My first thought is that the fireplace, while beautiful will project too far into the walking space (if I'm interpreting your drawing correctly). Do you need that closet(I think?) behind it? If you could start the fireplace framing there, you'd gain back your hallway. Maybe put a hall closet just to the left of the entry double door (again, does this need a door?), in the dead space that is between there and the in-law suite, if you really need another closet beside the one in the entry.

What are your present needs? Family? Size? Location? Weather? Future family?

treehuggergirl,

That closet is not essential. The fireplace design is yet to be done, but it will be a big projection out from the wall, I just don't know exactly how far it will go, so I've reserved that space. That hallway terminates into a kitchen wall. What I'm trying to do is steal space from the DR so that it serves two purposes, the person sitting at the end of the table has room behind them and that same space is used for transit. As drawn I have 4.5' - 5.0' between edge of table and edge of fireplace and that path allows clear transit to both sides of the kitchen.

If I lose that closet I don't need to replace it in the foyer, I want to buy myself a bit of volume in the foyer, places where I can hang art, put down some sculptures.

cpartist,

Single man. In my current house I have guests and family always coming by so I need spare bedrooms. I entertain frequently, I like a big kitchen and I use it. When eating informally I'll be using the banquette.

At some point in the future I expect one, or both, of my parents to move in with me - I'm not going to put them in a home. I toyed around with an elevator and to put all the bedrooms up on the 2nd, but that left the 1st too lopsided because I wanted the K-DR-LR to all have southern exposure and that left little to place on the other side of the house, so ditching the elevator and putting one master down on the 1st allows me to balance out the two sides. This ends up making the house a tad bigger upstairs but I can live with that. I'm OK with using that master as a guest suite until I need it for them.

No future family. The house will be near a ski resort, high in the mountains, hence the vestibule and double-wall construction.

What is to the east? Also can you post the second floor and your elevations? I'd like to see how the stairs work with the house on the second floor, etc.

The biggest problem I see right now, is that the house really doesn't quite flow as well as I think it could. There seems to be a few areas of bottlenecks.

Um, is that a urinal in the powder room? I realize you're a bachelor, but think of guests or your mother using that bathroom.

Also if you're building with the idea of your parent(s) moving in with you sometime in the near or distant future, your house as you have it doesn't seem to be easy to navigate if there are mobility issues. For example, the way you have the bed means there's less than 2' for the person on the west side of the bed to get out and maneuver around the bed to go to the bathroom. Imagine if they have a walker? Also it's more difficult to walk around the bed the way you have it. Putting the bed on the west wall would solve some of that problem but there are others.

You do not have a wide enough aisle in your kitchen. 3'5" is not enough. 42" is really minimum and that is counter to counter. Additionally, if one of your parents is handicapped you'll need even more room.

That fireplace while gorgeous, creates a big space that needs to be maneuvered around. Easy now, but for someone with mobility issues it makes it much harder. I know because I watched my Mom and now my Dad maneuver with a walker.

Your mudroom really isn't wide enough to be a mudroom. More like a passageway.

Also when guests walk in, there's nothing to see except a wall or a closet. Might feel confining and if you're in the mountains might you be able to design the entry differently so you open up to the views?

Have you considered working with an architect?

Here's the 2nd. It's still a work in progress.

I realize you're a bachelor, but think of guests or your mother using that bathroom.

I'm not expecting my mother to use a urinal, only men. I'm not building my house to suit guests. If I eventually sell this house, the woman of the house can have the urinal ripped out. I'm not going to flush a gallon of water ever time I take a whiz :) and I also want to minimize splashing, if you know what I mean, and I'm not willing to become one of those dreaded sitzenpinklers. Sorry if that's TMI.

For example, the way you have the bed means there's less than 2' for the
person on the west side of the bed to get out and maneuver around the
bed to go to the bathroom.

Good point. That's a King bed. Is it your suggestion that a 13'7" x 12' bedroom is insufficient in size for one or two elderly people, with or without handicaps? I don't know any handicapped people.

You do not have a wide enough aisle in your kitchen. 3'5" is not enough.

I have 3'6" from counter edge to counter edge. My current kitchen has less width in the aisle and I'm not hampered at all. This however is why I'm asking. Do people really find 3'6" aisle width by a sink and 4' by the cooktop to be too constricting? I read the Starcraft builder's guidelines so I designed for future buyers. There's no traffic required by the sink, the traffic would be on the other side of the island.

Additionally, if one of your parents is handicapped you'll need even more room.

