It's wonderful that your friend is trying to think in terms of wheelchair accessibility. But, she and her designer need to read up how to make a home accessible.

The first thing I noticed was the "three steps from mud room to first floor" that you indicated could be replaced in the future with a ramp. Wheelchair ramps should have a rise of no more than 1 in 12. In other words, for every 1 inch of rise, the ramp needs to be 12 inches long. "Three steps" means the rise from mudroom to first floor is somewhere between 18 and 24 inches. That means the future ramp would need to be somewhere between 18 and 24 FEET long!

You can sometimes cheat a little when the total rise is only 4 to 6 inches and make the slope a LITTLE bit steeper (maybe 1/8) for a short distance. But the steeper the slope the harder it is for a person in a wheelchair to roll themselves up it. Someone in a wheelchair might be able to manage a 1/8 slope for 3 or 4 feet but not for 12 to 16 feet.

To be accessible, the garage floor needs to be raised so that it is as close as possible to the same height as the rest of the first floor. I think most codes require that where a garage is attached to the house, the garage floor has to be 4 inches or so lower than the house floor. (I think the reason has something to do with giving poisonous gasses which are heavier than air a low place to collect.) With only a 4 or 5 inch rise between garage and first floor, it is usually possible to find room install a 4 to 5 foot long ramp.

Accessible bathrooms need to have a minimum 5ft diameter clear circle of floor space so that the wheelchair can turn around.

Most wheelchairs will fit through a 32" wide door but 36" wide doors are usually recommended for full accessibility. Hallways must be at least 36" wide but for full accessibility (no scraped knuckles), 48" wide hallways are better.

Where you have a 90 degree turn in a hallway, you have to leave extra room for the wheel chair to turn. Sorry but I don't recall the exact requirement right off the top of my head.

Showers need to be made large enough to roll a wheelchair in and you need to make sure that the shower floor doesn't have a "lip" that the wheelchair can't get over. Enclosing toilets in tiny little "throne rooms" doesn't work either. Think about the size of the wheelchair accessible stalls in public bathrooms. There is a reason they're made so large.

I don't have time right now to look at the rest of the design but wanted to go ahead and alert you to the accessibility issues.

wow Bevangel, that is really great advice and I appreciate your posting it in detail. Looks like the entry area, some doors, and at least one bathroom on each floor may have to be re-planned. I will review this with my friend . Gracias!

Whomever is designing this is obviously not experienced in universal design or ADA requirements. It's not a promising beginning. I'd be looking for an architect. This "home designer" isn't doing it. Some have a good educational background and are all but technically architects. Some are not even good draftsmen. I suspect she has someone closer to the latter category.

The requirements of the ADA would not apply to a single-family residence unless it was built with federal, state, or local government funds. More importantly, ADA requirements are not particularly appropriate for a single-family residence except as a general reference. To quote Captain Barbossa of the Black Pearl, "the code is more what you'd call 'guidelines' than actual rules."

Universal design would be a different matter. The provision for a future wheelchair ramp seems appropriate.

Be aware that the drawings shown were made by the OP not the designer.

OK my friend sent me her revised plans which she had been working on simultaneous to my posting. Turns out that she had wanted just "some accessibility" at first but the designer talked her into a greater degree of accessibility. It does cut down on room sizes but seems to make more sense. Hopefully she can get the zoning variation for the extra 3 percent. I think this address most of bevangel's concerns.

First Floor (revision 2)
The ramp has been added to the garage and there are no longer stairs between the mud room and the first floor. The bathroom now appears to be accessible. The doors are 36" wide at least.

2nd floor (revision 2)

The Parents entry and bath have been revised to be accessible. I have some thoughts on the entry alcove and parents' small closet which I will post in a followup post.

Basement- not yet revised, just needs larger bathroom. Posting again to be complete. Here are the comments I had before.
The "crafts room" and "play room" here are potentially be a bedroom and living room for the future live in helper but I think the rooms need to be reversed since there is no possible egress window out the "crafts room (future bedroom).Perhaps the "helper suite" should encompass the exercise toom and play room area to address the issues of egress.

Here is my thought on revising the parents and master closet. The original parents closet is 5x5 which seems not accessible. The original master closets are ok; that extra alcove the master is good for privacy but seems to take up a lot of space. What about turning the alcove into an extension of the master closet (essentially doubling it) and then adding the master closet #1 to the parents closet and changing the door so that it is accessed from the bedroom instead of the alcove.

I am hoping that my hand copied plans are not too hard to read. I did not feel comfortable posting the originals.

Personally, I don't like the kitchen, especially for handicap accessibility. The island and table look too crowded, especially when people are seated. I'd lose the island and rework the kitchen layout...but keep the table and chairs. Maybe move the sink to the outside wall, with a window...and rework the range location. Hope that helps :)

thanks for the comment on the kitchen, this kitchen layout will be reworked and fine-tuned after the general house layout is reached. I am hoping that the lack of comments to the revised layouts means that there are no glaring errors.

Although I agree somewhat that the alcoves in to the bedrooms are wasting some space I really would want it for privacy to my master. Something to buffer sounds and just the feeling of privacy. It is possible the parents may need some noisy medical equipment or they may be snoring etc. and I would like quiet when sleeping. Walls are much better at that than doors.

Great news- the foot print was approved by the committee of adjustments due to the accessible design, so no space needs to be cut!!

thanks Lyfia for your comment about the privacy. My friend was waiting for approval for the footprint, now we can start thinking in earnest!