Hey greenthumb, I was in your shoes 40+ years ago. But we didn't have a massive government to turn to, that stuff didn't exist back then. Ecology lab 101-102 meant going out and getting your own stuff. For twenty five years now, I own my own land. I have planted the nuts from my walnut trees, the seedlings now 30 feet tall. I have never planted Eastern Red Cedars, (probably easy to do), but I have moved dozens of 1" seedlings. I now have a small grove of Red Cedars, They all sway in the wind as the wind blows. Bending and bowing. Perhaps Robert Frost lived too far north. If you are truly interested in biology, spent a few moments to discover the magic. Otherwise, you will never see it. Your "education" will be wasted.

"Overall, I am concerned that this plan doesn't really reflect what a large family might need on a farm. I don't see space for a large chest freezer, or a utility shower by the garage (or whichever door would be the main entrance from working outside.) The workshop seems very inadequate unless there's another freestanding workshop. You don't have good cross-ventilation in the house, so it may get stuffy." Okay, please talk to me about what would be needed for better cross-ventilation! I don't want a stuffy house. As far as a chest freezer, that would go either in the mudroom upstairs, or, more likely, in the downstairs laundry/utility room. Utility shower--DH and I originally had a shower off of the mudroom, and actually removed it. Dh really feels he does not need it. He does get dusty at times, and his boots can get muddy depending on the season, but those get left outside. Never have I known him to come home covered in mud or anything like that. If he did need to do a little washing up before going downstairs, he can do so in the sink. I guess I am just trusting his judgment on that one. We haven't had a utility shower up until this point and he says he hasn't missed it. He says he would like to shower and dress in one place--in the master suite. Lastly, workshop--that little area is just for bikes, bats, balls, etc. The farm has 19 outbuildings total and they will be building a new shop in the next 2-4 years, so workshop space is not a concern, hee hee! "You've got a playroom and closet on the ground that can be used as a bedroom in the event someone gets injured or you have an aging relative visiting, but I think you also at least need a shower on the ground floor. Even if it's in the garage! I do think you need one more bathroom. Many families get by without more than one or two, but they aren't building a custom home." Point definitely taken. We've planned that if needed, we will remodel the large mudroom to include a 3/4 attached bathroom, if we have need to turn that room into a bedroom one day. I kind of addressed the utility shower thing above, but I, too, was concerned about the lack of a second "family bath" downstairs. When we decided to excavate a full basement beneath the garage office and include a guest suite, that alleviated my fears, since it will include a full bath that can be used by our kids anytime a guest is not in the house. When we have guests, I am sure we'll manage for a short period of time with two full baths. Also, since my husband is self-employed and we plan to homeschool our kids through high school, we can avoid some of the early-morning bathroom bottleneck that occurs with families who are trying to leave out the door at the same time daily. "The stairs feature prominently in the entrance, but when guests come in the front door, it doesn't lead to areas you usually want them to go. I think the stairs should be accessible from the family areas." Do you have a suggestion of where you might locate the stairs if you were in our shoes? Maybe you'd just be tossing the plan altogether. Sometimes I feel like doing just that!!! I do think we're going to be flipping the entry closet with the powder room, and then scooting over the double door all the way, so that you open the door into the hallway instead of the stairs. Do you think that will help? "If you widen the pantry by at least another 6", you'll have room for shelves on each side which will dramatically increase your linear wall storage capacity for not much more square footage." I LOVE this idea! I am going to do ask for that to be changed. I can easily give up 6" of great room space without being bothered. "I agree with bigkahuna about the closet space, especially in the master. At a minimum you could have closet storage on the left and using the space under the stairs, with the bath on the right." On our little car trip today I brought some graph paper and played around a little. I couldn't come up with anything I really loved! I am not married to the master bedroom floorplan right now at ALL, but I think I will need some direction in how to change it! If anyone wants to play with a plan, go for it! Otherwise I guess I will talk with our designer this week and see if he can suggest something better. "If you plan on having more kids, a small room adjacent to the master will help in the early years and can be used as a sitting room later." We actually co-sleep until around a year old, so for our family we won't need this. I love the idea in theory, though! "Having said all the bad stuff... To make room for the extra closets and stuff downstairs, you could make those bedrooms an smidgen smaller and the master really doesn't need to be that long. If you are planning on encouraging the country lifestyle where life is lived outside, small bedrooms won't be an issue for the kids. I think your laundry/utility room might be a little larger than it needs to be, too. You could steal a foot or two in width and then would have room for two bathrooms." Can you clarify a little more on what you would suggest doing to increase closet space? We may end up doubling some kids up in bedrooms, so I don't want to go too small, but you can never have too much closet space. "I don't understand the pocket door in the mudroom. It's the only pocket door in the house, so it seems out of place." I am not in love with it myself. I think I'll request for it to be changed to a normal door. The pocket design is actually a remnant from a previous mudroom plan, and kind of just got left in there for no reason. "If you leave the stairs where they are, a single front door plus sidelights would give you a little more breathing room in the front foyer." If we scoot the double doors over all the way to the left wall, I think this will be eliminated or at least helped. Additionally, DH and I talked about it, and we'd like to talk to our GC about what it would require cost-wise for us to push out the entry a couple feet. It's already excavated underneath, so there will be trusses there anyway--why not, right? So we'll see what he says on that one. "The elevation looks like it might be a little odd. I think I would set the columns to flank the door. Right now the front of the house, the door and the columns are all on different spacing and I think it will look disordered instead of deliberate." Yep, that is just a boo-boo in the version of the plans I have. It will be centered. "For your virtual hallway, you could consider a strip of stone or tile. It would help absorb some of the damage from dirty boots and such in a way that a wood floor would not." You are so right, but at the same time, we are planning on all hardwoods, so it might look awkward to have one floating strip of tile, don't you think? Also, we are a sockfoot family when indoors, so anyone who walks into the house with dirty shoes will incur mama's wrath!!! :) "Have you considered moving the kitchen to the center? You could still have it open to either side, but this would leave room for a dining table on one side and the family area on the other. For large gatherings, it's nice to have different spaces. Without them, everyone ends up sitting in the circle in the same large room while grandpa can't hear what people are saying on the other side and the kids are totally uncomfortable. You you'll have 3 distinct areas (dining, LR, GR) with the kitchen in the heart of things. If you build that dining area more like a large eat-in kitchen, you could still have the deck off to the side and the same feel." I really LOVE this idea in theory. Help me out a bit. How would you design the kitchen? It seems like it would just have one wall and an island? I am worried that won't be enough cabinet space for me. Unless, of course, you create a wall, but then we lose the open concept, which I really would like to keep. Also, when you come into the entry, wouldn't you see right into the kitchen? I want to avoid that if possible! Right now you look into the dining area/table, and there is a wall behind the stairs blocking the kitchen. I don't want my baking shenanigans to be the first thing a guest dropping by would see! If you have a smart design idea on this one, send it my way, because I definitely am intrigued by this idea. "Okay, I'll shut up now." Please don't; you have been very helpful!

