I would like to see the plot or arial or whatever, and custom is whatever you want. My neighbor has a complete aircraft hanger and lift under his house, totally pimp.

Typically an architect will have an engineer in house, but if not it is best to have whoever you choose meet as early as possible in the process, even if they are not needed yet.

Frankly in your neck of the woods I would want the garage if not attached to at least have a covered walkway.

With that much land, in PA, I think you would need 2 garages. One attached to the house for your everyday cars and a large detached garage/barn for any tractors, large snowblowers, plow attachments, large lawnmowers, etc.

Engage the architect first. Then if needed, an engineer. Some architects also provide engineering services.

As Mark suggested, get an architect first and have him/her develop a conceptual design for BOTH the house and the site plan at the same time. I'm a big believer in thinking of the house and the lot as one and to not stop the designing at the exterior walls but stopping it at the property lines, or in your case, since the property is so big, stop designing when far enough way from the house, road, outbuildings, etc. so to not matter. I put a bunch of examples in an "ideabook" to illustrate to others so go there to see what I'm talking about if you wish. The primary reason I don't comment on many posted plans here is that they're posted as some kind of thing floating in space without context.

After a concept is developed, give it to an engineer for his/her input and possible tweaking so, for example, the driveway doesn't get washed out when it rains. If it does need tweaking, do that and then give it back to the architect for review.

Regarding a detached garage, I think that's personal preference but whatever other buildings you have on the site, give the same amount of design attention to those as you do the house. I used to live in an area of large acreages and was always amazed at how little attention went into barns, equipment sheds, hay sheds and what not but then that's what's seen from the house.

Finally, as a thought given out of complete ingnorance to your site, desires and a bunch of other stuff, I've always thought a structure looked best when not perched directly atop a hill like the main ornament on a Christmas tree, but slightly off center and a few feet down from the top. Just a thought.

Congratulations on getting a wonderful piece of property! Building a custom home on acreage is a different ballgame than building on an infill lot in the city, so make sure you get an architect with a good feel for this.

We're on rural acreage in SC (a tiny fraction of what you have) and we really let the land drive the final design and orientation. Our land slopes just right for a walk-out basement, so that's what we built. Our view is out the back, so I first studied waterfront designs, since they are usually planned around a view to the back. I also put a fair amount of study into orienting the house for both the best energy savings while meeting our personal desires. As an example, we like morning sun in the kitchen and master BR, so they are on the east end. In SC, we have hot afternoon sun, so the garage is on the west side, shielding the house from afternoon sun. We also used large roof overhangs to shield from the sun.

PA is a different climate than SC, and you surely have different wants and needs; those are just examples of part of our design process. There will always be conflicts and compromises in any design, and those must be weighed for importance. Our garage is on the other side of the house than the kitchen, meaning a longish walk carrying the groceries in. I knew this, but prefer our lay-out for the few minutes of extra walking it generates a couple times a week. Our house is small, so it isn't THAT far.

I second planning on a separate outbuilding and an attached garage. It's really nice to hop in the car in the AM without having to trudge through rain, ice, or snow, and the car is clean and dry. My wife doesn't really care to interact with wildlife at 5 AM when she heads out to work, either. With that much land, you'll need some farm equipment, or have to pay someone else to do grounds maintenance. Believe me, there's always work to be done on a rural property! Driveways need maintenance, trees come down, fences need mending, gardens need plowing.

I also agree with ARG that houses look best not at the very top of the hill. Our house is slightly behind the top of our property, giving us more privacy to the front, and allowing the house to blend in with its surroundings better.

Thanks for all the great information everyone! I never really considered the "top of the hill" issue... I may have to rethink a bit as I do want to make sure I take advantage of the views.

I'm glad to hear everyone say about the garage being attached... That's how I have it planned. 2 car attached and 2 car separated.

Finding the right architect will be a challenge I think as most of them around here primarily do commercial work.

Hopefully I got the pictures of the aerial views in correctly.

ARG is wright about not placing the home on the very top of the hill.

wright?

A little play on words, as in Frank Lloyd . . .

Apparently energy_rater doesn't know Mark.

LOL I was even going to comment I thought the 'wright' was a little architect humor!!

I wonder about moving the house a bit into the woods near the top of the hill.. I just don't want to lose the view to the north/northwest as it is the best. It overlooks an orchard and into the valley. Thoughts?

Do you guys have any advice on picking a good residential architect? Maybe a link to a thread you've answered before? I have trouble knowing really what to look for and who to trust with this thing when most people around here just do commercial work and I get the sense that residential work is a side job.

Thanks again everyone!

