Love that Craftsman style! First, I'd guess that many of us here started with a stock plan from the internet or a book, and modified it to suit our own needs. You may have some challenges turning the sitting room into a laundry because there currently isn't any plumbing anywhere nearby, and if i'm seeing this correctly it's over a porch. And since it's a story and a half - which again an awful lot of us have - you've got all sorts of roof line issues up on the second floor to take into consideration. It's not like you have full height walls, so moving rooms around isn't a piece of cake. Which is why I think you're probably not going to get your his&hers baths in that space, not without changing your roofline. Talk to the architect and tell him what you want and see what he'll charge. He may tell you that you can have a second story laundry, and his and hers baths, but he'll want to put it into a different place, and move some rooms around so the whole upstairs will look different, but you'll have a plan that works for you.

caryscott - the thing is, the main reason I hired him is because I was expecting that type of attention. He told me I would get it. It's sort of a long story, but he's really just "starting out" in the business, having spent most of his working life doing something else and doing this as sort of hobby/past-time. Right up until we hired him, he wasn't really working on multiple jobs at once. Now, all of a sudden, he's too busy and he ends up NOT being at my house for days at a time, leaving unskilled workers there and having them make mistakes, and making mistakes himself - probably because he's rushing!!! And not to sound too nasty, but I really don't care who else he is making happy at this point. He promised me things and is not coming through. I'm a little extra crabby right now because yes, it's 1:30 on Thursday, the granite is coming tomorrow, and he's NOT at my house to make the corrections that need doing before the granite can be installed. My husband thinks he plays golf on Thursdays...I am not a happy camper right now. SQ

Sounds like there is definitely an easement involved since you will have to traverse the part of the gravel road that is on someone else's property to get to the piece of land. We had a similar issue when we built, but our property was the first on the easement. None the less, there were still issues with the easement. Needing to accessing the road just because you own land that you want to get to doesn't mean you have the legal rights to you use. You need to verify your rights to use this access. I know it sounds crazy, but some land locked lots have no access unless it is given by the owners of the entire easement. It can be achieved if everyone is in agreement with the terms and once it's legally given it carries forward with the land forever. There are also can be differences between what is classified as a gravel 'driveway', even if it looks like a small road and what is actually a private road. In our area an 'C' grade gravel 'driveway' is approved for one home, two homes a 'B' grade gravel road which is wider and more substantial, anything over three houses requires a grade 'A' paved road. In some areas, unfortunately, the cost of doing this improvements if not a city or county road usually falls on the home owner of the new home, unless you can get the others to pitch in. These things can all be learned at the government office that regulates the area; it may be in the jurisdiction if it's not in the city limits. You should also verify utilities with the government office as well. Make sure to determine if the land was perked, if you will get your water from a well. If it wasn't perked, get it perked before you agree to take the land over. If the land perks you will know how many bedrooms you can build which is the measure for how much water the land can reasonable produce. I would also advise having a builder look at the land before you make final arrangements. They can give you an idea of how buildable the land is and what kinds of extra costs you may run into to change the grade, remove trees, boulders, etc.

Yes, this cat, Lionell moved in a couple of months ago and has not left. He is a gentle giant but he does not like it when I weed. He hisses and paws at me and he hisses like a mountain lion. Kinda weird.. I could not wait for my husband to turn a dibble so I went prehistoric while drinking my morning tea and took care of my wants.