Neither of them has any handicaps, yet, but I'm trying to keep the unforeseen in mind, which is why I have the wide aisles. To me a 3' aisle seems spacious enough. How much width do people with walkers need?

That fireplace while gorgeous, creates a big space that needs to be maneuvered around.

The house is built around the fireplace rather than vice versa. From a human kinetics perspective I'm not seeing why a curving path is such an obstacle compared to a straight path. I understand that a straight path is easy to travel but since we all walk one step at a time can't a person with a walker walk a curved path?

I want that fireplace centrally located so that I, and my guests, can enjoy it, and the radiant heat, from all 3 rooms. It'll be used different than traditional fireplaces, where people light it up and sit in their LR and watch the fire in lieu of TV.

Your mudroom really isn't wide enough to be a mudroom. More like a passageway.

I analyzed how I use a mudroom. How do other people use mudrooms? There is a place to sit down, a place to stand in front of your clothes and put them on. People I'm with usually come and go at the same time, so it's not like a kitchen where one person will be working at a station and people are continually walking behind them. How do other people use mudrooms? How could that mudroom be improved? I intend to use it as a storage dump, in the closet, and for a place to dress as I come and go, other than that it's not going to see heavy use. It's close to the powder room, it opens onto a covered deck and into the garage. It really is a passageway first and clothes-room second.

Might feel confining and if you're in the mountains might you be able to
design the entry differently so you open up to the views?

The spectacular views are on the South, the garage is entered from the North, so as my guests walk from the drive-way to the entrance they'll be walking southwards and getting an eyeful and then once inside they get nice vistas from both the living room and dining room, two rooms where we will spend a lot of together time. Even the kitchen has views of the east and south, so my guests get plenty of outdoor vista in the public rooms. In the foyer they can feast their eyes on paintings and sculptures.

I understand your point and I've tried a number of different iterations and concluded that a center entry provides the best balance. I am open to suggestions if you believe that a center entry is detrimental to the balance but so far I haven't been able to find a way to make this work.

Alex, [this houzz article[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/key-entryway-dimensions-for-homes-large-and-small-stsetivw-vs~25890082) on foyers provides great information on how to design an entryway that fits with the rest of the home. You may get some ideas for yours or find that what you've designed is already the right fit.

Small thing, but I believe bathroom doors normally open inward.

Look forward to seeing how that fireplace works out, it seems like a very exciting project in an intriguing location! Assuming it will be a wood-burning fire... we love our wood-burning fireplace, but since we're in the south, we just bring an armful of logs onto the porch, go in and out stoking the fire during the day, and that suits us fine. I imagine your design will need to include a smart place for wood storage outside and inside near the fireplace for your needs.

Fonzie suite! I think that term will catch on :) I can see Fonzie walking in and vaulting over the back of the loveseat!

First regarding the urinal. If I were looking at the house and saw the urinal, I would definitely cross the house off my list as I wouldn't want to have to completely redo a bathroom to remove a urinal. Do I understand your point? I do. However if you do have female guests visiting, I'm not sure they'll appreciate having to walk by the urinal to use the bathroom.

For example, the way you have the bed means there's less than 2' for the person on the west side of the bed to get out and maneuver around the bed to go to the bathroom.

Good point. That's a King bed. Is it your suggestion that a 13'7" x 12' bedroom is insufficient in size for one or two elderly people, with or without handicaps? I don't know any handicapped people.

If you turn the bed to the west wall, it should work well. You want to make it as easy as possible to move around the room for an elderly person/couple.

You do not have a wide enough aisle in your kitchen. 3'5" is not enough.

I have 3'6" from counter edge to counter edge. My current kitchen has less width in the aisle and I'm not hampered at all. This however is why I'm asking. Do people really find 3'6" aisle width by a sink and 4' by the cooktop to be too constricting? I read the Starcraft builder's guidelines so I designed for future buyers. There's no traffic required by the sink, the traffic would be on the other side of the island.

4' by the cooktop is perfect and 42" counter to counter will work for the sink area. I read it as smaller. But you also have less than 42" between the edge of your counter and the edge of your banquet and that's not enough. Especially again for mobility issues.

Additionally, if one of your parents is handicapped you'll need even more room.

Neither of them has any handicaps, yet, but I'm trying to keep the unforeseen in mind, which is why I have the wide aisles. To me a 3' aisle seems spacious enough. How much width do people with walkers need?

Hopefully they never will. I always thought my mother was the picture of health. She went to the gym 5x a week, ate properly, etc. Then she got parkinsons disease.

42" wide is minimum for ADA.

