"...but I don't want any big re-sale problems..."

Sorry, but I personally see big resale problems with that house. These are the objections I think you might hear from potential buyers:

- no dining room, and the eating area looks a little tight (hard to tell without dimensions).
- the people I know with kids hate step down rooms.
- the total open concept may turn off some people.
- the bedroom on the first floor is very small by today's standards (and for the size of the house) and it appears the master bedroom is upstairs. People with kids might not like that one "kids" bedroom is downstairs and one is upstairs (I assume the studio could be used as a bedroom). And the kids bedrooms are not close to equally sized.
- some people won't like the open balcony because of heat loss and noise (this is an issue we have as well in our house).
- I would give the mudroom direct access from outside.
- there is no coat closet near the front door or garage door.
- the "game room" (with the pool table) takes up a large amount of square footage in comparison to the kitchen/dining/living area. It's too far from the kitchen to be converted to a dining room, but I guess it could be used as a family room. Personally, I think it makes more sense to incorporate that space back into the living space and putting a pool table room in the basement.
- the open balcony over the game room has the same issue as the open balcony over the living space (noisy, heat loss, etc.).
- there is no door from the master bedroom to bathroom (noisy, lack of privacy, ventilation issues).

I can see that house being great for a couple that entertain or a bachelor, but it doesn't seem like a great family house. Which is fine for you, but it is an issue for resale since most people wanting larger houses have kids or plan to have them. The square footage isn't noted, but it looks like a large house. Such a large house should have "more". A dining room, at least 3 (preferably 4) proper bedrooms, etc.

Now, if you said this was your forever house and it was just for you, I'd have different feedback. I actually like the plan.

I don't like the elevation. Personal taste, that's all. It looks very 1980's Florida or California to me. The open to above area might be a little dated too.

I like a lot of the interior, but if resale is an issue AT ALL then it's no good. I would suggest reconfiguring it so that the master is on the first floor and the game room could be converted into a guest room (make sure the location makes sense for that and there is room to convert the wet bar to a bathroom).

Also the pool seems iffy. If you've got enough space for horses why don't you clear an area of trees and build it away from the house, maybe with a structure over part of it?
It seems a waste to build a pool in the shade. You will have fewer usable days. It makes my stomach clench to think of the blind spot in that pool where it is right next to the house. Obviously, it shouldn't matter since children shouldn't be unsupervised in a pool, but it still makes me nervous.

I agree with all of the comments already made above. It just seems very awkward. It looks like a big house, but it flows like a small one. I love two story foyers/great rooms, but I don't think I'd want a two story space over a game room with a pool table in it. The noise would be too much for me. If I were in the market for a re-sale, this one wouldn't make my list....even though I think there are issues with the interior, the reasons for my walking away would be because of the exterior (personal preference).

Since you are obviously looking for something less traditional, I would recommend working with an architect to help take your vision and wish list and make it more usable and "re-sale appropriate."

Will heating and cooling the bathroom at the end of the shop area be difficult? Will the whole shop/garage area be heated and cooled? That shop is HUUUUUGGGGGGEEEEE!

I agree that the eating area(s) seem very tight. If a chair or barstool is pulled out, it blocks traffic through there.

I would absolutely hate a step-down room.

All the exterior corners will make the house expensive to build.

I'd skip the pool. The space seems much more suited to a hot tub. But they're not any easier to market than a swimming pool. To me, they're both minuses instead of pluses.

I also agree that the exterior does not mesh with the interior. The exterior reminds me of a farmhouse, while the interior seems very modern.

we have designed several houses; some things to think about: do you want to see outside? if so, situate your living area to take advantage of views and use windows/french doors/patio doors to open the view. Personally, I don't like being boxed in. Use decks/porches; have multiple views and multiple sitting areas outside and/or inside. The kitchen will be visible from all living areas; will it be kept neat and tidy at all times? If not, use strategic wall placement. For resale, The open plan with kids is a nightmare; sound magnifies and there is no "quiet place" anywhere. The mudroom can be incorporated with the utility so you can take off dirty things and toss them in the washer right then; your master closet seemssto be eating up lots of space; check out Don Gardner plans and modify to your taste; my opinion is windows, natural light, and more windows. Site the house to the 1. sun orientation, and 2. views, to minimize heat gain in summer and allow solar gain in winter.

