Would like your input, before final version of home plan :)

13 years ago

I really appreciate you all taking the time to look at my farmhouse plan...and giving me such valuable feedback.

While we like our other plan, there have been some concerns about adding on to the back of the addition (where the living room and bedroom are located). The roof lines are not working out too well, especially given all of our snow in the winter...so we made some changes.

Here's the new plan, with the hall bath, now also being used as the master bath. Thanks to some of your suggestions, we've added french doors at the end of the stair hall, giving some privacy to the back hallway.

Since we aren't adding on to the back of the addition, I'm hoping we can afford a small greenhouse area, off the mudroom. I think it would pay for itself, eventually, given our short growing season...and keep me sane during long winters! LOL It would be wonderful to have someplace with to sit and have tea, with star jasmine and maybe a climbing rose to enjoy, in the middle of January :)

We plan to screen the deck, mainly to keep the barn kitties out of the hot tub and the yellow jackets out of our drinks. Not to mention the occasional porcupine, racoon, skunk and even deer...that like to come up and 'visit'...that's part of the joy of living in the country!

Summerfield is still working on the final version, but I did a 'cut and paste' of two different plans, to come up with this version. The screened deck is the only thing changed in the second plan...what do you think of the hot tub location? We like it tucked into the corner, with a few chaises...but again, would like your input. Thanks again! :)

With changes to the screened deck/porch....

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Comments (6)

TxMarti
13 years ago
It looks fabulous to me. Are you going to live there while it is being done? How much of the house is original and how much addition?
lavender_lass
Original Author
13 years ago
Marti- Thank you! :)

We will not be living in the house, during the remodel, since we live next door, in a double wide manufactured home...set up by my father-in-law in the mid 1980s. It's a cute home and will be much better than living in the farmhouse, with all the construction mess.

The original part of the farmhouse (built in 1904) is the kitchen, seating around the wood stove (former dining room) and entry/stair hall. The living room and bedroom were added in the 1950s. The porch (new dining area with banquette) and main bathroom were added in the 1920s.

The pantry, laundry area, powder room, mud room and front vestibule (as well as the greenhouse and screened deck) are what we're planning to add, during the remodel. The spaces are pretty similar to how they look now, except for opening up the kitchen, dining room and porch...to make the new kitchen/dining/stove area.

My husband spent his summers out here (as it was his grandparents' farmhouse) so we wanted to keep it as true to the original layout as possible...but add the storage and upgrade the kitchen and bathrooms.

Downstairs, there is a basement, under the 1950s addition, which has a family room and bedroom...under the kitchen is a cellar area (unfinished). Upstairs is one bedroom and some attic space, which we hope to turn into one bedroom, a bath and craft area, with extra bunk space.