The house is built around the fireplace rather than vice versa. From a human kinetics perspective I'm not seeing why a curving path is such an obstacle compared to a straight path. I understand that a straight path is easy to travel but since we all walk one step at a time can't a person with a walker walk a curved path?

It's easy for you and I walking as we're not trying to also maneuver a wheelchair or a walker. Try an experiment. Grab a box about the size of a walker, make hand holds on either side, and try walking around, turning etc. Now imagine doing so if your balance is unsteady. When one has mobility issues the world is a completely different place.

I want that fireplace centrally located so that I, and my guests, can enjoy it, and the radiant heat, from all 3 rooms. It'll be used different than traditional fireplaces, where people light it up and sit in their LR and watch the fire in lieu of TV.

Understood, but maybe there's a better way to situate it so it does the job, looks beautiful but is not an obstacle in the room.

Might feel confining and if you're in the mountains might you be able to design the entry differently so you open up to the views?

I understand your point and I've tried a number of different iterations and concluded that a center entry provides the best balance. I am open to suggestions if you believe that a center entry is detrimental to the balance but so far I haven't been able to find a way to make this work.

Is your background in design? If not, I highly recommend you hire an architect to help you because a good architect will see ways of designing the house to work for you that you haven't even considered. That is their job. They'll give the house the flow it feels like it's lacking now.

Architects make designing houses look easy, not because it is easy. It isn't. It is very hard to design a well thought out house that flows well and looks good. They make it look easy because they have the training and it's their job. Similar to how the ballerina makes jumping around the stage on pointe look easy. Training, and lots of practice.

And looking at your second floor, I am totally lost. First where is your stairway from the first floor and why do you have additional staircases going every which way?

Overall, I think your house is thoughtfully designed. We all have our personal preferences, like and dislikes. Since this is your house it should suit you. The one major issue that jumps out is the idea of your parent(s) moving in with you and using the upstairs for living/sleeping. At some point, many seniors simply no longer wish to climb stairs, even if they are able. And of course, many seniors are unable to use stairs. If you are going to seriously provide for them, there's two options: 1) design their space on the first floor; 2) provide for a future elevator for second floor access. Good luck with your project!

It doesn't work. The valleys and roof details are needlessly complex and the pyramid above the foyer invites leaks. The chimney for the FP is in an untenable spot. Unless it is not solid fuel, then OK. It looks like your inspiration is a Finnish soapstone FP, which is basically a second source of central heat if managed properly.

The formal entry has a dramatic axis, two sets of doors, yet the eye if brought to a niche in the dark under the stairs. The staircase is wide and could be a significant focus, but it leads to a dark internal hallway upstairs. Light from above would be very valuable, but this well is dark and closed off like in an office building. Houses of a certain caliber are expected to have natural light from thoughtfully-placed windows lighting the stair.

Casey

Every place I've ever worked, bathroom doors can open inward or outward, provided code is met in other respects. An outward door is out of the way in a space that is usually pretty small. Also, the theory goes that if a person in the bathroom slips and falls against that door, it's hard to get them out. I remember talking to a planner years ago, Santa Cruz IIRC. He wanted to make the outward door a local code requirement, as he felt quite strongly about the safety issue. I don't know whether he had his way-- Santa Cruz already had a reputation for being pretty darn strict.

In any case, I've done it both ways, and have come to prefer the outward door when it works with the floor plan. OTOH, if I had to use a wheelchair every day, I'd have an open bath with a visual barrier, like the rest rooms in an airport.

As for the rest of the plan, it needs quite a bit of polishing and simplification, but you already know that. However, don't let people talk you out of something you really want. If you go that route, terrified of "resale value," you could end up with yet another boring bland suburban conformist cookie cutter box. I see far too many of these on the MLS and advice boards already, and since they all look like they came out of the same thought factory, they don't have anything that makes them stand out from the competition.

Then again, "resale value" is very much a moving target. Your local real estate market will run hot and cold at intervals. If you are selling into a hot market, you're golden, but if it turns cold on you, you're skrood no matter what upgrades you put in. Real estate is a crap shoot-- witness the last crash-- and not necessarily a good investment.

A final note. No matter what you build today, it will likely read as dated at some point in the future, and the new buyer may rip it out. So building for "resale value" amounts to trying to guess what the average future buyer might want. You can drive yourself crazy doing that, and still fail because the house will be seen as technologically as well as stylistically outdated. Who knows what the fashion will be in 2042? Surely not "creamy white subways"... ;)

Interesting fireplace. I'm thinking...open foyer w/fireplace -- not that I have a clue how to DO that! I would want to be a good distance from such heat when at table. Might you make that room work more as a study/library, an annex to the living area, with space to extend a table? How often will it be Dining Room?

