I don't know whether anyone here will see this comment as I am posting 7 years after the last one, but many thanks for sharing! We are considering building the Southerland with some modifications to make it more like the Arbordale, including moving the stairs. We lived in the Arbordale for 8 years and absolutely loved it - but it had been built with lots of added square footage on both sides, extending both the front bedroom with bath into a suite and the bonus room - as well as the first floor under the extended bonus room, making the half bath into a full bath. We bought it that way as a resale. We absolutely loved it, but it is time to downsize as 4500sf is more than the two of us need at this stage of life, so we're looking to build a smaller version of it and the Southerland (with some modifications) looks like a great option. Many thanks for your insights, pictures and sharing your journey. Would love to see more if anyone has more to share! I couldn't attach a pic of the Arbordale, so i'll try a link for pics. Arbordale pics (with mods that add square footage)

My husband and I are currently building The Chesnee and we love how it’s coming along so far. I’ve created a Facebook group where anyone interested in this plan can join in and collaborate. For now it’s a small group and I’m journaling my progress. If you’re interested, please join or view the group! :-) The group is called Don Gardner Chesnee House Plan.

Not knowing anything about your lifestyle or location, I can only critique the plan as a standalone object and based on my own preferences, but these are my initial thoughts: 1. The general arrangement of space seems to be fairly decent. The shape of the house is not over-complicated and while slightly larger than the entrance volume, the garage doesn't overwhelm the house. The house also seems to make generally good use of it's limited square footage. 2. Both entrances are severely short on functional space. If you are coming in from the garage, where do you put your shoes and coat (or raincoat if you are in the south)? Where do you even stand or sit to take your shoes off with out being in the way of everyone else coming in? The front hall could really use a closet that is not the linen closet for the bathroom, and the back hall at the very least needs an additional 2' width for a bench a shoe rack and some coat hooks. 3. Are you okay eating most meals in the dining room or at the kitchen bar? You might be able to stuff another eating area into the great room, but it would be really tight, and would only leave you room for maybe a sofa and a chair at the fireplace. A small house like this doesn't justify three eating areas. You would be better off keeping the Great Room just for living. We've lived in a house that only had a dining room before and it can work, you should just be aware of that going into it. 4. The dining room will comfortably fit a smaller 6 seat table but not much else. If you want a sideboard, hutch, or china cabinet on the long wall, you are either going to need to off center the table (and plan to off-center the window and light fixture also) closer to the foyer or make the room at least 1', but ideally 2' wider. 5. Ranges in the island with seating on the other side don't mix very well, especially if you cook often. Perhaps someone here can think up an alternate arrangement that doesn't have the range here. 6.There is literally no place to hang a towel in the master bath, unless the bathroom door swings out...and then you will only get one towel there and it wont be reachable from the shower. One thing you could do to remedy this is to put a hook between the bathroom and shower door to hang a towel while showering, but if you are building the house from scratch, it's better to plan out good towel hanging from the start.

My question would be what do love about it IMO stock plans are never an ideal get an architect and design home for you and your family that is perfect instead of playing around with something less than perfect. FYI this house looks to me like someone could not decide what style so just throw a bunch of different styles together . The upper windows have no connection to the lower part of the house and look ridiculousThe front door is all wrong for either look just a mess keep looking or talk to a good architect.