@jn3344 Thanks for your comments! The current garage window is facing the backyard, so I think we're okay on privacy. I think I'm concerned that a window there might impede storage, but we're probably okay on storage... @bpathome We would be renting out the guest suite to interns short-term (usually three months) - not people we know personally. If you look closely, the guest suite actually has a minikitchen area which will have a small sink, microwave, and a minifridge so they can use that for their own things. And tech interns in our area usually get free breakfast, lunch, and dinner at work so I anticipate them not doing real cooking at all. The perfect people to rent out to. :) Of course we might not do this at all, but it's nice as a possibility. The guest suite also has separate access via the sliding doors in the back - I imagine the interns parking their bike on their porch to get to their room (not using the front door or garage entrance), and rarely ever seeing them. We are easy biking distance from major tech companies like Google & LinkedIn. I really need to read more about solatubes vs skylights! Do solatubes let in the same amount of light? @Mama Rachel: We debated making the mudroom have direct access to the office which would make the office more like a dining room, but my husband doesn't want two entrances to the office. My mom is definitely worried about this, but oh well, we'll fake it if/when we sell. :) Others have suggested making the pantry the mudroom (with a nice window perhaps) before, but that directs traffic directly through the kitchen cooking zone. There is already a washer/dryer in the guest bathroom. :) And like I said, tenants would enter the guest suite via the sliding doors in the back, so the idea is the sliding door stays closed when there's a tenant, and stays open most of the time when the guest is a family member. @Oaktown: Thanks, I'm so glad you like the floor plan. Did you notice I took your suggestion from last time of creating the mudroom hallway for more circulation? :) Yes, the floor plans don't match the exterior yet but I told the architect to update them so I'll replace the floor plan in the OP once he does. Ack, you maybe don't like the 3/1 casements? I will wait in suspense for your further comments. I think we're actually going to do two tankless water heaters on the first floor - one on the kitchen side, one on the guest suite side. And then separate tankless water heater(s) upstairs. I think the utility area will house the boiler for our radiant heat (perhaps overkill for the area, but it's soo nice!). We'll mostly use a whole house fan for cooling, but are considering adding forced air and air conditioning for the upstairs only (so that we don't need ducting on the first floor). With all that and 2x6 walls instead of 2x4, I'm hoping it'll be a very comfortable house to live in. Maybe we won't even need all the utility space the architect created. Moar pantry or garage storage?? Hopefully we will begin structural engineering next week. That will take 3-5 weeks, during which we'll create construction documents and detail the inside of the house and specs. We've done a lot of advance homework on this so I think this will go well. After structural engineering is done, we'll apply for permits and simultaneously start getting bids, or maybe doing a negotiated contract with a builder (we're interviewing GCs right now). That's a whole other topic that I might post here about. I keep hearing that the city of Mountain View is relatively easy with regards to permits, so hopefully we could break ground as early as August or September! I'm not sure if I'm evil hoping it won't rain during the early stages of my build, with the drought and all. xD In the worst case we could always start later - the current house on the lot is being rented out, we have no mortgage on the house we're living in now, and we're pretty young so there's no real rush.

I like that plan a lot Keywest, except I would probably nix the window in the closet. Another design we are throwing around. Pretty much checks all the boxes. Door location is not ideal but workable. I really like how this one and yours above has everything open and allows for sunlight and a view no matter where you are in the bathroom. (Except on the toilet of course. lol) This design has a large closet door, and equally centered windows which is great. The toilet is right when you walk in, but I think by putting it in back in the alcove, and opening the door away from it like this, it wouldn't be too bad. Our current toilet is literately the first thing in our bathroom and it never bothered me or even occurred to me until you guys mentioned it on one of my plans. Not a deal breaker. This is my dream bathroom. I love the marble, grey vanity, bench, and especially the pony wall between the vanity and shower. What I'm imagining with built-ins above the tub, marble, and large windows. Our furnace is direct vent, and we are really limited on where we can put it due to crawl space issues. Pretty much have to put in in the addition, as per HVAC guy. Putting it inside the closet inside the bathroom on the far side is our best option. CO2 detectors are a must.

A friend was quoted approximately 400.000(second story over a slightly smaller ranch, but in Silicon Valley) and moving out for a year. Have no idea what her quote included. For example when we remodeled our contract didn't include finished materials, with some exceptions-so add materials to it, if her quote was more like mine. They bought another house instead. A bigger one. Lots, lots of money. But if you add up the very approximate quote plus the very high rent they'd have to pay living somewhere else during the remodel plus everything unexpected plus huge inconvenience plus.. They'd probably pay the same, in her area. If not more. And they wouldn't have a time of their lives, I assume. I hadn't. We gut remodeled plus added to the new house while living in the old one. It'd be smarter to just move and pay several hundred thousands more right away. Of course we didn't know exactly back then. Well now I know. Putting finances and huge effort and time aside though-it did allow us to reach some of our goals for the family, that we might not reach otherwise.

the purpose of the soffit ceiling is to carry mechanical. As someone pointed out you have a very good chance of being able to vent straight to an exterior wall. We were able to do this in our last house with an island rangetop. The above island hood looked great and worked much better than the downdraft we replaced. In our new house they also had an island cooktop, which we removed to put a range along a wall. We also are venting straight to the outside and not through the attic. Here is the type of cooking that made messes where we really wanted a wall 1) searing steaks where they are smoking like crazy 2) cooking bacon - tons of grease splatters 3) deep frying in a pot - oil splatters 4) high temp wok cooking - oil splatters With regards to prep, most of our prep involves washing and cutting which happens right near the sink, not the stove.