House #1 -- I like the overall layout. It's very much like the one we're considering. We're also looking for a house that will serve us in our retirement years (we differ in that regard, we are definitely going to retire for real!), and we like the idea that we can have all our "every day" living spaces on the first level and bedrooms upstairs.

Specific comments:

- I do not like the exterior. The in-your-face garage dominates the front of the house and ruins the curb appeal.
- I like the arrangement of the front den room; if you (or a future owner) ever wanted to use it as a formal dining room, a new paint job and a chandelier could make it happen. Flexibility is good.
- I would want a door on the "end" of the master closet so that the laundry and the closet would be super-convenient to one another.
- If you plan to grow old in this house, I would take the toilet out of the closet and enlarge the shower.
- I've gotta give the upstairs a big boo-hiss. Since these'll be guest rooms, I wouldn't splurge on walk-in closets and separate baths for each bedroom. And lots of people here will join me in saying that two-story great rooms aren't quite what they're cracked up to be. However, I do like the walk-in attic space, even if entering the attic through the bathroom is a bit odd.
- Finally, this plan is in the 2500 sf range, yet I find myself asking, "Where is the space?" The rooms are of a comfortable size, yet none of them are overly huge. I don't quite see how this adds up to a moderately large house.

House #2 -- again, I like the overall layout, though many of my comments may be repetitive:

- I prefer this exterior to the first house. Though it also suffers from the sticking-out-garage, it seems less prominent; admittedly, that could be the angle of the rendering.
- I love the kitchen /pantry in this house. I definitely subscribe to the school of "build your kitchen small and a bit fancy . . . but add in a monster-sized pantry to hide all your stuff". This is a practical and frugal choice. However, I do not care for the desk over on the side of the kitchen; I would move the refrigerator to that area. Having it in the main work area (and nearer the table) will be a plus.
- I like the casual entrance to this house -- spacious, would be easy to navigate in your elderly years.
- I'd want another 2' in the master bedroom closet. A walk-in closet that holds clothes only on one side is a poor use of space. I note that House #1 has a significantly larger closet.
- The master bath doesn't feel very "master".
- Upstairs, I think all my House #1 comments work! However, I think this is a nicer, more balanced upstairs. Windows inside dormers (even large ones) don't always bring in lots of light. Could you add windows to the side of the house? That would make the bedrooms lovely and light-filled.
- The upstairs bedrooms both show closets to the "outside". Could these be swapped with the bathrooms to allow in some natural light? Or are these walls "contained" by the roofline anyway?
- The loft is lovely, but since you'll be doing most of your living downstairs . . . is it really a place to splurge?

House #3 -- I do like grey houses, and this one just looks . . . friendly. The bump-out garage is less prominent here than on the others.

- Yuck-o to the secondary bath. Who wants a separate room containing only a sink? Lose the door and go with a simple, straightforward bathroom -- easy to do by moving the closet a bit.
- The upstairs in this plan looks most reasonable for a guest area. Eliminating the second guest bath upstairs is a big money saver, and the overall space is smaller.

My votes:

- I like the exterior of #3
- the first floor of #1
- but the kitchen of #2
- and the upstairs of #3

No matter which one you choose, I think you could make some minor tweaks to make it age-friendly. And, given that you're two people with no children, I'd consider shrinking the project down a bit.

Choosing between these three will be tough -- since they're so similar, you're choosing based upon details. I'd ask you to rank these in terms of importance: Kitchen, master suite, bathrooms, storage. I didn't include Great Room in that list because (in your three plans) they're essentially all the same. If you decide which of these items is most important to you, perhaps that'll help you choose between the plans.

Those are okay...but I think you need a larger dining room space that can expand when you have company, but not be wasted on other days.

It also seems like two upstairs bathrooms are a bit unnecessary, but something like this might work...with a slightly larger shower.

This exterior is so cute and the garage is hidden. As MrsPete says, you don't want that to be the first thing you see. But if you have to have a front entry, it's easy to change.