About 90% of the homes being built in my area (central Texas) have a very similar exterior style. I think of it as a sort of Tuscan style and, while it is definitely not a favorite of mine but, for its type, this particular example isn't bad.

For the interior, I think if you closed off the area above the pool table room, you would definitely increase the resale value and, IMHO, the aesthetics of the home. Seems to me that having a loft that sticks out partway over the pool table is odd. If nothing else, it could throw weird shadows over your pool table making play more difficult. Plus, if you wanted to put a light over the pool table, you would have to hang it on VERY long downrods.

You don't say how high you plan for your ceilings to be but, if you want your game room to have the sense of spaciousness that high ceilings provide, perhaps you could raise the ceiling in the pool room a foot or so above the other ceiling heights and then, upstairs, put a couple of extra steps leading up to a mini-suite (bedroom with its own bath) over the game room? My boss did something like that for one of the bedrooms at his home and it looks very elegant. Having the extra mini-suite and would definitely raise the resale value of your home and would cut down on noise issues.

Also, I would recommend extending the bump-out that holds your studio and guest bedroom below by another couple of feet. Since it is already bumped out, bumping it out another couple of feet would be relatively inexpensive, would not significantly alter your front elevation, and would make both rooms much more spacious and useful.

With these changes, if you ever wanted to sell, you could advertise that the house had 3 upstairs suites plus a downstairs guest suite.

More importantly though, you'll have some issues with your staircase as well because I don't think you've alloted enough room for the number of steps you will need. Stair risers are typically 7 to 7 1/2 inches high. To figure out how many steps you need - and therefore how much space you need; Measure the floor to floor distance. (Don't just go by the ceiling height of your downstairs because you have to add another 12" to 18" for the support rafters between the two floors.) Then, take the floor to floor distance in inches and divide by 7.25 (stair risers are between 7 and 7.5 inches high). So, this gives you the number of risers you will need. Then, because stair riser has to have a tread, take the number of risers and multiply by the depth of a tread (typically 10 to 11 inches) and that will give you the approximate length your staircase would need to run IF it was a straight staircase.

With a U shape, you have to take into account that the middle landing counts as a single tread and, to look right, it needs to be about the same depth as the staircase is wide. So, you subtract one tread, divide the remaining by 2 (because the staircase has sections) and, once you calculate the length half the treads, add the width of the staircase to take into account the landing.

To illustrate, lets say you plan on 10 ft ceilings. That is 120 inches. Add another 18 inches for the rafters and your staircase needs to rise 138 inches. Divide 138 by 7.25 shows you need 19 risers. Since the middle landing will count as one riser, you need 18 others or 9 risers before the landing and 9 after the landing. 9 x 10.5 is 94.5 inches or almost 8 ft of run for each section. Assuming a 4ft wide staircase, adding another 4 feet for the landing means that you need 12 feet from the foot of your stairs to the landing wall in order to make the stairs fit.

I think your plan shows you having about 10 ft...if you count the space that you have labeled as Audio Cab. This isn't a fatal flaw but it does mean that either you have to make your staircase steeper - not a good idea and possibly against code - or you'll have to make your living area a little bit smaller in order to have room to get around the staircase. And you will need to have the space that is "open" over the living area changed up a little bit to accommodate a landing at the top of the stair case as well.

Since they say a picture is worth a thousand words, I've taken the liberty of using Paint to revise your image to show you what I'm talking about re the stairs. (I also went ahead and sketched in a room over the game room and revised the front bumpout to make the studio and guest bedroom larger.