Steph, Grant is so handsome and I love it when you post his smiling face. My Great Nephew Joey is one month older and isn't walking unaided yet. They grow up so fast though don't they? I was just catching up on posts from last week and read your Mom's post how you had to be rushed to the hospital. My heart was in my mouth reading it. I was glad to read your updates that you are doing okay but I am sure you were quite scared. So how are Jenni's " grandchillins" coming along? Any baby news yet? Anne

Summerfield ~ What an absolute treasure you are to share your talent! How excited I was to see your beautiful software illustrating my family's potential home! Thank you so very much!! I really love your design (especially the balanced front/north half) and I am so grateful that you found a way to reduce the amount of hallway space! We do need to reduce the overall square footage ~ 1800 is the new target, with 1900 being the upper limit. What would you think about reversing the kitchen/DR with the LR? Our best opportunity to create an outdoor room (playground space for our kiddo) is on the west end of the south side (top right). Our land then slopes downward beyond this area. I also like the idea of the kitchen being the heart of the home!! To reduce square footage, I'm wondering about creating another dual purpose room in addition to the fitness/guest room. What do you think about combining the DR and office spaces utilizing built ins that can hide the office away? I am going to start a new thread to get some feedback on this idea! Another reduction idea ~ changing the walk-in master closet to a reach-in or step-in?? Like Lavender Lass, we really love screened porches!! To increase passive solar potential, we put our main "public" screened porch on the west side and had a smaller "private" one attached to the master. I love tree houses and the relationship with nature they afford. With large sliding doors, we were hoping to create that outdoor connection, enjoying warm summer breezes without the bugs :)! Finally, it may be a quirk but my DH and I sleep more comfortably in bedrooms where the bed is placed along an outside wall with the entrance door opposite, or across from, the foot of the bed. Perhaps this is strange? In any case, would it be possible to shift the master bedroom to the east (left), attach a small screened porch to the south (top), move the bathroom north (down) [or maybe west of the bedroom?] and connect it to the laundry, and have the closet accessed from the bedroom? This is assuming that moving the office to the DR makes sense. I'm not sure if this is possible without creating more hallway to reach the master bedroom? I printed out the plan you created and have enjoyed many smiles as I continuously look it over ~ thank you for reigniting my inspiration!!