Just a few ideas :) {{gwi:1506003}}From Stairs, landing, entry, etc.
{{gwi:1506005}}From Stairs, landing, entry, etc.
{{gwi:1506006}}From Stairs, landing, entry, etc.

And this kitchen made me think of a few colorful ones I've always liked :) {{gwi:1506007}}From Stairs, landing, entry, etc.
{{gwi:1506008}}From Stairs, landing, entry, etc.

Below is a link to the eplans.com site, where I found this house plan.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to plan

We have a lake property in MN too, and I've given a lot of thought to the perfect lake home!

#2 seems to take the most advantage of a lake view - especially from the upstairs bedroom. What side of the lake will you be on? Of course big windows on the lake side are less attractive if they face north.

I want to second Mrs Pete's advice to consider aging in place requirements, like adequate space in the bathroom for a walker or wheelchair.

The dining room is pretty small, and there's no window in the kitchen. The big covered porch in the back will be lovely in the summer - but have a big impact on the natural light you get into the great room.

Thank you all SO much for your thoughts. Very helpful!! MrsPete your preferences are very similar to mine. I like the exterior and upstairs of #3 and the kitchen of #2 including the big pantry and a lot of space to work with for a nice mudroom area separate from the laundry. I don't like that you just walk through the laundry room in #1. I'm also not sure about the walk through guest room in #1 but you make a good point about a potential dining room for a future owner (not something we'd ever want). I do like the big master closet in #1 but the bathroom is overkill for us. We don't even have a master bath at home and the one at our current lake home is small and basic and we're okay with that.

I definitely agree no need for two bathrooms upstairs. We did look at one house we really liked and I loved the dormers and nooks and crannies - so much more interesting than the basic rectangular spaces. I also didn't think about it until mentioned here that only #2 has a view of the lake from the upstairs bedrooms but the other views wouldn't be bad either. I didn't like the exterior of #1 but having a garage up front is typical and what we're used to so that's okay. I just like the looks of #2 or #3 exteriors better. We also want to keep the structure narrow due to setbacks from a river on the side of the lot and also because we want to keep as much woods as possible between us and the neighbors so garage up front is probably more conducive to that.

I think the dining space is okay considering I could expand into adjacent living space if needed for a large crowd. I will check the size of my current dining space though as a reality check. The covered porch would be a screen porch so not sure if that's better or worse in terms of the darkness factor. I did have that concern though. The main living space would have southern exposure. Our current place has skylights in the great room. Do people do that any more? Or skylight in the porch to bring in more light (and more expense of course) I love the covered porch (one place we looked at had that) but with MN mosquitoes we really need screen.

It's easy to get caught up in all the things you could have but I'd be fine with something similar to what we have now if I can't afford more bells and whistles. I just want a place that isn't four levels with 43 steps down to the lake and neighbors practically on top of me. I probably should think somewhat about resale but our plan is to die here but things don't always work out as planned. I'm all for "the not so big house" concept - less money spent on square footage and more on features and finishes that give the house more character. To answer the question about what's most important:

#1 Kitchen - I love to cook so I have a fair amount of equipment I need a place for. I also love having a kitchen open to the living area. Don't like a sink or cooktop in the island/peninsula and want my sink looking out a window so I'd need to do some tweaking of all these plans to accommodate that along with double ovens.

#2 Storage - don't like clutter so I like good space for stuff to be stored out of sight. Our current place has a walk in pantry and two good sized closets by back door and a good sized closet by front door. Not huge closet space in our bedroom now but we each have our own so I'd at least want us each to have our own "side".

#3 Bathrooms - not a big priority. A basic master bath is fine (probably not good for resale) and one basic bathroom for upstairs guest rooms and one for downstairs guest room.

#4 Master suite - have never really had one and don't need one. Just need a room big enough for the furniture, nice windows overlooking the lake, decent closet space and a basic bathroom. Somewhere we want a longer than average tub (as we have at home now) but it could be in the other main floor bath.

If money were no object, I'd probably start with #2 and tweak it to my liking. However I think #3 would be less expensive and it's very close. I'm concerned about making the kitchen the way I'd want it since it's a bit smaller and has no pantry. Also the back closet is small and there's no front closet. The closet issue could probably be addressed by somehow increasing the garage space and encroaching on it.

