not sure I'm seeing this correctly since I don't believe anyone mentioned this(the print is small for my eyes this late at night.... he, he).... Do your guests have to access the powder room via the kitchen walkway? If so, that would bother me in my home. I'd prefer to see a hallway running down to that bathroom, with maybe a doorway in that hallway so you could still get from kitchen to dining room. I would want my kitchen a bit more seperate from people traipsing to use the restroom. I see another bathroom across the house near the future inlaw suite. Perhaps you will have that for your guests instead? Everything else looks great to me. That kitchen is going to be a beauty, and I'm a huge fan of the pillars. :o) Again, sorry if I read your plans wrong. I just can't see the first floorplan (which I do prefer, for sure!) words very well. Looks like it will be a wonderful home. And being gifted 8 acres AND a pond. How sweet is that?!!

Something about your renderings doesn't match your pictures... I think you roof on the house part is too tall. Anyway, I think if you matched the size of window that is next to it, and smaller than your bumpout windows (also not shown in the rendering), it will look okay. And, I'd probably keep it a hip roof. Now, as to the pitch. Your renderings show the roof as if you were 50 feet in the air. You need to see what it will look like from 6' from ground level, since that is where you'll be standing. I suspect you'll be able to go with a lower/lesser pitch on your 1 story addition due to that.

It is hollow in that area. The garage is a flat roof inside. The porch is a screen door and screened in area and about 4 feet by 4 feet inside the screened area before coming to the front door. I would love to paint the entire house, but definitely the trim. I would love to have the house light gray with white trim or white with black trim and either way a black high gloss front door. I am even going to probably paint the roof a light to medium gray. I agree the attempt to make something out of that huge wall is a big issue. I am unsure what to do to even begin to envelop that big a wall. I thought about maybe a wall fountain on that wall and maybe just letting vines grow on the entire front of the garage, but that is hell when the house needs to be painted.

Thank you for the reply cpartist, I value your input and you have a lovely home and are so talented! Thank you. I hope you can get the house you need and deserve. The projected cost did factor in 15% for any overages. Good because it's rare the budget is under. Do yourself a favor and no matter what you decide, choose every single thing before. Don't work with allowances because allowances will mostly come back to bite you, you know where. We had allowances, but it was AFTER I spent many a day shopping with our builder's designer pricing out appliances, floors, tile, etc that I liked. I had almost no surprises with things like that because we had enough in the budget for them. The room labelled “Office“ is actually going to be the dining room, they forgot to change the label. It is 15’7” by 11’7”. The room off the kitchen labeled dinette will actually function as a sunroom, but looking at the yellow space perhaps we need more windows. I think that's going to be an issue. Do yourself a favor and draw the path from the kitchen cooktop to the dining room. Now imagine carrying full platters of turkey, or casseroles, or whatever other hot stuff you serve. See where the problem will lie? I’d love advice on how to make the kitchen more efficient. we will have a pot filler on the stove, so that will help. The plans don’t show it but the sink will be a large farmhouse sink with two separate faucets. A large farmhouse sink still means two butts right next to one another with not enough space to prep. If you do go with this house plan, bring your kitchen over to the kitchen forum for better advice. Your needs are unique and a cookie cutter house is not going to be functional for you. The garages are positioned as they are to cut down on the cost of the concrete apron, concrete work is very expensive in our area, Many builders this far north position garages like this to act as a buffer for the prevailing western winds in the winter and cut down on heating costs. But I know this isn’t the only way to accomplish this. We also like having the two distinct garage areas as one will be a workshop with storage. Building a seperate workshop would be much more expensive. But sunlight is also a big an issue here as you point out. The foyer and living room do have higher ceilings and windows to let in more light, but it seems like it won’t be enough. I’ll have to think about this. You need to have your house oriented so the main windows are on the south side. The north side is probably the second worst in terms of passive solar heating/cooling especially as far north as you will be. My beef with the garages are not that they're positioned on the west. That's a positive. It's the garages on the south that are the issue. The pantry does include a washer and dryer and freezer fridge. we currently have an extra freezer and fridge in our garage, and I’m tired of leaving the house to fetch items. I didn’t factor in the added humidity, I will have to see what solutions might be available. Our current laundry room is doubling as a pantry, and it doesn’t seem to have any moisture issues. We also have a washer and dryer upstairs, so the washer and dryer in the pantry will by be used for everything. Your needs are different than mine. I personally prefer my washer and dryer closer to my master bedroom since most of my laundry is generated there. You have an upstairs washer/dryer for those living upstairs, so the question then becomes where is most of the downstairs laundry generated? Some people say they prefer it by the kitchen since they spend more time there, but personally I'd rather walk back and forth to the laundry by my bedroom without carrying baskets of laundry, than having laundry by my kitchen and having to carry loads of laundry, sheets, towels, etc. I agree about the upstairs layout, it seems poorly designed to me and I’m at a loss for how to improve it. This is what is bothering me. You're choosing a house only because it's larger and not to enhance the way you live. It could be so much more and I do realize that you have a tight budget. Sigh. I don't know what the answer is. The basement is not a walkout, but it is a ”daylight” basement, and so the elevation slopes down to the back allowing for daylight windows. The bedroom in the front of the basement is the only window with a window well, the others are at ground level. How will you feel about one of your children being in a bedroom where if there was an emergency they'd have to climb out up through a window well? We blew our “design budget” hiring a designer last fall who created a custom design for us we could never afford to build. He was a friend of a friend who came highly recommended and he did very good work, but it did not work out for us. That is why we’re exploring other options. Talk to architectrunnerguy. We might be able to afford to go through the custom design process again if we wait couple of years and start again. But we are anxious to sell our current home while the market is still “hot.” I can't disagree with you on this one except by the time your house is built, the market may not be so hot anymore. Thank you again for your time and attention, it is an amazing privilege to be able to solicit advice from such a smart and talented pool of people! Even if you decide not to take our advice, it's still a pleasure to help those like yourself who are willing to truly listen. :) While still on paper, it's so good to really think through all comments, even if you ultimately disagree.