1. Do you live in a house now? Look around, measure the size of the rooms you have, figure out what spaces you want to include in the new house, and use your current rooms as a frame of reference to determine the size of rooms you want. Like, you might say, "This living room is the perfect size so I'll plan one about the same, but I want twice the length of kitchen counter space, so I'll increase the kitchen by X square feet, add one more average size bathroom," etc, etc. Then add it all up. I don't know if this helps, but it's basically what I did. I sat and looked at my current living room and kitchen for hours, measured the furniture, and figured out what size rooms I was comfortable with in the new house (and what rooms I wanted to add). Don't be surprised if the house "grows" considerably during the design process. With mine, I was imagining around 1,600 square feet. When I drew it all out, it turned into 1,800. Then, we bumped it up to 2,052 when we actually got to framing. Then, we decided to finish out the attic room ("might as well while we're at it, why waste that space," etc.) that added 260, so it ended up about 2,300. Of course, you have to consider your life now and what you expect in the future. I feel our new house is going to be ridiculously big for my husband and me, but we do hope to have at least one child. 2. I can offer no financial advice. : ) 3. You have many good suggestions here already. My only comment would be, why do people consider painting as a place to skimp? This is assuming you are physically able to paint: Paint is cheap!! And, painting is the one thing even the least skilled of us can usually handle (Professional painters, please don't flame me!) My family and I plan to do all of our painting and staining. I probably wouldn't try this in a house twice the size, but I think we can handle it. I will probably take a few days off work. Obviously this might not work for everyone, but even if you're hiring it done, why is it cheaper to get it all white instead of the colors you want? Here is a link that might be useful: Owl's progress blog (pictures)

I'm in your area. If you find a builder that will build for 115, let me know. I have yet to find one and if you do, don't expect top of the line, but builder grade materials. I haven't heard a lot of great things about KHOV or Wayne and they really are not as custom as you think, but maybe you don't mind? I just had a neighbor build with Heartland Homes on her own property. Other than babysitting the workers a lot and reminding their building manager promises he made in writing, they seemed to be pleased. Again, not a total custom job. They had to pick from Heartland's plans, little adjustments allowed and had to use Heartland's suppliers, (but they didn't care). I've had architects quote me anywhere from around 20k to 65k, some for just the plans and others for complete services before and during construction. A finished basement will cost around 25k to 35k, depending on what you are including in it. If you keep your plan a basic square or rectangle, you will be cheaper than adding a lot of corners, bump outs, etc. Don't forget to factor in permits, utility and sewage hook ups, driveway and landscaping costs. I would say to visit every new open house you can. Talk to as many builders as you can. Talk to many homeowners too. Compare workmanship, quality of products, etc. Make a wish list of your own from finishes such as exterior brick/stone/siding, roofing, windows, doors, heating and cooling choices to interior flooring, countertop materials, trim/base/crown mouldings, wall texture finishes, lighting, appliances, etc. Comparing the prices of what you get for your money will help you narrow that list and figure out what is really important to you and esp. for your budget, (needs and wants). We went to many open houses of some gorgeous homes, some 700k + and they were only brick fronts, the basement was not finished, nor did they have hardwood in great rooms and dining rooms, no mouldings throughout, fiberglass showers, etc. For our area, that's a lot of money with little in finishes! Research, research, research. Research plans online to get an idea, then add the cost of finishing the basement. Think about the way you live and how you want to use your house on your property. Research building materials, interior materials, etc. Research types of building contracts, (this forum is a great start). I've surprised many builders with my knowledge and I still have a lot to learn. After owning our property out right for 3 years now, I have yet to build, but we don't have enough space or time for that, LOL! If you have anymore questions, feel free to email me. I'll help you with what I can. If you are serious about a quality build and staying within your budget, then you need to prepare yourself and coming to this forum is a great start! Good luck! BTW Fish7577, would you mind sharing which builder you are using in Westmoreland County? I'm thinking Arisonn a fellow GW member and friend would like some info. about them too. If you prefer to email that to me, that would be great. I'm wondering if I have ever spoken to them? LOL! But if you don't feel comfortable about that I truly understand. Hope your build is going well!

"Gas is not an option". I'm assuming you mean natural gas. You all ready have propane. Are you opposed to keeping it? If you are going to make the investment in radiant you may as well do the whole place. While this is primarily a summer place if you are going to "do it", do it once and do it so if you change your mind and decide to go full time or decide to sell in the future the place is ready as a full time occupancy. VT was my territory in my business for 25 years in the HVAC/P&H industry. My suggestions is to eliminate the old duct work (google "DOEductleakage). Install a combination of Fujitsu mini-split heat pumps and at least one Rinnai Energysaver depending upon lay-out. That is how I heat my home. Very efficient and one system backs up the other. That is very important in VT when you are not on-site to prevent freeze-ups. Where exactly are you in VT? FYI, my customers in VT (heating distributors and contractors) estimate that about 4-5% of all apts and homes in the state have the Rinnai's in them. VT is great country. We miss it!

Laura- Thank you for the response! I appreciate your input :) This is similar to another plan...my earlier, smaller plan. Then, I started thinking it would be nice to have more space and a second bedroom or study, on the main floor. However, it's just getting too big and the roof lines are too complicated. And...I'm definitely losing the charm of the original structure. So, I went back to the earlier plan, but with some small changes...that make a big difference. I moved the vestibule 'out' 3 feet, which allows the stairway to be closer to the front door. This gives me more room in the back, for an entry to the kitchen! This is something we didn't have before and it's a big improvement. Also, the fridge is now 'outside' the original kitchen, which creates more counterspace and room for a much bigger window, over the sink. We also have room for a shallow pantry, across from the fridge. The wood stove never really fit into the kitchen...although I think we tried every possible combination. And we also tried a sunroom off the back, but the light is all wrong, as that corner faces west. So, instead...it's a glass/screen porch for sitting out and enjoying the breezes or watching the snow...depending on the season! I did add some furniture...with a little Jotul wood stove against the wall. I also love your radiant heat under the floor idea...but the wood stove will give us a place to cook, when the power goes out. So, maybe both? Here's the plan with the furniture...and I probably need more clearance for the wood stove...but there's plenty of room to accomodate that. And maybe a little corner banquette, too! From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures I think this will actually end up more of a room with lots of windows that have screens, than an actual porch...but it does give me space for all the things I wanted in the kitchen and just don't have room for...and a great view, too :) Oh, and the detached garage will be off to the left, with the greenhouse on the front...facing southeast. Much better for the plants and easy access to most of the garden spaces!