So now we ponder just how much we are willing to spend on this as it's more than we would have spent on an existing home. That's one reason I never really wanted to build - you get more for your money in an existing home if you can find what you want. Plus I get analysis paralysis making decisions and choices. One place we looked at we really liked but it was bigger than we needed and operating costs were quite high but purchase price would have been a lot less expensive than this new build we're now considering.

Annkh - where is your lake property?

Ottertail County, near Pelican Rapids - Lake Lida. We're on the south side of the lake, so my dream house there has to account for wicked north winds across the lake, while maximizing lake views in the summer. You're lucky to be on the north side!

Where's yours?

I'm glad you mentioned screening in the porch - I thought about that, but forgot to mention it.

Just wanted to comment on the existing septic. This should be given a detailed inspection since it is 20 years old.

Mounds are popular in MN and guessing that is what there is, but depending on its use (and maybe misuse/abuse), it could be towards the end of its useful life.

They can last much longer than 20 years of course but that requires diligent use and maintenance and not overloading the mound (or field) with any solids or any non-liquid effluent.

It is easy for biomats to form even with well intentioned usage and that can really reduce the efficacy of the mound/field. If it needs to be either replaced or remediated this can add 10's of thousands to your total cost.

Yes, I think you and I do sound a great deal alike. We're both building modest houses . . . but we seem to want the splurges in the same places. Here are some thing that are on my mind:

Master bath -- you say you don't really care about it being "master". I want it to look nice, but I'm definitely not into the over-the-top stuff. However, I do care about making it very accessible for our old age. My ideas on a well-designed bathroom:

7.5-8' x 11'
Large, barrier-free, no curb shower
With a rainforest shower head PLUS a hand-held shower
Controls must be reach-able without entering the shower
And a moveable stool
And a Tornado body dryer in the shower.
And a large shampoo shelf on the shower's pony wall /not visible from the rest of the room
Two soap dishes.
Heated floors.
4' vanity with a deep, single sink
And a large mirror
And plenty of drawer storage.
A linen closet inside the bathroom
A clawfoot tub set into a bay window, providing plenty of natural light.
Shelves at the foot of the tub for a TV (wire for cable).
A Toto washlet (or similar)
On an easy-to-clean smooth-sided toilet
Not set in a closet, but in at least 3' open space (easy to clean, easy to maneuver with a walker or wheelchair).

I think that's pretty much what we're planning. We've heard that the ability to wash oneself is one of the first things that "goes", so we figure that money spent on a nice age-friendly shower will be money well spent in the long run.

Kitchen:

I also love to cook, and I have so much kitchen stuff. It's cheaper (and more efficient) to store it in a large pantry than in expensive cabinetry. I want a pretty kitchen that's easy to keep clean -- not miles of countertops collecting junk and dust.

Wow MrsPete - you have certainly given a lot of thought to the bathroom. I'm not there yet. Definitely have considered wheelchair accessibility as I know how much trouble we had with that at our current home with aging parent in wheel chair.

Uitvlugt - yes, we will definitely have the septic system inspected and evaluated if we proceed.

annkh - our current place is in the Brainerd Lakes area. We are interested in something in the Wallker area where you can get more shoreline for much less $ but still not too far from a town with a grocery store, hardware store, etc.

overall i like #3 best i like the slightly larger living room space, the layout of the lr, dr and kitchen although one of the other plans has virtually the same layout
i like the back of the house and the size of the master br and the porch

I like #3. I like the exterior the best, everything looks to be about the right size (master bath, secondary bathrooms, and bedrooms) and it doesn't have a big "open to below" space.

As far as the skylights on the covered porch...I was really worried about not getting enough sunlight into our family room due to the covered porch. Our architect and builder assured me it would be fine, but it was a big concern of mine. Our old house had a deck and was flooded with sunshine. Builder suggested skylights on the porch to ease my mind. They are great! And I think they were not terribly expensive...maybe $600?

Nini - thank you for that confirmation on the porch skylight idea!