Would your AP's (Aged Parents) be entering from the foyer? Would one of them be doing laundry? I'd consider this whole idea carefully. Might your AP's become isolated? An advantage of Senior housing is the access to the company of others, especially if a spouse is gone. If you will house Seniors who need help, you'll need a place for that help to live in.

Sombreuil

Light from above would be very valuable, but this well is dark and closed off like in an office building.

Actually it will be filled with daylight brought in by fiber optic lighting, collected from the roof and piped into the house.

The chimney for the FP is in an untenable spot.

What is the typical depth of a chimney run? I have leeway to push it back into that closet space. As I noted I haven't yet consulted with a mason regarding the design of the masonry heater. Yes, this will be a Finnish Soapstone FP.

Oaktown

to me the layout feels a bit like some high end vacation rentals we have
stayed in. If those would be your future buyers, I think you're on the
right track.

There are plenty of such homes in my area.

If you are planning to fill up the house frequently, it seems to me the public spaces might be a bit undersized

I still have basement space. I get your point though. What I don't want to do is make the LR of a size that when it's just me in the house that I feel overwhelmed by wasted space. With this in mind I tried to design with future expansion incorporated into the design - the covered deck could be framed in to create a large family room off the kitchen and the mudroom could be pushed out into the adjacent storage area incorporated in my over-sized garage. I certainly don't need that space for myself or my foreseeable needs but a future buyer might want to have two public rooms on the main floor and might be willing to forego the covered patio.

Perhaps you would consider being able to access the "Fonzie suite" from the main upstairs?

That thick wall separating the suite from the upper floor is a double framed wall like you see in condos. It would be quite easy to remove if a future buyer wanted to recapture the living space for their own use. As it stands now I want t a large garage for all of my cars,truck, bikes, snowmobile but don't really need more living space for myself. so that space is cheap to develop and because of the rental shortage in my area it would be easy to rent out or I, or a future buyer, could Airbnb the space. That little corridor leading up to the partition wall is there simply to keep options easy for a future buyer.

After that you might take a close look at the doors, and perhaps think about including a secret space/child cave?

What do you mean about the doors? As for the secret space, that's a fantastic suggestion. The attic space bounded by the master bath, the bedroom and the stairs would be a good place for just such an cubbyhole. The entry would be at floor level and once in the room there is a 4' ledge as the foyer underneath isn't a two story room, but a story and half. I was planning to use it for bulky storage because I couldn't make it into a legal height room and I was going to frame in wall niches, bookcases, and an added closet rack (think two clothes rods, one behind the other, but the one in the back 4' off the floor) but even here there is still some "secret" nooks and crannies between all of those built-ins. I wonder if an inspector would pass lighting in such a non-compliant "room?"

Virgil Carter

At some point, many seniors simply no longer wish to climb stairs, even if they are able

The entire main floor suite is there with that possibility in mind.

cpartist

Understood, but maybe there's a better way to situate it so it does the job, looks beautiful but is not an obstacle in the room.

As I noted there is no design yet for the fireplace. That entire wall and the space in front of it is blocked out in order to give me some flexibility. That DR area is what prompted me to post precisely because I'm want three things to be happening in that space and I'm looking for ideas on how to tie together a freestanding masonry fireplace, a transit path from the front to the rear of the house while simultaneously allowing the DR section to both be open and to have a feeling of defined space for dining. This means that I need some thematic unity across the 3 spaces while also allowing each to achieve their utilitarian purposes. I don't like how I have the dining room walls just stopping as they do, it feels too open and ill-defined. So anyone with ideas, please share.

But you also have less than 42" between the edge of your counter and the edge of your banquet and that's not enough.

It's not enough for a handicapped person to sit on that side of the banquette but they can sit on the other side or if they're in a wheelchair, they can sit in the 4' wide aisle. To accept the design philosophy that every space in the house must be handicapped accessible means making a lot of design trade-offs and I'm not inclined to take that absolutist position. A handicapped person simply can't sit next to the window in the banquette but will have to accept sitting on the other side of the table where there is plenty of room for entry and exit.