Thanks for the replies so far--lots to think about. I really appreciate people taking the time to comment. I should have been clearer about a couple of things. The house is 2750 sf, so big but not huge. The dotted line in the living room is not a sunken room, its where there will be carpet.

I also don't think I conveyed the exterior very well. I was using illustrator, just to get a general idea. We envision exterior detailing to be much like this house : {{gwi:1503018}}From house stuff

I think a lot of it is in the details, particularly on the interior. It won't be an especially modern house.

As for windows, there are TONS of windows in this house. The whole back side is windows, the window seat in the living room is 8' wide. I'm confident we'll have plenty of windows :)
I wanted to respond to some of the comments. My responses are in bold.

Sorry, but I personally see big resale problems with that house. These are the objections I think you might hear from potential buyers:
- no dining room, and the eating area looks a little tight (hard to tell without dimensions). Dining area is 11 x 12 (around the immediate table). That may be a little tight, I agree. I hate separate dining rooms, though.
- the people I know with kids hate step down rooms. Sorry, that wasnt clear. There is no step down room. The downstairs will be hardwoods, except for that area which will have carpet at my husbandÂs insistence
- the total open concept may turn off some people. Oh well. We had no problem selling our last total open floor plan. Lots of people like open. CanÂt please everyone.
- the bedroom on the first floor is very small by today's standards (and for the size of the house) and it appears the master bedroom is upstairs. People with kids might not like that one "kids" bedroom is downstairs and one is upstairs (I assume the studio could be used as a bedroom). Sorry, IÂm not sure I agree here. IÂve seen lots of plans with bedrooms that size. I guess it will turn off some people, but not every family has a bunch of small kids.
- some people won't like the open balcony because of heat loss and noise (this is an issue we have as well in our house).
- I would give the mudroom direct access from outside. Why? Is it so inconvenient to go through the garage?
- there is no coat closet near the front door or garage door. Yeah, we never use the front door. I didnÂt want to take room from the mudroom for a coat closet that would be unlikely to ever be used, but IÂll consider it. I doubt it would make or break a sale, but who knows.
- the "game room" (with the pool table) takes up a large amount of square footage in comparison to the kitchen/dining/living area. It's too far from the kitchen to be converted to a dining room, but I guess it could be used as a family room. Personally, I think it makes more sense to incorporate that space back into the living space and putting a pool table room in the basement. No basements in that area. High water table, no heat issues. The pool table has to go in the main house.
- the open balcony over the game room has the same issue as the open balcony over the living space (noisy, heat loss, etc.). The reason we wanted the open balcony was because weÂre at an age where a lot of our friends have kids. We wanted them to be able to play in the balcony while the adults were playing in the game room and still be able to communicate with them. For us, the noise isnÂt a problem, but we figured for resale we could close off the balcony opening and possibly convert the game room to a master suite if necessary.
- there is no door from the master bedroom to bathroom (noisy, lack of privacy, ventilation issues). Easy to add later, we personally prefer it open. The toilet and shower are closed off.

bevangle, thanks very much for your input--useful suggestions.

Again, thanks everyone.

I like it a whole lot!

I wouldn't do the stepdown because it just makes life harder and keeps you from using the walk zones for anything buy walking. I like the suggestion to enclose the upper level of the game room, but I'd probably do a single shared bath there with the studio. I would try to get a little wider walk zones in the eating area.

But I love the mudroom layout, the fact that there really are no hallways, and the general flow of the place.

As I looked over your plans I had one thought "bachelor". And I'm a single female speaking. It has some neat aspects but is designed for a bachelor lifestyle with some serious work going on in the garage.

If that's what you want, great! Go for it! But don't expect the resale value to hold up.

I agree with most of the previous posts, but will point out a few things with your response. First for resale: for a 2700 sq ft house, I would expect a min of 3 bedrooms. Also I think 11x12 is too small for a single dining area in a house that size. And yes, a 10x12 bedroom in a 2700 sq ft house is small.

Umm, the coat closet by the front door would be for your guests' coats.

Just some thoughts.