The upstairs will mainly be for visiting family/friends...especially older nieces and nephews, who like to spend time in the summer, out at the farm. My husband loved doing that, so we want to offer that to the kids, too :)
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While it's a nicely laid out house, and the pictures of a Texas hill style house are lovely . . . I'm concerned that you're asking for ways to decrease costs, while presenting us with a house that's about as expensive as possible to build. If you want this style, it's going to cost for several reasons: - A long house like this requires a long, expensive foundation. In contrast, if you were to vault the secondary bedrooms up to a second floor, your foundation costs would decrease. - A long house like this requires a great deal of brick (or other siding) and a large roof and more insulation. A house's exterior costs more than its interior. You said you can't make it more square -- and I see that this style doesn't lend itself to a square -- so the choice really is, This style or a less expensive build. - Your footprint contains multiple jigs and jogs rather than being a simple rectangle. Of course, we can all see that a house this long NEEDS some of those things to avoid looking like a pre-fab warehouse. - A long house means that plumbing is strung literally from one end of the house to the other. This means longer plumb lines, significantly more labor to install it, and a greater chance of leaks later. You might consolidate a bit near the secondary bedroom; that is, you could bump those two bathrooms up against one another. Or, a bigger money-saving option would be to downsize to ONE bathroom for the three bedroom . . . and/or eliminate the powder room /have guests use this bathroom. Since you're talking about a pool, it would logical for pool guests to enter the house through the back gallery, which would put them right by the secondary bedroom wing. - I see that you're planning a very large master bedroom . . . and the only spot the bed could be placed is against the far right wall /under the windows. This leaves a rather large area at the foot of the bed. I'd consider eliminating the sitting room, which seems to be sort of a master retreat . . . and use that area at the foot of the bed as a master sitting area. You could still include the fireplace on that wall; however, a small wood stove would be less expensive and more fuel-efficient. - Your garage looks extra-deep. If you're thinking storage, it'd be cheaper to build an outbuilding behind the house later -- plus that wouldn't be included in your mortgage. - Consider eliminating the upstairs game room (which would also save big bucks in terms of eliminating a staircase, which is only serving one room). You say, but we want that game room space! How about making the entry hall /gallery into a game room? I see that it's rather necessary to the layout of the house . . . but it's just a hallway now. Make it serve double duty. - I would consider cutting the kitchen down by 1/3- 1/4. It's so spread out right now that it's going to require many extra steps each day. I'd go with a standard island instead of the (expensive) custom island that you've drawn here, and I'd cut down on the number of cabinets. You have a decent-sized pantry, which will cover your storage needs. - Some one else commented on the cost of allll those French doors. Look into the new "glider" doors, which look like French doors but are an update of old-fashioned sliding glass doors. They're less than half the cost of French doors, plus they don't interfere with your furniture placement and they're more energy-efficient. - Though it has nothing to do with the build, I agree with NOT having children's computer space in a private location. My girls were good kids, but they occasionally wandered into places they shouldn't on the internet. Also, with desktop computers going the way of the dinosaur and laptops /tablets becoming more powerful, computer needs are changing. I think parents of young children need to be VERY vigilant about this topic.
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I think it could be done carefully (and expensively) and not look out of place. Without knowing what the view is from inside, I don't know how much you would gain by dropping the sill height and putting in French doors only to put a balustrade in front of it. I think the yellow house is diminished by the slider. My flat roof terrace has a drain that runs through the house and because you are doing something like this over a "dry" area (yours is a porch, mine is a bedroom) there are complexities to getting it right compared to a deck out in the air or a porch over the dirt. My first homeowner's insurance looked at my house on Google Earth and sent me my check back, because they would not insure completely flat decks or roofs over living space.
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The circulation was what bothered me the most in the original plan. Oh, and those skewed closets by the mud, kind of like just to have skewed lines. The kitchen did not have enough counter space, kitchen was looking to small for this house. All I did was fine tuning what you already had. I see not need of 2 stairs that close to each other. There are options that I can suggest but that means to change the footprint, while this was traced above your plan, to scale. I see no problem with the master entry off the dining room. The master bath could be lay out in a different way as there is enough room. I squared off the master bath corner as the shape you had only will complicate the roof and make it more expensive. Having a refrigerator side view from the great room is not that nice but if you prefer to have the refrigerator next to the small pantry, it is ok. You may not need a bulkhead between kitchen and great room. The change of ceiling and height may be enough but the way the columns are placed, you can have a think bulkhead. Without columns, you can have arches similar to the ones in your pics. I did not detail a few things, like windows or some exterior doors.. Hope this helps.
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I don't generally comment on layout posts because I'm not qualified at all in house design. But I have learned a bunch from reading others comments about what might work and what might not work. Assuming this works with your site, I like this plan mostly. As far as stock plans go, it seems like one of the better ones. A few comments that I do have but are pretty minor.... 1) I think the entrance from the garage will be quite functional. You have a locker/cubbie space to drop coats, shoes, bags, etc. A closed off coat closet for bulkier and lesser used coats and this could be your guest closet. And the pantry is accessible from the kitchen. 2) The kitchen layout needs work but I think its placement in the house is OK. I'd seriously consider a 'drop zone' area for mail, keys, and other assorted stuff that gets dropped on my kitchen island daily. Maybe where the refrigerator is. You need to tweak the whole kitchen layout to make it more functional. 3) I'd put more windows in the dining room...on the left side so you have light from all 3 sides (including the door to the back). I'd actually consider replacing the dining room door with a window. It looks like the whole wall of the great room is full of doors, so do you really need another door? 4) Will you really use that screened porch? Seems like its in a location that won't have great views and kind of looks like an after thought. Plus if you can get rid of the door from the dining room, that opens up more kitchen layout options. 5) Put more windows in the master bedroom. On all the walls you can. 6) The laundry room isn't very big and those 2 doors limit the space even more. I don't have any better suggestions, but maybe a whole tweak of the powder room, laundry and master bath space could fix it? 7) Do you need a 2nd fireplace in the Living room? 8) Full disclosure, I'm not a fan of 2 story great rooms or foyers. If you put a ceiling in the great room, you'd end up with a great bonus room upstairs. Don't know if you have kids or not but that would be a great space for a toy/play room. I've got 2 kids with a bonus room upstairs in our house I don't know what I would have done without it! I think your great room can still be quite 'great' with the walls of doors on both sides and make it 10' foot ceilings. Good luck!
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lavender_lass
Original Author
13 years ago
Well, not a big deal, since furniture placement is WAY off in the future (LOL) but after measuring, I realized there's no way our TV is going to fit in the corner. Also, the window seat idea (while cute) is going to be a bit of a hazard for the nieces and nephews, since the fireplace sticks out so far. So, slightly changed living room plan.

Also, I scanned my very old magazine clippings, of a living room and kitchen I've always liked. The fireplace is similar to ours, but ours goes all the way to the ceiling (and no white trim) but I love the chair and ottoman in the corner.