Omelet,

Thanks for that link. I'm going to give that information more thought. On first reading they don't distinguish an entryway from a vestibule/airlock. I like the vestibule, a dedicated space to take off boots and jackets. The stained glass double doors invite people into the foyer. Is the foyer the entryway? By the time people are in that room they're already moving within the house, not really congregating and I expect that they'll be in the public rooms very quickly unless they stay to admire the painting and sculptures in foyer. The thing of it is, some room has to catch the hot potato of being buried within the middle of the house. Most of the perimeter rooms have windows on two sides and are intended to be filled with light. Some people choose to have a light filled, dramatic foyer to impress their guests and choose to live with a kitchen or LR or DR buried deep in the house but I don't favor that - I'm greedy, I want to enjoy the light, I'm not going to marvel at my own foyer every time I enter the house, I'm simply going to pass through it to get to somewhere else in the house, so on balance, I see your point but I don't have solution which satisfies it and also doesn't require me to sacrifice my own goals regarding livability.

Small thing, but I believe bathroom doors normally open inward.

If someone passes out in the bathroom, an outward swinging door still allows people to enter without having to contend with a body blocking the door swing.

bpathome,

Fonzie suite! I think that term will catch on :)

Who else has a suite above the garage? What else could I call it? Right?

chisue,

I would want to be a good distance from such heat when at table.

You have to experience these fireplaces to understand them. Have you ever lain on rock or concrete on a sunny day? These fireplaces are massive and they soak up the heat from one or two burnings per day and then slowly release the heat over the rest of the day. Metal stoves or traditional fireplaces heat up fast and hot and then cool down quickly because they have no thermal mass.

Here's some additional photos of this type of fireplace.

Might you make that room work more as a study/library, an annex to the
living area, with space to extend a table? How often will it be Dining
Room?

Good idea. I don't know how often I'll be using it for formal dining. That'll evolve over time but I believe that the room's location makes it flexible enough to be repurposed by me, or future buyers. Do you see a problem with a repurposing as the DR is presently laid out?

Would one of them be doing laundry?

I would do the laundry upstairs. If need be the backwall of the mudroom is a wetwall, so I could easily put a stackable into the mudroom, but I don't foresee the need.

An advantage of Senior
housing is the access to the company of others, especially if a spouse
is gone.

I promised them that I'd never put them in a home. They're still fine, still active, looking after each other. I'm just thinking about when one of them passes away and single living becomes too much and that's when I'd move them, and by that point their friends should also be dying or moving to homes or moving in with kids or simply curtailing their social activities.\

There'll be a greenhouse out back, so they can putter with gardening in order to kill time.

If you will house Seniors who need help, you'll need a place
for that help to live in.

That's one reason I want a suite over the garage, either free rent or reduced rent for a temporary helper to help with bathing and such.

I love your fireplace idea. I think it's very smart. Are you also incorporating other green features such as solar?

Banquet seating is difficult for any person with mobility issues. Many times someone with mobility issues also has issues with strength and pushing themselves along a banquet is very difficult. I've seen it with my parents.

And yes, I understand you're not building just for your parents future needs. And I commend you for your promise not to put them in a home.

I'm not disagreeing about the vestibule. I think in your climate it's a very good thing to have. I had one in my house in NY and was very glad to have it. I still would like to see the house flow a bit better.

Might I suggest the book, The Not So Big House by Sarah Susanka? I found many of her ideas helpful even for the planning of my home. It might give you some ideas on how to make the house flow better.

The fireplace looks great, I think it will be very dramatic. Just not sure if there is enough space for that kind of fireplace, hallway and room for the dining chair. Also, if I had such fireplace, I would want it in the living room so that everyone can gather around the fireplace, like the first picture you posted.

- if it were me, I would get rid of the banquet, add it to the kitchen and add island seating (or even T shape island plus kitchen table). Perhaps add a walk-in or reach-in pantry.

- I get the concept of vestibule, does it really need another set of doors ?

- For "parents" bedroom, it is a bit small for king size, and just ok for queen size with two side tables. I think, parents may want their own living space. Its good to think about having one upstairs for you - are you planning to use the one that is in above the garage ? may be the one downstairs will be for the parent.

Do you really need two dining areas? Couldn't you just make one dining area work?

lakeviewgirl

if I had such fireplace, I would want it in the living room so that
everyone can gather around the fireplace, like the first picture you
posted.

If I fired that fireplace at 7 or 8 pm in order to enjoy an evening in front of a roaring fire, then I'd be heating the entire house all through the night and come noon it would be cold again. The time to have the fire is in the morning and then the house is warm until bedtime, which means the homeowner isn't going to regularly be lighting a fire in order to watch it. Keep in mind that long after the fire goes out the fireplace mass will be emitting a pleasant and steady heat, so as you go about your activities over the day, walking back and forth, standing in the kitchen, sitting in the LR, you're going to be experiencing a nice radiant heat.