? It does have three bedrooms--the studio is a bedroom, obviously, with a separate bath. It's a three bedroom, three bath house, and the game room could be converted to a large master bedroom if necessary. Am I missing something?

Yes, you are missing something. That first floor bedroom is a guest room, not a family bedroom. People don't want to sleep above their children. It's much more acceptable to have a master on the first floor and kids' bedrooms above.

So even though it's technically a three bedroom house, most families that need three bedrooms aren't going to want it.

If you are concerned about resale then at a minimum you need to either add a third bedroom upstairs by sacrificing one of the open to below areas or enlarge the downstairs bedroom into a master suite.

As it is you have a home unsuitable for familes and possibly not appealing to retirees (stairs to master).

Having designed a house that not many people here liked, then built it and love it, I'll offer this advice: If you like your plan go for it and incorporate any suggestions that make sense to you. If you're very concerned about resale you may want to take the suggestions more seriously because you don't get a chance to convince a buyer of why they should like it or why it will work for them. They'll look and decide and make an offer or not. If a lot of people here don't think it suits the average buyer it may not.

It's a big house for me but I like how you've made it fit your lifestyle.

I'm thinking much like aipl... as the design stands, it seems to suit your lifestyle. The design likely won't suit the average buyer. So you need to decide whether you are going to build to suit an unknown person or to suit yourself.

Based on Bevangel's floorplan with MB upstairs, I can see a potential compromise in using the billiards room as is for yourself now, but have that area specifically *designed* for an easy conversion into a sitting room with kitchenette; possibly with a sliding door to close off that end of the house from the foyer. Design the bath and doorways to be wheelchair accessible. Sell as having an in-law's suite. I think that in ten years, we are going to see a greatly increased demand for houses that contain suites/facilities for the oldest generation; suites which present both independence and convenience.

With no privacy door, the master bath layout is too odd. If you want to take a long bath, closing the master bedroom door is the only way to get any privacy. This makes the entire master bedroom suite, including the closet and laundry, inaccessible. Having the laundry as part of your private master suite ensures that no one in the house will be doing laundry but you. Again, you may be content with this layout, but any future buyers are going to be wary and will count the master layout as a drawback to living in this house.

Also, if the pool table and game room are "mandatory", as you say, you might as well do it right. Most articles about placing a pool table in your home suggest a full 6 feet of clearance on each side of the table. This is probably being generous, and you could probably get away with 5 feet, but the room you have drawn suggests 4 feet on each side (room appears to be 12 feet wide, and an 8 ft table is 4ft wide). That's not much and will make the room look cramped.

Thank you, ajpl.

I don't think I phrased my original post very well. We may eventually sell the house, we may not for several decades. So resale is something we're keeping in mind (which is why I've got a full bath next to my studio, instead of just the sink I really need), but definitely not why we're building the house.

I know that this floor plan will never appeal to people with small children or big families, and I'm fine with that. That's why we aren't building a standard floor plan. Not every house has to be designed for the traditional family. I know it limits our re-sale pool, but I'm not going to build a house for some hypothetical family in the future who may buy it--I'd like to build it for OUR family. And I do believe that when, someday, we sell, there could be another non-traditional family looking for a home.

We have lots of friends, lots of pets (we're very involved in animal rescue organizations) and lots of power tools. Sometimes we have family or friends that need to crash over a day or two, and the guest room downstairs is sufficient for that. It will never, while we own it, be "someone's" bedroom.

I truly do appreciate all these comments, but I'm less interested in why it isn't a good family home than comments like bevangles, which discuss technical problems with the house.

I do want to make this the best house it can be, but that doesn't mean the best house for the average family, it means the best house for a young childless couple who entertains (informally) a lot and likes to cook.

So I guess if you want to tell me how a parent of several (or young) kids is going to hate it, I'll believe you, but if you see any problems that might impact the way WE live, I'd be very interested.

