't necessary) and placing the bathroom in the spot where the stair is now located. This would make the front room a better bedroom, if that option should ever be necessary. In fact, if you lose the staircase, I think this bedroom might be better for the elderly relative -- it could incorporate some of that generous back-entry storage space for him or her.

- I don't like the location of the laundry room. It's worst for the occupants of the master bedroom. Imagine you have a clean basket of clothes. You must carry that basket through the back hallway, across the great room, turn through the master vestibule, through the master bedroom, through the bathroom . . . and finally you're in the closet. Laundry is a constant and thankless chore, and this circuitous route makes it worse.

- Finally, I would consider "closing off" the Hearth Room with French doors. A private, "away space" is a good idea, and although the Hearth Room provides that, it is still open to sounds from the kitchen and great room. A set of French doors would make the room more private.

Mrs Pete -

Appreciate your comments. A few notes:

- The large staircase on the left side of the house is DOWN to the basement. I wanted a bookcase with chairs landing there, but only 6' deep so not sure that will work. Inspiration (https://www.houzz.com/photos/the-overlook-at-heritage-hills-mediterranean-staircase-denver-phvw-vp~1541327) probably will be more like https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bungalow-traditional-staircase-san-francisco-phvw-vp~4935087

- The staircase across from the kitchen in UP to the bonus over the garage. Putting approx 600 sq ft suite there for my older son with special needs. TV Room / Bonus today, but there for future use if needed. It has that open-ness there based on inspiration photo (https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchen-traditional-kitchen-minneapolis-phvw-vp~163477) I’ve provided to builder.

- Shared Bath - Agree 100% the shared bath at left front of the home needs a Linen Closet. I wish it was a bit 'deeper' too (8 x 6 vs. 8 x 5) just to allow more space for walker, etc. But size constraints with this plan and the bedroom directly in front of it. There is some space on the wall in the 'foyer' there where I might put Linen outside of the bathroom. I’ve tried to figure out the best size for a bath (even if ‘L’ shaped) to meet needs but the classic ‘galley’ is about the best I can I do. Wish the miracle bath was there somewhere :) You can only look at 10,000 bath floorpans on the internet until you get tired of it :)

- Bedroom 2 - Considering moving the front out 2 feet, just to keep the room 13’ 6 1/2 “ after putting a closet in there. Agree it’s a small closet, but again, doing what we can. Finished basement will have a lot of storage space, where non-essential items can be stored and brought up as needed.

- Bedroom 3 - Considering moving the front out 1 foot, to add a little space and ‘balance’ some with adding 2 feet to Bedroom 2. Might see if i can steal 6” or 1’ from the Foyer too. I love 8’ Foyer, would like 7’ especially if it is done to make the bedroom have just that much more space for furniture.

- Hearth Room - this has been a much commented item on the Garden Web posts I have put out about this plan. While not the ‘fortress of solitude’ it might be, I’ve agreed to leave this open so that it could actually double as a dining room if ever needed, or for future resale.

- Office. I put an office back in the home since both of us work at home a lot. Builder put this particular layout in there. I’m not sure I like the french doors immediately when you come in the home, so since that is 10’ wall, I’m considering 3’ wall, 4’ French Doors, then 3’ more wall. That would mean the coat closet would turn and actually open into the hallway across from the Great Room. Closet, in my opinion, is optional - I really wanted this to be an Office now - I guess the builder liked WIC (wish Bedrooms 2 & 3 had this) and this could really be called a 4 bedroom ranch in real estate lingo.

- Laundry - thanks for the comments, but again, I’m a bit ‘stuck’ with possible options

- Master Closet - wondering if this is not considered big enough, based on a 3200 sq ft. ranch that is going to be a close to 7-figure home.

- Kitchen - I’m thinking I’m going to have to turn the island to allow for better flow pattern in the Kitchen. Not sure I like the distance from Fridge to Oven, but not sure what layout of the kitchen would fit and work better.

- The large staircase on the left side of the house is DOWN to the basement. I wanted a bookcase with chairs landing there, but only 6' deep so not sure that will work. Inspiration (https://www.houzz.com/photos/the-overlook-at-heritage-hills-mediterranean-staircase-denver-phvw-vp~1541327) probably will be more like https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bungalow-traditional-staircase-san-francisco-phvw-vp~4935087

Your windows might be much higher than those in your inspiration photos since you will be walking down to a basement and the windows all have to be above grade. Is that side of the house higher than grade at the first floor? Do you have an elevation from the builder?

Do you grill? Grilling should not be done in a covered patio unless you have a vent hood, so you don't currently have a good place to grill. Perhaps you could turn that kitchen window on the back into a door and have a grilling patio out there. Of course that works best if you grill outside and eat inside. If you plan to grill and eat on the covered porch, you will need another option.

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