Here's a few more pics.

cpartist

Do you really need two dining areas? Couldn't you just make one dining area work?

I look upon the DR as a flex space. Sometimes I do need that much space so it's nice to have. The thing is that the fewer rooms you have to move around, the fewer configurations can be achieved. A kitchen, living room, powder room and mudroom are what I need on the main floor. I want the K & LR to face South, the two other rooms are small so it's difficult to balance the floorplan and such a plan would probably limit the resale value, even accounting for the urinals. :)

The thing is that I have good Southern views so I want to stretch the house as much as possible on the E-W axis and if I drop the DR, then I shrink the length. I could slide the bedroom over to where the LR is, but then I've got nothing to place on the North side of the house or the house becomes about as wide as a single-wide mobile home, which I don't want. As it is the two principal roof planes meet dead center above the DR, which gives symmetry to the elevation.

A ranch would be easier to design because there are more options opened with all the bedrooms and more bathrooms all down on the main floor, but I have steeply pitched roof planes, so I end up having vast amounts of volume up in the attic which would serve no purpose because all of the rooms would be on the main.

I posted the plan because I'm feeling like I'm in a design rut, I keep cranking out variations on a theme where the theme is determined by the particulars of the land, the views, the passive solar aspects, the snow loads, wanting a covered deck, wanting a 10' deep porch in front of the In-law suite, so maybe someone with "fresh eyes" can see a way to put it all together so that it comes out differently. I'm open to that. My main stumbling block at present though is the DR issue I talked about above - it just feels incomplete, naked with those walls as they are, there is no definition to the dining space. Maybe posts instead of walls? Maybe ceiling features above the table? I'm open to ideas.

I like your design so far, and the thought you've given to your space. You may find, however, that once you take your initial design to an architect, she (or he) may come up with other ideas that you haven't considered at all. Also, it looks like you're planning a house for a flat lot - is your lot truly flat? Or will your design need to take geography into account?

For the dining area vs. the banquette, think about how you use your current spaces and how you would use the space in this house. If you do put a large dining table there, how often would you be using it? You might want to consider a smaller table that can expand when needed, which may effect the shape of that space. (Personally, I'm a reader, and I would love a comfortable reading chair facing that gorgeous fireplace, where I could put my feet up on the hearth).

Also, something nobody's mentioned yet. If your parents could possibly live there, the one closet in their bedroom seems way too small.

I think your mudroom size is just fine. One thing to consider - where will your ski boots go? In our mountain house by a ski resort, I thought that we would leave our ski boots in our heated garage, or in our large closet - I even had outlets put inside the closet for the boot warmers. Instead, the ski boots live out in the open, though usually tucked under our suspended bench in the hallway. Possibly, if it was only me in the house, the ski boots would live insider the closet.

The thing is that I have good Southern views so I want to stretch the house as much as possible on the E-W axis and if I drop the DR, then I shrink the length

No what I'm thinking of is instead of having that small banquet area, to combine your kitchen/dining area as one space.

I'm wondering if you tried any other configurations. I'm not loving the stairway in the middle like that and wonder how it would look along the north wall where your parents bedroom is right now. Put the bedroom behind the stairs and maybe run the Kitchen/dining along the back of the house and make your living area larger along the south wall?

I posted the plan because I'm feeling like I'm in a design rut, I keep cranking out variations on a theme where the theme is determined by the particulars of the land, the views, the passive solar aspects, the snow loads, wanting a covered deck, wanting a 10' deep porch in front of the In-law suite, so maybe someone with "fresh eyes" can see a way to put it all together so that it comes out differently. I'm open to that.

Do you have a design background? Are you a visual person?

If not, why are you attempting to design your house? Why are you not bringing your ideas to an architect? Architects have the training and skill to think outside the box and with your elevations, and needs, I think you need a professional who will go to the site with you and walk the site and come up with some original ideas that will in the long run give you a better flow and will work for your needs now, and your parents when they come to live with you.

Re the dining space, if you add wide cased openings between the DR and the kitchen, and the LR, I think that would do nicely. A lot depends on what you want for the style of your home. I would not try to separately "define" the walkway area since you'll probably want some flexibility on table length and position.