Again, thanks to all who posted. I'm posting from Japan (we're stationed here for another year and a half, so I have time to tweak this), so I won't get back to this until tomorrow my time--late night US time. Have a lovely day, everyone.

AGGH! Does anyone else have problems with garden web loosing their posts? Drives me nuts.

Again (and sorry if this shows up twice):

A few people posted while I was typing that, so I'll respond.

There are w/d hookups in the mudroom, and we can add a door to the master bathroom easily when we sell. We personally prefer it open. (We have renovated many houses and will be doing about half of the construction work on this one ourselves--putting in a door is no problem at all.)

The pool table room is 14'8" by 22'.

And again, the dashed line is not a recessed floor. :)

Where will you build? A temperate climate? Which way is North? How big is the lot?

Is it OK with you to spend a lot building and heating/cooling 'useless' spaces: double-height rooms, a 'bonus' room with no stated purpose?

Would you prefer a house where a contemporary interior is matched by a contemporary exterior?

I agree that the dining area *looks* cramped. You need at least two feet behind every chair for 'push-back' room. Maybe a round table would help?

Unless you plan to use the garage bath as your pool facility (in which case it needs a shower), I'd move this powder room indoors, between garage and kitchen. If you have one, a pool needs to be farther from the house.

I like bevangel's addition of a BR suite over the game room. You could skip her proposed additional bathroom; make that BR smaller and your studio larger; put only a sink in the studio; have a hall bathroom to serve both rooms.

Do you use a bathtub? I'd be cold in mine without a door on the bathroom. I'd prefer a separate toilet room, not a room that includes the shower. I need more space and light in a laundry.

I'm on your side about guest coat closets. They aren't big enough for a crowd, and family coats 'live' near the family entrance. As a guest, I like leaving my coat in a BR where I can pull myself together, using the bathroom if necessary.

Do I spy a washer/dryer/laundry sink in the mudroom/dog area? Our dog frequently needs a dunk before getting into the rest of the house! I need a place to store cleaning supplies and mops, buckets. Dirty clothes stay there; aren't carried to an upstairs laundry. (Have you considered a laundry chute?)

There aren't too many young, childless couples who want a 2700 sf house on 15 acres. You asked about issues with resale and many people have pointed them out. The vast majority of buyers of medium-large houses on large lots are people with kids or who plan to have kids. Not having the house meet the needs of the vast majority of buyers creates resale issues in and of itself.

The same issue comes up on other forums when people discuss 2 bedroom or 1 bathroom houses. Yes, you will eventually find someone who will buy the house. But you will likely wait a long, long time for that person to come along. That is a resale problem.

I wouldn't do the inset carpet in the living room. Do wood or tile and then get a carpet bound or buy a rug. Especially if you have animals. The inset carpet thing your DH wants to do is very "out".

If you need a house that will appeal to as many buyers as possible, then this house probably won't do it. But I think that your house will appeal to a lot of buyers. Our last house was out in the country, had a mostly open floor plan, two story ceilings, master br on the 2nd floor and other bedrooms on the first floor, a balcony and a beautiful setting and two years ago we sold it in a month without a broker. We still live out in the country and I would estimate that more than half of our neighbors are empty nesters who wanted a house in the country for their hobby farms or for grandkids. Where I live it is now extremely popular to build 2,700 - 3,000 single story homes with walk out basements that have the master and one bedroom on the main floor and then the other bedroom (s) in the basement--the concept of your plan is no different than that concept. Our new house has an open floor plan, two story great room, loft, master and other bedrooms on different floors . . .Good luck.

I live in the country, where there are many, many people that would love this house. It has a few things(like the laundry not available to everyone) That limit things but it is also easily adapatable.

The size of the garage is almost standard in our area of the country( and a laundry center could be added there)
The loft area could be easily walled off and turned into another bedroom. A door could easily be added to the master bath but we would not need it.

The bones of the house are what is important. Make sure that the loft is large enough to be a closed in room(with window), that the garage could be walled off to create another room. make sure that the builder builds the game room and loft in such a way that you could install a ceiling/ floor at a later time( actually very easy)

My parents room was above mine ( never was a problem for them).