Also, I've always really liked that window with the long drapes. Drapes are so nice in a living room...and even with insulated windows, they do keep out some of the cold, at night!

This kitchen gave me a lot of ideas, when drawing up my kitchen plan. I think the perimeter countertops are formica trimmed with wood. That's what I plan to use, even though I've been told it's quite 'dated'...it still gives the look of wood, when you're sitting across the room, but much easier to maintain...and lighter, too :)

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User
13 years ago
LL, I'm thinking the hot tub in the corner is the right move. It will give a better sense of enclosure, and use well the space that will otherwise be underutilized. Having the edge of the deck available for a seating arrangement or small table will be nice, because your view will be much greater from that spot.

And if you have a lot of rocks on your property, putting rocks beneath the floor can help use that space as a heat sink. I'd recommend you look into setting that up, to give some extra heat to your house in the evening after the sun goes down and it radiates heat absorbed by those rocks during the day. Summer probably has knowledge of how to design the greenhouse to give some payback to you.

I think the greenhouse idea will be a great addition. I'm always for a plant space. I'm going to point out something to you about the star jasmine though. It will provide you an evergreen plant inside like that, BUT IT ONLY BLOOMS IN MAY AND JUNE. I would suggest that you get a couple of nice blooming begonias in pots, or geraniums in RED, to brighten up the space. And I also have a potted (not hanging basket) bougainvillea which will end up climbing by its long thorny limbs, and IT WILL BLOOM ALL YEAR ROUND. They come in yellow and hot pink, and mine is a white and pink combo. I cannot wait to get it into my Teahouse. It likes heat, it likes moisture, it likes lots of light. Keep it watered. And if you want a spectacular large tropical plant, look into a MUSA species of banana. They can be hardy at your latitude indoors all year.

Incidentally, I just love your house, and the more you tinker with the plan the better it gets. Sarah Susanka says that most people just design the rooms with no selection of furniture spots, but you are doing the whole deal. I think you are about ready to CHOOSE THE SPOT FOR LIGHTS AND SWITCHES AND PLUGS. AND DIMMERS. Dimmers are part of it too.
Go for it, lady, you have the right ideas to choose from.
lavender_lass
Original Author
13 years ago
ML- I love star jasmine (probably because I can't grow it here) so I really want to have it in the greenhouse, kind of growing up and around the top of the windows. The bougainvillea would be a show stopper, but a little too bright for me. I would love to have a pink climbing rose, but I don't know if they do well in a greenhouse.

I can just picture your lovely tea house with your pink and white bougainvillea! It's going to be beautiful!!! When do you think you'll be able to move in? The construction is coming along so quickly...it's amazing.

For some reason, I've always drawn furniture in my house plans. We did the same thing for my mom's new manufactured home. Everyone thought we were crazy...and told us just buy new furniture after you choose your home. Why buy new furniture, if she likes what she already has...so we found a home to fit her furniture...and her lifestyle :)

Oh, I saw some beautiful faux beams online. I'm the queen of faux, I think, but they're only 4 pounds...so they're much easier to install. I'm thinking about adding a few to run long ways in the kitchen/seating area...with maybe these little outlookers on the upper corners of the entrance into the dining area.

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User
13 years ago
You are right, "most people" do not plan the placement of specific pieces of furniture. And if you have some old heirlooms on hand, it is always a good idea to design their spots to show them off properly....without crowding your house. So what you are doing is the BEST way to approach placement of your furniture. Once you know where your THINGS are going, then tackle the chore of putting the light switches where they won't end up behind chests and armoires, or on the wrong side of the door, and also plan your lighting and your plugs. If your dining table will not be centered in the middle of the room, make sure the chandelier or dining fixture is located correctly over the table. This job of designing an entire remodel is a really BIG JOB.

Think about a gardenia in a pot for your greenhouse. When it blooms, the aroma is heavenly. And I have no idea about roses being good in a greenhouse. I'll ask my nurseryman next week when I go after a couple of Satsuma trees. BTW, a couple of cumquats or oranges or lemons will do very well in pots in your greenhouse. That's why they called the first conservatories and/or greenhouses "orangeries," or places to keep oranges in cold weather. Another good plant for a pot, is rosemary. Shape it like a ball on a stick, or trim it to be a Christmas tree shape. It can give you cooking herbs, and also give a very pleasant odor all year. Mine grow outdoors all year, but they are not trimmed.

If I can find it, I'll upload a picture of my star jasmine growing up a 4x4 post in the front yard. It is about 4 years old now, and blooms in May/June. This is just ONE PLANT...held up by a single 4x4 post.
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Would like your input, before final version of home plan :)

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TxMarti

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Would like your input, before final version of home plan :)

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TxMarti

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