>>>the house becomes about as wide as a single-wide mobile home, which I don't want

Why? Is your design being driven by a desire to maximize the efficiency of the fireplace as your main heat source? There can be a lot of benefits to narrow house plans, among them possible improvements for daylighting and views. You'd also probably have less "wasted" space under the roof. Why not just try out some freehand sketches? What about a T, L, U, Y, or other shapes? What about some sheltered covered deck space facing the views?

Have you already talked with your folks about what they think they might like? Maybe they will have some nifty ideas.

vwtyler,

(Personally, I'm a reader, and I would love a comfortable reading
chair facing that gorgeous fireplace, where I could put my feet up on
the hearth).

You mean something like this? This is a plan I abandoned.

Or this plan?

The house has a daylight basement on the southern side, the long axis of K-LR.

As for the ski gear, you see the staircase leading up to Fonzie's suite, well the space under those stairs is in the garage, walled off, the stairwell is conditioned space, so I have temperature controlled space for storage under the stairs.

cpartist

No what I'm thinking of is instead of having that small banquet area, to combine your kitchen/dining area as one space.

Do you see any design features that appeal to you in the above two plans? Disregard the funky placement of the banquette in the 2nd plan.

I'm wondering if you tried any other configurations. I'm not loving the
stairway in the middle like that and wonder how it would look along the
north wall where your parents bedroom is right now. Put the bedroom
behind the stairs and maybe run the Kitchen/dining along the back of the
house and make your living area larger along the south wall?

Bedrooms need egress windows. What you're not seeing is the big, big garage, here's the entire main floor. The garage sticking out past the kitchen allows me to block a wicked north wind and also gives me a deep covered patio. The thing is, if I push it back even more in order to open up space on the front of the house that back deck really gets really, really deep, if you know what I mean.

Oaktown,

Is your design being driven by a desire to maximize the efficiency of the fireplace as your main heat source?

No, what I want to achieve is to have sunlight filling the 3 public rooms which puts a limit on how deep they can be. My personal preference is to avoid rooms buried deep in a house, far from the windows.

A benefit which arises from this narrow, solar passive, design is that the massive fireplace is possibly in line to be a thermal mass which captures the heat from sunlight streaming into the dining room. Or it was at some point, I haven't done the solar angles check on this particular plan. This isn't a crucial feature for me, but if I can make it work, I'm up for that - soak up free heat during the day and release it at night on days when I don't fire up the fireplace.

Have you already talked with your folks about what they think they might like? Maybe they will have some nifty ideas.

I suspect that I've given people the wrong idea - my parent(s) is not moving in when the house is completed, rather I'm building now in order to be ready 10 years or more in the future if one or both can't manage on their own, so really the house design is principally for my benefit. That in-law suite will find good use for guests and they get their own private bath with a curbless shower and urinal too :) Alternatively I can use it as an office and if I have clients coming over, I can have an access door from the vestibule thereby keeping the remainder of my house private from business clients. The point is that I can find a use for that room until I need it for a parent.

All of those interior rooms, the stairway and bath, are getting fiber optic lighting in order to bring daylight into them, so they'll likely be brighter than with a window trying to hit all the nooks and crannies.

Yes they'll be bright but the problem is we as creatures are attracted to NATURAL light and being able to see exterior spaces. We have a need to look out.

Personally I prefer the first plan you abandoned. (the top one with the dining room off the kitchen) I think it has much better flow, brings in more natural light and would be great for entertaining. The dining room doesn't need to be facing the best views because hopefully when you're using the dining room, you're interacting with your table mates.

Try "walking" around the first plan and notice how there will be bottle necks and how there isn't a flow around. Now try "walking" around the one I like and you'll notice there is a nice, easy flow to it so you're never in a bottle neck.

I assume the open closet space in that plan will be for an elevator either now or be ready to put one in?

I also like that your office is right in front of the house, right off the entry.

Plus now, when you enter the house, you have a "view" straight back through the hallway to the east windows.

That little sitting area opposite the fireplace I can see as a built in window seat. A place to put your feet up on a snowy day and watch the flakes fall while leaning back with a nice drink and a good book.

My only beef with the first floor plan is how the bathroom is laid out in that when you open a bathroom door, if possible, you don't want to be hit with the toilet and urinal and since you would have the elevator, you wouldn't need a full bath downstairs.

I think with some tweaks this is a much better plan. Honestly, the more I look at this one the more I like it! It works on so many levels.

>>>No, what I want to achieve is to have sunlight filling the 3 public rooms which puts a limit on how deep they can be. My personal preference is to avoid rooms buried deep in a house, far from the windows.