Ask everyone on this forum that have built a home if they would change things on the home they built. I am guessing that most will say yes. I am about to build my third and I have many changes for each house. This plan is not too out there that it would not find a new owner that would love it.

A lot of things in a house are matters of personal preference. Some people like two story spaces and some people don't. People who don't like two story spaces and don't have them often say that they are useless space and expensive to heat/cool. We have had two houses with two story spaces and have not found them to be expensive to heat or cool. We live in Wisconsin in a 3,200sf house (plus another 900 sf finished in the basement) with a two story great room, 9' ceilings and a loft and have gas heat, gas water heater, gas cooktop and one gas fireplace. Our total gas bill for 2007 was $1,010.28 and our total gas bill for Jan 10, 2008 through October 9, 2008 is $966.26--that is not expensive. Our utility lets us calculate a home heating rating and then compare it with other homes built since 2000--our home's heating rating is 2.5 (excellent) and only 5% of the homes built since 2000 in our area have that rating or better. Our highest electric bill ever was for August of 2007, which was really hot, and was $168.31. Our next highest electric bill was for July 10-Aug 11, 2008 and was $149.35. We have zoned heating and have never had a problem heating/cooling our house or keeping both floors the same temperature--but you do have to plan your heating/cooling system very carefully. I also disagree that the open space is useless space. If you don't like two story ceilings then the space is useless. I like two story rooms and enjoy the open space of my great room, and the light and warmth from the sun that flows in through the upper windows, every single day so it is not wasted for me-putting an unneeded 4th bedroom above the great room would have been a waste for us. My only other comment is that I don't think that the space for your kitchen/dining table is big enough. Good luck.

Looks nice. Make sure pool is facing south and enclose the pool in a solarium and never worry about heating the house (SEE ZED Homes website).

I would take some of the comments made here with a grain of salt..take the constructive criticisms that ring true to you and pitch the rest :)
For instance, I totally disagree that having one dining area is a distinct problem for resale. This is becoming more and more desirable to a lot of home buyers and there aren't enough homes out there without a formal dining room (wasted space in my opinion...and I entertain A LOT!). I know 4 people currently building homes with no formal dining room now...in different parts of the country. And I personally LOVE the open floor plan--lots of people look for that in buying a home. You can't build your home for "everyone" or potential future buyers. Take 10 "potential buyers" and you'll need 10 different kinds of floor plans to please them! Everyone has their own tastes and preferences. None of this applies if you are building a spec home of course, but if you plan to stay there for 15-20 years, build it for *your* family (keeping in mind that your family dynamics will change over that time period as well :). Having said that, I agree with most of Bevangels suggestions, especially adding that extra suite upstairs. I get where you are coming from with the loft and the kids, but I think she has a real point there. When you have company, let the kids play in the carpeted living room right outside the door of the game room :) Or invest in a baby/tv monitor so you can keep an eye on them while they are upstairs... Good luck in your building adventures!

I think the exterior elevation need to have a larger arched window versus the small cirle. Is that possible? Also, have you considered which way the house sits? You say the back is all windows and perhaps at 5pm that is not a good thing with all the sunshine (and heat) coming in.
I found the mirror image of my home fit my lot best. Just a thought.
good luck,

I love a couple of elements of this plan, especially the mudroom layout and placement. My husband and I waited 9 years to have kids so I have experience as part of a childless couple and as a new parent. I think your floor plan seems well suited to your lifestyle but as a parent I don't think your plan to house the kids in the loft while the parents play downstairs sounds feasible. Also, it isn't cozy and comfortable to have such a high ceiling in a game room, in my experience. So, you would gain a lot expanding the loft into a full bedroom and adding a bathroom/closet. That would also increase resale value without losing the elements you need for your current lifestyle. Consider making the dining room bigger too...but I love the floorplan! Please keep us posted on your plans.