Look for an architect that you feel you can work with (you don't want a battle), has good design aesthetic (you want it to look good), good space planning skills (you want it to function well and fit the site), runs every day (for ARG), and has experience in projects similar to yours.

Seek out recent (current to 10 years) projects compatible to yours near your site (0 to 500 miles) and ask the home owner who their architect is and get their review. Talk to quality builders also and see what architects they recommend. Lumber yards may be another good source.

Looks you're right in my backyard according to the road names. Amazing you were able to secure land that size with the gas situation here. Really looking forward to seeing what you do with it. Any plans? Hunting? Farm?

I just don't want to lose the view to the north/northwest as it is the best. It overlooks an orchard and into the valley. Thoughts?

Living in an area with all sorts of great views (Annapolis) it's easy to fall into the idea that that the view is all that's driving the bus. I advise my clients of that all the time. It's an important design consideration, no question, but a great house to live in is comprised of many, many considerations of which views are just one. An important one but at the same time a consideration that doesn't happen in a vacuum.

I can expand on that if you wish but for now let me ask you a question; if God had made the hill 5' shorter would you have still bought the property? And would that have greatly effected the views? (ok that's two questions but no one ever accused me of being a math wizard!). A good architect will get all that can be gained from a view while at the same time getting you so much more.

You asked for some links so links you shall receive:

Some great book suggestions: http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3281434/book-suggestions?n=10

And an expansion on Sarah Susanka's thoughts (a book listed above): http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3542783/i-just-read-this-on-sarah-susankas-fb-page?n=22 In my reply here (third post down) I embedded another thread we had a while back on house design. Regarding a view, in my thoughts there read #'s 4, 22, 24 and 63.

And just last week a thread about working with designers (or architects). Whoever you get, for best results be prepared to take a leap of faith and placing lots of trust in whoever that is. http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3567694/floor-plan-input-before-architect-meeting?n=19

A lot more, but at Mark's suggestion, I see the sun's coming up so it's out the door for a run!!

Mark and ARG thanks for the professional thoughts here! It's getting my wheels turning. I have some builder connections. Great idea asking them about good architects. I may need to look at work further from this area.

ARG- I'm headed out to the property today to wander around. I'm going to take in some alternate views. :) Thanks for the links. I got the Susanka book fro Christmas and finished it already :) My wife is going to read it next (she's a runner too btw).

mgh_pa- I plan to hunt and cut trails in for mountain biking. There are about 25 acres in CREP so I will keep them going. Chickens once we move there.

doc5md, Not to get off topic, but where did you get your satellite topo map, please? Or did you do it yourself?

We have property and I'd like to get a map like that of ours.

See if your area has a GIS (Geographic Information System) site. Ours is through the county.

Yes, I pulled those from my county's GIS website. Very useful.

I have a pretty good feel for water runoff. Yes a great majority of the place is fairly step aside from the planned drive and home site. Wind is actually the thing I wonder about the most. Though my friends live on the next hill over and the wind still hits them no matter what!!

Yes. I plan on a big mudroom!!! Right now just chickens. But we will consider others as we go along.

Well, septic and electric will have to be run. But we knew that going in.

The driveway will be manageable by fire trucks. I actually thought of this as a property next to my uncles farm had their garage and cars burn to the ground the fire truck couldn't make it back their lane it made quite an impression on me.

The original farmhouse is, unfortunately, so poorly kept that a tear down is in order. I have completely remodeled two 1900 Victorians myself and can see pretty when everyone else thinks I'm nuts.... But that place needs to just go. I don't want to build in the same location for several reasons. One is that it is close to the road. Two that the yard is sloping. And three that the driveway entrance to the main road is terrible. It can't easily be fixed and would never be allowed these days. I have to swing my truck off the opposite side of the road to turn back up to the driveway and I barely make it. Four, I want a better view :)

And yes. We are planning along as early as possible. We hope to be in the house in 2 years time.

Hi Doc -- I'm building on 50 acres, 7 or 8 of which is field and the rest wooded.

My garage is attached -- New England can get WINTER, and yes, so can PA. The original plan for my home called for a breezeway, but I decided that being more compact had its benefits in winter. There will also be a garage for tractor, etc.

Anyhow, I will have a looping driveway for ease of plowing, trucks (including fire trucks), and parking, and the driveway will be dirt/gravel.

I figure I'm about 1/8th mile off the road, or possibly a little less -- I made sure my drive is flat.

I had my land for over a decade before we broke ground last April -- overkill, I know, but wasn't ready to retire... but anyhow that really means I know where things are soggy and things drain well... Anyhow, I'm also putting in chickens and later on, goats and sheep.