The thing is, much of the in-law suite, the stairs, and every upstairs room but the master BR currently are "buried." If you want to maximize light and views, simplistically you want to have more exterior wall for your volume -- e.g. rather than a box + garage, maybe an X or H for your overall shape. For more, maybe you've already seen :

Light in rooms (patterns 159, 107, 109)

107 Wings of Light

109 Long Thin House

106 Positive Outdoor Space

I am just throwing this out there just as food for thought, working off your abandoned plan v.1. You could move the garage N (left) a bit. Immediate to S of garage, a narrow connector that is mudroom, then entry (looking through to patio), turning S (right) from new entry you see stairs backing the fireplace and beyond that the view. Stairs go where bath is now. Office and bath opposite the dining room (where the "entry/court" is now, but same size as dining room). You now also have light on 2 sides of your dining room.

So a massing kind of like this? (mudroom/entry in the narrow portion):

Bunny Run · More Info

Me, too! I like the Abandoned Plan -- first one -- *with* elevator, and presumably AP quarters off the first floor. So...why did you scrap it?

I'm afraid you have a faulty idea about Seniors withdrawing from the world. By the time that is normal, the person likely needs, or will soon need, full time care -- and possibly full-out ADA accomodations. My own experience with an AP (MIL) was that she improved greatly -- mentally and physically -- upon leaving her lovely apartment with a part-time carer for a smaller suite in assisted living. You could hedge your bet by creating a suite that could be used by your APs or rented out. If there was separate access and a small kitchen, the rent could help cover the $100K annual expense of a more social location for your APs. (Presuming zoning will permit this.)

chisue,

Me, too! I like the Abandoned Plan -- first one -- *with* elevator, and
presumably AP quarters off the first floor. So...why did you scrap it?

First off, these are only 3 of the many iterations I've knocked out, so I hope you all see that I'm not wedded to a plan and trying to defend it as perfect. I'm very willing to scrap and start again. My problem is that they're all variations on a similar theme.

Anyways, to your question, I scrapped the plan because 1.) That huge basketball court of open space by the fireplace, behind the LR, just gnawed at me, I couldn't think of how to use it or fill it, and 2.) as I analyzed how I live I realized that I'd never be sitting directly by the window playing a board game or what have you - that "keeping room" solution was more of an idealization of how I'd use the space than a reflection of how I live now and how I would live in such a house. Once again that volume of space between the kitchen and the living room was driving me bonkers.

I already had the bench seat by the window covered in the LR. Here is a render of the bay window.

Another issue that bothered me with that 1st plan is the bathroom being an island room. If it was a powder room it didn't take up enough room, by putting in a shower my office could do double duty as a guest room. Then I realized that if I have a full bath and bedroom down on the first floor, why do I need to put another fully dedicated bedroom for my parents up on the 2nd and install a 3 floor elevator system, Now all I needed to do was connect the bath and bedroom and away we go.

Oaktown,

The thing is, much of the in-law suite, the stairs, and every upstairs room but the master BR currently are "buried."

The inlaw suite has windows on two walls, it's just the closet and bath which are buried. As for the upstairs, the plan isn't completed, but every room up there has windows except for the "kids bath" and the laundry room and I'm completely fine with using a bathroom without windows or doing laundry in a room without windows in that I'm hardly spending any time in those two rooms.

Thank you so much for your ideas on a new layout, that's exactly what I need to break my ideas out of the rut, some fresh eyes and ideas looking at my problem. I'm really going to play around with what you've laid out. Don't take this short paragraph to be indicative of my appreciation, you've done me a great favor. I dpn't know if it will work but it's definitely a reimagining.

cpartist,

The dining room doesn't need to be facing the best views because
hopefully when you're using the dining room, you're interacting with
your table mates.

I agree that the DR doesn't need to face the best views, but some room does. That fireplace will be aesthetically interesting, like a massive sculpture and across from it will be a wall of windows in the center of the house, so just having a hallway there rubs me the wrong way. With a dining room people are sitting down, spending time there but with a hallway all I'd be doing is walking past a central focal point, which is what led me to revert the DR back to that location so that at least we'd be sitting in a room bounded by a massive sculpture and impressive views.

All of your comments regarding the 1st plan are appreciated because I suspect that they represent the issue of resale value and how future buyers, with tastes and interests different from mine, will see the house. I need to find a way to square the circle here.

The biggest problem you need to solve and that was a problem with the version at the top of this thread was that it doesn't flow. It has bottle necks. You get to one room and then it feels as if you're "stuck". There seems to be only one way in and out of every room. Not literally of course, but the feeling is that way.